Tatar stated that they went through some difficulties during the epidemic period, “It is important that we, as a nation, look to the future with confidence so that we can grow stronger in this region as a nation. Therefore, I think it is extremely good and healthy that this level of contact is increasing.” President Tatar also reminded that after 1974, many people from various parts of Hatay came to Cyprus and settled there.
“We are trying to explain to both the United Nations and other countries that the struggle we have all fought together in the TRNC, indeed 47 years later, with the full support of the Republic of Turkey, can now be an agreement with the cooperation of two separate sovereign equal states living side by side in Cyprus, with the full support of the Republic of Turkey.” Ersin Tatar stressed that they expect support from friendly countries. There is no Cypriot nation. In Cyprus, you’re either Turkish or Greek. For centuries, the Turkish Cypriot people have always existed there as rulers of Cyprus during the Ottoman period. We had some difficulties during the British rule, but we never went under the yoke of the Greeks. This is very important, so now we are past the danger that these federation intrigues will drag us, even take us back to 1974,” he said. President Tatar stressed that with the full support of the Republic of Turkey, they are no longer discussing the federation.
Tatar said, “Now that there are two separate sovereign states living side by side, then we can cooperate with the Republic of Turkey in all kinds of ways, even if there is an agreement. Of course, as always in the hearts of the Turkish Cypriot people, the continuation of the guarantorship of the Republic of Turkey, as well as the continuation of the presence of the Turkish Armed Forces in between… Because our security and our future depend on all these assurances. Therefore, in an age when the Eastern Mediterranean is increasing in importance with these even more critical, even more high-status hydrocarbon riches and a number of other strategic dimensions, we have to carry out these activities with this understanding in order to further defend, develop and, accordingly, increase our unity together as a nation and as a nation.”
