“Türkiye and the Turkish Cypriots have never shied away from negotiation”
Speaking at a ceremony held for the July 20 Peace and Freedom Day in the TRNC, President Erdoğan said: “Türkiye and the Turkish Cypriots have never shied away from negotiation or reconciliation. Despite knowing the oppression, we have neither pursued revenge nor held grudges. We have sincerely sought ways for the two elements of the Island to live together in peace.”
Voicing his pleasure over being in the TRNC on the 49th anniversary of the Cyprus Peace Operation, President Erdoğan noted that July 20 is the symbol of the preservation of the Turkish Cypriot people’s sovereign rights and equal status.
Underscoring that the unrealistic mindset that sees itself as the only owner of Cyprus still maintains its presence in the south of the Island, President Erdoğan said: “The new leader of the Greek Cypriots poses under the flags of the Enosis-EOKA. They even object to the identity testing of the innocent people, regardless of unarmed, children, elderly, or women, whom the EOKA terrorist organization massacred and buried in mass graves. In this way, they try to conceal the reality, namely the atrocities and massacres they have carried out, from the entire world.”
“WE WANT A JUST AND VIABLE RESOLUTION”
“They will not succeed no matter what they do”, stated President Erdoğan, and went on to say: “We will neither forget, nor let anyone forget, the massacres committed on these lands. We will never allow the world to forget them, either. History has clearly shown that the Greek Cypriots have no tolerance for the Turkish Cypriots. That is why the negotiations, where the Turkish side has for over half a century made every effort for a resolution, have yielded no results. Türkiye and the Turkish Cypriots have never shied away from negotiation or reconciliation. Despite knowing the oppression, we have neither pursued revenge nor held grudges.”
Stressing that they have sincerely sought ways for the two elements of the Island to live together in peace, President Erdoğan noted that Türkiye’s sole purpose is to make permanent the peace that it brought to the Island in 1974.
“We want a just and viable resolution,” stated the President, and added: “While all the realities in the Island are plain as day, everyone should already understand that a federal resolution is not possible.”
Further stating that the vision displayed by TRNC President Ersin Tatar in Geneva in 2021 should be immediately responded to, President Erdoğan said: “It is out of the question to launch a new negotiation process unless the sovereign equality and equal international status of the Turkish Cypriots are acknowledged.”
