Tatar: Turkish Cypriot People’s Fate Not Up to Greek Cypriot Leadership

According to a statement from the Presidency, Tatar condemned the provocative remarks made by Greek Cypriot Administration leader Nikos Christodoulides targeting the upcoming visit of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to the TRNC.

Tatar stressed that attempts by the Greek Cypriot leadership to exploit Erdoğan’s visit for political gain and to damage the deep bonds of brotherhood between the Turkish Cypriot people and Turkey are doomed to fail.

“The Greek Cypriot leader making statements as though he has the right to represent the Turkish Cypriot people or to speak about their future is unacceptable and audacious,” Tatar said.

He continued, “The current representative of a mentality that forcibly removed Turkish Cypriots from the partnership state in 1963, and subjected our people to violence, oppression, and even systematic attempts at genocide for 11 years, has no right to speak about us. The fact that the Turkish Cypriot people are living today under the roof of their own state is thanks to the Peace Operation of July 20, 1974, which ended this dark period. The Peace Operation was a legitimate intervention carried out by Turkey based on international treaties. It brought peace not only to Turkish Cypriots but also to Greek Cypriots and the entire island. It is a historical turning point that guarantees the existence and security of the Turkish Cypriot people.”

Tatar noted that Christodoulides’ main goal is to intensify the unjust, unlawful, and inhumane isolations imposed on the Turkish Cypriot people, essentially trying to suffocate them. “This approach serves hostility, not reconciliation. The Greek Cypriot leadership has for years systematically obstructed the Turkish Cypriot people’s access to the world, their free expression of will, and their establishment of international relations,” he said.

"Turkish Cypriots Will Not Bow to Impositions"

Tatar criticized the Greek Cypriot leadership for speaking of modernity while continuing to suppress the basic human rights of the Turkish Cypriot people. “In 2004, our people extended a hand for a solution and overwhelmingly voted ‘yes’ to the Annan Plan, while the Greek Cypriot side rejected it and was nonetheless rewarded with full EU membership,” he said.

“This situation revealed the EU’s political stance on Cyprus and proved it can never be a neutral actor,” he added.

Tatar also pointed out that recent efforts to undermine growing ties with the Turkic world are further examples of the unchanged mentality of the Greek Cypriot leadership. He stated that the Turkish Cypriot people would no longer yield to impositions and would continue to determine their own path.

"The Fate of the Turkish Cypriot People Is Not Up to the Greek Cypriot Leadership"

“In this context, we will never step back from our vision of a two-state solution based on sovereign equality and our international status. The fate of the Turkish Cypriot people is not subject to the whims of the Greek Cypriot leadership,” Tatar said.

He concluded by stressing that the Greek Cypriot leader has no right or authority to dictate how Turkish Cypriots should think, live, or with whom they should engage. “With the new vision I have put forward, aimed at the confirmation of our sovereign equality and equal international status, I will resolutely continue the struggle to protect our people’s dignified existence, sovereignty, and state,” he said.