President Tatar: "The previous political understanding supported by the opposition has no chance of success in the face of the new policy we follow"
President Ersin Tatar stated that after he won the election and took office, a new policy was introduced with full support of Türkiye and there is no turning back from it. The opposition now must see and accept this, the previous understanding of politics has no chance of success in the face of the new politics, President Tatar indicated.
Stating that he is among people at all times, explaining about the national policy followed, President Tatar stressed that he did not attend any events, rallies or hall meetings during the official propaganda period in local elections apart from that. Such criticisms in this regard are unfounded, he added.
President Tatar responded to the criticisms directed against him and his politics by the opposition while the presidential budget was being discussed at the General Assembly of the Assembly of the Republic today.
“They do not mention the achievements”
In an interview to the Turkish Agency Cyprus (TAK), President Tatar pointed out that the chairman of CTP has made very unfair criticisms. “Mr. Erhürman accused me of supporting a party,” he said. “Of course, I represent my politics. This policy is a 'two-state policy' and it is pursued with Türkiye with great determination after my election by the people.”
The call of the Turkish President, Mr. Recep Tayyip Erdogan, at the UN to recognise the TRNC, and us being an observer member of the Organisation of Turkish States, are indications that this policy continues successfully, he said. “However, in today's speeches, they did not mention any of these achievements at all. All they say is nothing but baseless claims that this policy will lead the country to darkness. Even though they knew how AKEL let them down during the time of Mr. Mehmet Ali Talat, and how time was wasted with that policy followed, they have never expressed these facts.”
“The Maraş formula they mentioned actually indicates the loss of Maraş for us”
Reminding that the Maraş opening initiated during his term as a Prime Minister, President Tatar pointed to the importance of this step in terms of economy and tourism of the TRNC. President Tatar said, “The opposition is aware of this, but they can criticise the Maraş issue ruthlessly without any argument behind it, with baseless allegations.” The President continued saying:
“They are talking about opening of Maraş by an agreement with the UN. We are not against the opening of Maraş, but it should not be like this. The formula, which they say should be opened in agreement with the UN, only means that Maraş is placed under UN control, that it is removed from the sovereignty of the TRNC, and that means Maraş is lost. The speeches in this regard are not realistic politics. The only way for us was to open Maraş under the sovereignty of the TRNC with the support of Türkiye. This is obviously a success.
23 years after the 1974 Peace Operation, our Founding President Denktaş has a statement: ‘They have been keeping us busy for 23 years, they are not opening Maraş. We should open Maraş as soon as possible.’ We were fortunate enough to open Maraş 47 years after 1974. They need to see the success here. They already see it, but they also need to have the maturity to admit it.”
“I was surprised by the criticisms”
President Tatar said he has the right to respond to the unfounded accusations at the Parliament and expressed his disappointment of the criticisms made about the negotiation team. He said the following:
“The head of my negotiation team is a very experienced person, Ergün Olgun, who worked with Denktaş, Güneş Onar, who serves as an undersecretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Sülen Karabacak, who has been serving as a lawyer in the Presidency since the time of Denktaş, negotiator of many years- expert on the Cyprus issue Osman Ertuğ and academics Prof. Dr. Hüseyin Işıksal. The team is very valuable.”
“The Greek Cypriot leadership is aiming to return to what it was before 1974”
Evaluating Anastasiades' statement of the “red lines” for his successor to be determined in upcoming February election, President Tatar drew attention to the fact that the Greek Cypriot leadership constantly emphasises the word "reunification". “The expression of reunification belongs to pre-federation,” he said. “Both the Archbishop and Anastasiades constantly highlight this. It expresses the desire to return to the pre-1974 period, the unitary structure. It is out of question to reach an agreement with such mentality," the President said.
President Tatar responded to the criticisms directed against him and his politics by the opposition while the presidential budget was being discussed at the General Assembly of the Assembly of the Republic today.
“They do not mention the achievements”
In an interview to the Turkish Agency Cyprus (TAK), President Tatar pointed out that the chairman of CTP has made very unfair criticisms. “Mr. Erhürman accused me of supporting a party,” he said. “Of course, I represent my politics. This policy is a 'two-state policy' and it is pursued with Türkiye with great determination after my election by the people.”
The call of the Turkish President, Mr. Recep Tayyip Erdogan, at the UN to recognise the TRNC, and us being an observer member of the Organisation of Turkish States, are indications that this policy continues successfully, he said. “However, in today's speeches, they did not mention any of these achievements at all. All they say is nothing but baseless claims that this policy will lead the country to darkness. Even though they knew how AKEL let them down during the time of Mr. Mehmet Ali Talat, and how time was wasted with that policy followed, they have never expressed these facts.”
“The Maraş formula they mentioned actually indicates the loss of Maraş for us”
Reminding that the Maraş opening initiated during his term as a Prime Minister, President Tatar pointed to the importance of this step in terms of economy and tourism of the TRNC. President Tatar said, “The opposition is aware of this, but they can criticise the Maraş issue ruthlessly without any argument behind it, with baseless allegations.” The President continued saying:
“They are talking about opening of Maraş by an agreement with the UN. We are not against the opening of Maraş, but it should not be like this. The formula, which they say should be opened in agreement with the UN, only means that Maraş is placed under UN control, that it is removed from the sovereignty of the TRNC, and that means Maraş is lost. The speeches in this regard are not realistic politics. The only way for us was to open Maraş under the sovereignty of the TRNC with the support of Türkiye. This is obviously a success.
23 years after the 1974 Peace Operation, our Founding President Denktaş has a statement: ‘They have been keeping us busy for 23 years, they are not opening Maraş. We should open Maraş as soon as possible.’ We were fortunate enough to open Maraş 47 years after 1974. They need to see the success here. They already see it, but they also need to have the maturity to admit it.”
“I was surprised by the criticisms”
President Tatar said he has the right to respond to the unfounded accusations at the Parliament and expressed his disappointment of the criticisms made about the negotiation team. He said the following:
“The head of my negotiation team is a very experienced person, Ergün Olgun, who worked with Denktaş, Güneş Onar, who serves as an undersecretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Sülen Karabacak, who has been serving as a lawyer in the Presidency since the time of Denktaş, negotiator of many years- expert on the Cyprus issue Osman Ertuğ and academics Prof. Dr. Hüseyin Işıksal. The team is very valuable.”
“The Greek Cypriot leadership is aiming to return to what it was before 1974”
Evaluating Anastasiades' statement of the “red lines” for his successor to be determined in upcoming February election, President Tatar drew attention to the fact that the Greek Cypriot leadership constantly emphasises the word "reunification". “The expression of reunification belongs to pre-federation,” he said. “Both the Archbishop and Anastasiades constantly highlight this. It expresses the desire to return to the pre-1974 period, the unitary structure. It is out of question to reach an agreement with such mentality," the President said.