Minister of Foreign Affairs Tahsin Ertuğruloğlu made a speech at the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Foreign Ministers’ Annual Coordination Meeting in New York and said that the Turkish Cypriot People demand the official recognition of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus and the reaffirmation of their vested rights, namely the sovereign equality and equal international status of the Turkish Cypriot State.   

Recalling that the Turkish Cypriot side declared that it was time to search other options in Cyprus after the collapse of the Cyprus conference in Crans-Montana in July 2017, since more than 50 years have been lost in negotiations based on the federation in Cyprus, Foreign Minister Ertuğruloğlu called on OIC member states to recognize the TRNC and said “As the Turkish Cypriot side, we brought our new vision to the negotiation table at the Cyprus talks held in Geneva in April 2021, with the hope and belief that it will provide much-needed stability, security and cooperation in and around the island of Cyprus. The Turkish Cypriot side believes that an agreement within the frame of good neighborhood relations on the Island can be made between two existing States on the basis of sovereign equality and equal international status. For this reason, the Turkish Cypriot People demand the official recognition of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus and the reaffirmation of their vested rights, namely the sovereign equality and equal international status of the Turkish Cypriot State”.    

The Minister said that they expect the OIC member states to take concrete steps quickly to officially recognize the TRNC and to establish relations with the Turkish Cypriot State to help overcome the inhumane restrictions and embargoes imposed by the Greek Cypriot side.