President Tatar said that there is “complete unanimity of views” in the stance taken by the TRNC and the Republic of Turkey concerning the Cyprus issue. 

Stating that the “Turkish Cypriot side is working together with Motherland Turkey to secure peace, stability and cooperation in Cyprus and the region,” President Tatar added: "Our efforts are to have a relationship based on cooperation, on a win-win basis between the two States, which conforms to the realities of the island and the region”.


President Tatar said that it is important for this cooperation to be based on sovereign equality and equal international status, where one side would not have any superiority over the other, or where one side was not patched up onto the other, which he said was necessary for sustainable peace and stability in Cyprus.

“We are going to the five-plus-UN informal meeting to be held in March with these considerations and constructive vision,” President Tatar said, where he thanked the Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, for visiting the TRNC with his delegation prior to this important informal meeting.


Sovereign equality based on two States


President Tatar said that because of the hegemonic mentality of the Greek Cypriot side, for more than half-a-century all previous negotiations, including the Annan Plan in 2004 and Crans Montana in 2017, have ended with failures. 

He said the Turkish Cypriot side will now be going to the five-plus-UN informal meeting with fresh ideas as recently stipulated by UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres. “We have adopted the position of having sovereign equality of two States that coexist side by side, that cooperate with one another,” President Tatar said.  “I conveyed this message during a virtual meeting I had with UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres. I won the election because of this policy. All attempts for a federal solution have failed for more than half-a-century. If the World has respect for democracy, they will have to respect what we have to say in the name of our people at the meeting.” he added.


President Tatar said that the “Greek Cypriot side has over the years demonstrated that there is no political will or intention to share governance or the resources of Cyprus with the Turkish Cypriots”. However, he stressed that “all the opportunities for a federal settlement have been exhausted".

President Tatar said that in 1964, the UN had passed resolution 186 which enabled the Greek Cypriots to be recognised as though they were the sole representative of the island, which was legally flawed. He said “following the Greek Cypriot side overwhelmingly voting to refuse the Annan Plan in 2004 and unilaterally acceding unlawfully to EU membership, all of these factors “has strengthened our struggle and formed the basis for a model of having sovereign equality and a two State model in Cyprus”.   

President Tatar emphasised that they would not run away from negotiating, adding that “Cyprus is not what it used to be, and the eastern Mediterranean is not what it used to be. There are energy resources, there is the issue of sovereignty. There is a strong Turkey. We bear the burden of thousands of martyrs and courageous veterans. We have the support of 85 million strong Turkish nation,” he said. 



More Covid-19 vaccine doses will be sent 


President Ersin Tatar stated that during the meeting with Mr Çavuşoğlu, they also discussed the latest situation in relation to the pandemic. 

“The world and indeed our own country are facing very difficult conditions arising from Covid-19. Motherland Turkey is continuously increasing its support in our struggle against the outbreak.  So far, Turkey has sent us 40,000 doses. According to the information by Mr Çavuşoğlu. . .Turkey has imported 6.5 million doses in total of the Sinovac vaccine, and following necessary tests, another important share from this amount will be transported to the TRNC.”