Tatar calls for confirmation of Turkish Cypriots’ sovereign equality
Source: in-cyprus.com
“Our expectation is that the position of the Turkish Cypriot people will be confirmed on the basis of sovereign equality and the equal international regime,” Ersin Tatar said, adding that after the informal conference in Geneva in 2021, the UN Secretary-General had said that there was no common ground between the two sides to start a process, and different ideas should be put forward. “This statement by Mr. Guterres is consistent with the reality of Cyprus,” he argued.
Speaking at the parade in occupied Nicosia to mark the 50th anniversary of the Turkish invasion, the Turkish Cypriot leader also said that their goal is to reach a just, permanent, and sustainable agreement that will benefit Cyprus and the region. However, he added, the unchanging Greek Cypriot mentality with its dominant and imposing stance has caused the failure of all negotiation processes.
“The Greek Cypriot side continues to insist on a solution in which Turkish Cypriots will be in a minority position under the guise of a more federal solution and will turn it into a single structure within the European Union.”
“With this solution, we can never accept their goal of destroying the state and our sovereignty by demanding the removal of guarantees and Turkey’s right of intervention and the removal of Turkish troops from Cyprus,” he claimed.
He also said that the international community cannot tolerate the unjust “embargoes” imposed on the Turkish Cypriots for 60 years, as he put it.
Tatar reiterated their positions that the Greek Cypriots expelled the Turkish Cypriots with weapons from the Republic of Cyprus, for what happened between 1963 and 1974, and the unilateral accession of the Greek Cypriots – as he put it – to the EU despite the ‘no’ vote on the Annan plan.
The Turkish Cypriot leader argued that with some agreements with foreign states, the Greek Cypriot leadership is turning the ‘south’ into a ‘military operations center,’ putting the island at risk.
“The historical mistakes of the Greek Cypriot administration have made southern Cyprus a target for certain major organisations,” he said.
Tatar referred to a statement by Nikos Dendias on July 16, when he visited the Republic of Cyprus to sign an agreement with the Republic of Cyprus for the construction of a naval base in Mari, referring to a statement by the Turkish Ministry of National Defense on the Greek Minister’s statements, which he described as “slanderous, false, and contemptuous,” saying that he also condemns them.
“No one has the right, with such historical mistakes, to turn the peace that has been maintained on the island for the last 50 years with the Cyprus Peace Operation of July 20, 1974, into a conflict or a target,” he argued. He also spoke of tension contributed to by the so-called “provocative steps of the Greek Cypriot side, military agreements with third countries, and joint exercises.”
It is noted that the parade in occupied Nicosia was attended by a host of dignitaries, mainly from Turkey, from almost all parliamentary parties in the Turkish National Assembly, while the ‘Turkish Stars’ aerobatic team and a formation of F-16s flew over the parade.
At 6 p.m., a naval parade will take place with warships under the small aircraft carrier Anadolu in the waters off Kyrenia.
(information from CNA)
The original article: belongs to in-cyprus.com .
