Foreign Minister Tahsin Ertuğruloğlu expressed that our struggle is the uncertainty that the Turkish Cypriot people do not deserve and this should be ended as soon as possible.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, who was in the TRNC for a working visit also met with Foreign Minister Tahsin Ertuğruloğlu.
The meeting was held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Minister Ertuğruloğlu was accompanied by Undersecretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Mustafa Lakadamyalı and bureaucrats of the ministry. Turkish Ambassador to Lefkoşa Derya Kanbay and officials from the Turkish Foreign Ministry and Embassy were also present at the meeting.
Speaking to the press before the meeting, Foreign Minister Ertuğruloğlu expressed happiness at seeing Çavuşoğlu in the TRNC, stating that the developments on the Cyprus issue was part of the national cause, determined, conducted and defended jointly by Lefkoşa and Ankara.
Furthermore, Ertuğruloğlu said that the TRNC collaborates and cooperates with the Motherland Turkey at every stage of the cause, they tried to defend this cause and reach a result together.
Stressing that the Turkish Cypriot people always felt the support of motherland Turkey, Ertuğruloğlu expressed the belief that the uncertainty felt by the Turkish Cypriot people in this struggle should end.
Ertuğruloğlu continued as follows:
“The point that was reached at the negotiations is obvious … Whether negotiations continue or not. As the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the TRNC we are not a ministry that advocates that the Turkish Cypriot side should leave the negotiation table, of course this would be extremely wrong, but we must not make an impression that the open ended negotiating process which has been continuing for 50 years can be continued for another 50 years, in uncertainty.
The dominant mentality of the Greek Cypriot side is very clear. They showed the same attitude once again with the Enosis decision taken recently.
Indicating that Turkish Cypriots continue their path by preventing to make this island Hellenic and have a right to determine their future under the guarantee of Turkey to live in peace, Ertuğruloğlu said that he has a determination to continue this cause.
Stating that he welcomed Çavuşoğlu’s messages given at the joint press meeting held with President Mustafa Akıncı, Ertuğruloğlu expressed his hopes that these messages will be perceived well by their interlocutor.
Turkish Foreign Minister Çavuşoğlu for his part expressed that he had evaluated the latest developments on the Cyprus issue and they were now working on increasing the number of representative offices of the TRNC in Turkey and abroad.
On the other hand, Çavuşoğlu reminded that they had inaugurated the Foreign Ministry’s Digital Archive System and the new Information Technologies Infrastructure project during his last visit to the TRNC in November.
Çavuşoğlu also pointed out that Turkey and the TRNC are now working together to strengthen physical facilities of Representative Offices in order to work in better conditions as well as employment of new staff.
Stating that there were steps to be taken in this direction in the period ahead, Çavuşoğlu said “unfortunately at the current point reached in the negotiations process which is related to the future of Cyprus, we started to see that the Greek Cypriot side does not share the same sincerity and constructive approach put forward by Turkey and the TRNC.”
We know about all these however we wanted a lasting solution and supported the continuation of the negotiations with patience. However, we saw that this was misused. The Enosis decision taken recently, to leave the table in Mont Pelerin and to abstain from discussing critical issues…
Unfortunately, we cannot see a similar approach. We gave clear messages today. If the Greek Cypriot side wants a solution then it should act sincerely and show and prove its desire for a solution” the Turkish Foreign Minister added.
Çavuşoğlu said that they know about the prospects of the Turkish Cypriot people and added that they will always fulfil these prospects including the guarantee and security issue.