President Ersin Tatar addresses the 15th Session of the Islamic Summit Conference of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in The Republic of The Gambia
"We are ready to work with brotherly member states of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on a road map to increase the collaboration between the TRNC and OIC.”
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President Ersin Tatar has called upon brotherly member states of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to increase collaboration with the TRNC and OIC and to take steps towards ending the inhuman isolation of the Turkish Cypriot People.
President Tatar made the call during his address at the 15th Heads of State and Government Summit of the OIC that is being held in Banjul, the capital of The Republic of The Gambia.
The two-day event has brought together the Rulers and the Heads of State and Government of its 57-member states.
President Tatar, who began his address by “extending to you the heartfelt greetings of the Turkish Cypriot People,” expressed his gratitude to the OIC Secretary-General Hissein Brahim Taha, and to the President of The Gambia, Adama Barrow and The Gambian authorities for the hospitality extended to the TRNC delegation, and expressed his wish for the summit to produce a fruitful outcome.
Paying tribute to and expressing his heartfelt condolences to the President of The Gambia and to the People of The Gambia over the passing of Vice-President, HE Badara Alieu Joof, President Tatar said: “I express my deep sadness and heartfelt condolences over the passing of the Vice-President of The Gambia, Badara Alieu Joof, who had visited me in my offices in the TRNC in November 2022, prior to passing away.”
Pointing to the “inhumane isolation” of the Turkish Cypriot People, President Tatar said: “The TRNC is ready to work with the honourable Secretary-General of the OIC as well as the brotherly member states on a road map to increase the collaboration between the TRNC and the OIC. High level visits by OIC to the TRNC, participation of Turkish Cypriot athletes in the Islamic Solidarity Games and the acceptance of TRNC passports as a travel document would constitute significant initial steps towards further strengthening the solidarity among us.”
“The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus is fully committed to the objectives of the organisation of Islamic Cooperation and spares no effort to contribute to the OIC activities, works and meetings at all levels,” President Tatar said. “Moreover, the TRNC has had the honour to host three well organised OIC activities in 2008, 2011 and in 2014. We would be grateful to host future OIC events in our country, especially in the fields of education, tourism and trade,” he added.
President Tatar said he is “thankful to the OIC for its numerous resolutions on Cyprus,” that have “called upon the international community and member states to take necessary steps to end the inhuman isolation imposed on the Turkish Cypriot People.”
President Tatar stated that it is “high time our organisation takes the necessary steps to fulfil these commitments”.
Referring to the “latest developments on the Cyprus issue” during his address at the summit, President Tatar said: “Despite innumerable negotiation processes over the past 56 years under the auspices of the UN, efforts to reach a settlement in the form of a bi-zonal, bi-communal federation have yielded no result, due to the intransigent stance of the Greek Cypriot side. As the Turkish Cypriot side, we withdrew our consent from the exhausted federal basis and put forward a new vision. A settlement to the Cyprus issue can only be found based on the realities on the ground.”
Stating that there are “two separate peoples on the Island of Cyprus who are represented by two separate States,” President Tatar added: “The only way to reach a sustainable settlement on the island is through the acknowledgement of this reality. Reaffirmation of the inherent rights, namely sovereign equality and equal international status of the Turkish Cypriot people would enable the start of new and formal negotiations on a realistic basis with a view to achieving a freely negotiated and mutually acceptable settlement, based on a cooperative relationship between the two States on our island.”
President Tatar said that the UN Secretary-General has appointed Ms Holguin as his personal envoy for a period not exceeding six months, with the sole mandate to explore whether common ground exists or not between the parties to start a new and formal process. “We support the personal envoy, within the limits of her mandate, and I will be receiving her again next week, as part of her third round of visits to the Island,” President Tatar said.
Stressing that it is “time the Turkish Cypriot People take their rightful place in the international community,” President Tatar said: “I also hope that the brotherly member states of the OIC expeditiously take concrete steps to engage with the Turkish Cypriot people to overcome the inhuman restrictions and isolation imposed on us by the Greek Cypriot leadership.”
President Tatar expressed his gratitude on behalf of the Turkish Cypriot People to the Republic of Türkiye for her “unwavering support to the Turkish Cypriot People in their struggle for existence,” and referred to the historical speeches of HE Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, President of the Republic of Türkiye, who during his speeches of the 77th and 78th sessions of the UN General Assembly, called upon the international community to “end the unjust, inhuman isolation inflicted on Turkish Cypriot People and take concrete steps to establish diplomatic, political and economic relations with the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus”.
President Tatar said that the world has over the last three years, been witnessing a “series of humanitarian tragedies including the global pandemic, ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine and lastly the brutal attacks by Israel on almost all territories of Palestine”.
The President ended his speech by “expressing my readiness to contribute to the efforts of enhancing unity and solidarity for sustainable development of the member states, which is also the theme of the 15th OIC Summit,” he said.
President Tatar made the call during his address at the 15th Heads of State and Government Summit of the OIC that is being held in Banjul, the capital of The Republic of The Gambia.
The two-day event has brought together the Rulers and the Heads of State and Government of its 57-member states.
President Tatar, who began his address by “extending to you the heartfelt greetings of the Turkish Cypriot People,” expressed his gratitude to the OIC Secretary-General Hissein Brahim Taha, and to the President of The Gambia, Adama Barrow and The Gambian authorities for the hospitality extended to the TRNC delegation, and expressed his wish for the summit to produce a fruitful outcome.
Paying tribute to and expressing his heartfelt condolences to the President of The Gambia and to the People of The Gambia over the passing of Vice-President, HE Badara Alieu Joof, President Tatar said: “I express my deep sadness and heartfelt condolences over the passing of the Vice-President of The Gambia, Badara Alieu Joof, who had visited me in my offices in the TRNC in November 2022, prior to passing away.”
Pointing to the “inhumane isolation” of the Turkish Cypriot People, President Tatar said: “The TRNC is ready to work with the honourable Secretary-General of the OIC as well as the brotherly member states on a road map to increase the collaboration between the TRNC and the OIC. High level visits by OIC to the TRNC, participation of Turkish Cypriot athletes in the Islamic Solidarity Games and the acceptance of TRNC passports as a travel document would constitute significant initial steps towards further strengthening the solidarity among us.”
“The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus is fully committed to the objectives of the organisation of Islamic Cooperation and spares no effort to contribute to the OIC activities, works and meetings at all levels,” President Tatar said. “Moreover, the TRNC has had the honour to host three well organised OIC activities in 2008, 2011 and in 2014. We would be grateful to host future OIC events in our country, especially in the fields of education, tourism and trade,” he added.
President Tatar said he is “thankful to the OIC for its numerous resolutions on Cyprus,” that have “called upon the international community and member states to take necessary steps to end the inhuman isolation imposed on the Turkish Cypriot People.”
President Tatar stated that it is “high time our organisation takes the necessary steps to fulfil these commitments”.
Referring to the “latest developments on the Cyprus issue” during his address at the summit, President Tatar said: “Despite innumerable negotiation processes over the past 56 years under the auspices of the UN, efforts to reach a settlement in the form of a bi-zonal, bi-communal federation have yielded no result, due to the intransigent stance of the Greek Cypriot side. As the Turkish Cypriot side, we withdrew our consent from the exhausted federal basis and put forward a new vision. A settlement to the Cyprus issue can only be found based on the realities on the ground.”
Stating that there are “two separate peoples on the Island of Cyprus who are represented by two separate States,” President Tatar added: “The only way to reach a sustainable settlement on the island is through the acknowledgement of this reality. Reaffirmation of the inherent rights, namely sovereign equality and equal international status of the Turkish Cypriot people would enable the start of new and formal negotiations on a realistic basis with a view to achieving a freely negotiated and mutually acceptable settlement, based on a cooperative relationship between the two States on our island.”
President Tatar said that the UN Secretary-General has appointed Ms Holguin as his personal envoy for a period not exceeding six months, with the sole mandate to explore whether common ground exists or not between the parties to start a new and formal process. “We support the personal envoy, within the limits of her mandate, and I will be receiving her again next week, as part of her third round of visits to the Island,” President Tatar said.
Stressing that it is “time the Turkish Cypriot People take their rightful place in the international community,” President Tatar said: “I also hope that the brotherly member states of the OIC expeditiously take concrete steps to engage with the Turkish Cypriot people to overcome the inhuman restrictions and isolation imposed on us by the Greek Cypriot leadership.”
President Tatar expressed his gratitude on behalf of the Turkish Cypriot People to the Republic of Türkiye for her “unwavering support to the Turkish Cypriot People in their struggle for existence,” and referred to the historical speeches of HE Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, President of the Republic of Türkiye, who during his speeches of the 77th and 78th sessions of the UN General Assembly, called upon the international community to “end the unjust, inhuman isolation inflicted on Turkish Cypriot People and take concrete steps to establish diplomatic, political and economic relations with the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus”.
President Tatar said that the world has over the last three years, been witnessing a “series of humanitarian tragedies including the global pandemic, ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine and lastly the brutal attacks by Israel on almost all territories of Palestine”.
The President ended his speech by “expressing my readiness to contribute to the efforts of enhancing unity and solidarity for sustainable development of the member states, which is also the theme of the 15th OIC Summit,” he said.