Statement by TRNC Minister of Foreign Affairs Tahsin Ertuğruloğlu at the Annual Coordination Meeting of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Organization of the Islamic Cooperation (OIC) (New York, 21 September 2023)

“It is a distinct honour for me to address the Annual Coordination Meeting of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the OIC member states. I extend you all the heartfelt greetings of the Turkish Cypriot People and the Government of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.

At the outset, I would like to express our gratitude to Hissein Brahim Taha, the Secretary-General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, for his support and cooperation extended to the Turkish Cypriot People. I also would like to thank the able staff of the OIC Secretariat for their tireless efforts in organizing this significant meeting. I also would like to thank His Excellency Mohamed Salem Ould Merzoug, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, for chairing this important meeting.

First and foremost, I would like to take this opportunity to express our heartfelt condolences for the great loss of life and suffering caused by the floods in the fraternal state of Libya, and the similar sufferings caused by the devastating earthquake in the kingdom of Morocco. As our hearts go out to them in their hour of need, we pray almighty Allah to be with them in their relief and rehabilitation efforts.

As we gather here today, wars and terrorism continue in many parts of the Muslim world, leading to major loss of lives and displacement of peoples. The political, economic and cultural challenges due to armed conflicts are the main obstacles before the OIC member states for preserving security and maintaining stability.

In a world, where islamophobia soars in the west, Jammu and Kashmir remain under occupation, the basic human rights of the Turkish Muslim minority of western thrace is being continously violated by Greece, the illegal occupation of Palestine continues, and the human rights issues of our Palestinian brothers and sisters prevail, we believe that it is high time to take steps to reunify the Islamic Ummah and promote islamic solidarity which is crucial in addressing issues facing us all.

It is also our shared responsibility to provide political, economic and humanitarian assistance to all other parts of the Muslim world in need of help.

I believe that our coordinated efforts in the fields of peace and security, science and technology, education and health will make a significant impact on the lives of our brothers and sisters around the world. As the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, we are ready to support the Secretary-General’s efforts on poverty reduction, infrastructural capacity building, environmental and climate change and other institutional OIC reforms.

I would like to take this opportunity to condemn in the strongest possible terms the vile and recurring attacks on our holy book, the Quran, recently in Sweden and Denmark. These despicable acts, which target Muslims and insult our sacred values, are completely unacceptable. Desecration of our holy book is yet another example of the alarming level that islamophobia and racism have reached in Europe and in no way can it be justified under the notion of “freedom of expression”. I call on the Swedish and Danish authorities to take the necessary measures against the perpetrators of these hate crimes and stress that mutual respect is essential for building and promoting peace and harmony among the different religions in the world.

I am certain that you are following the Cyprus issue closely.

After innumerable negotiation processes over the past fifty odd years under the auspices of the united nations, despite the persistent good will and constructive stance of the Turkish Cypriot side, efforts to reach an agreement in the form of a “bi-communal bi-zonal federation based on political equality”, have yielded no result, due to the intransigent stance of the Greek Cypriot side.

The treatment of the Greek Cypriot side by the international community as the so-called legitimate government on the island further emboldens the Greek Cypriot side to pursue their intransigent policies and as such, constitute the very definition of the Cyprus problem.

There are two separate peoples on the island of Cyprus, who are represented by two separate states. The reality of the island of Cyprus is that it is one island, but two states. The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, state of the Turkish Cypriot People, and the Greek Cypriot state that pretends to be the “Republic of Cyprus”.

The only way to reach a sustainable agreement on the island is through acceptance of the reality that two states exist on the island today and that these two states have sovereign equality and equal international status. This is an essential precondition to starting negotiations with the Greek Cypriot side.

I would like to point out to the historic speech that Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, President of the Republic of Türkiye, delivered on the occasion of the 78th Session of the UN General Assembly, whereby he invited the international community to recognize the independence of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus and to establish diplomatic, political and economic ties with it. I wish to reiterate my sincere gratitude to President Erdoğan for his invaluable support extended to the Turkish Cypriot people.

The Greek Cypriot side, which is unwilling to share power and prosperity within the framework of a fair and lasting agreement on the island, has attempted for decades to prevent the development of the Turkish Cypriot People. The Greek Cypriot side continues its efforts to obstruct the Turkish Cypriot People from engaging in relations with the international community, even in the fields of sports, culture, education, health and similar humanitarian fields.

Up until now, we have worked to overcome the destructive consequences of the inhuman and illegal isolation imposed on the Turkish Cypriot People, thanks to the unabated support of our motherland, the Republic of Türkiye in every field of life.

I would like to thank the Secretariat of the Oic and the member states for showing solidarity with the Turkish Cypriot cause for decades. However, I must also stress that much still need to be done since the Turkish Cypriot people continue to suffer daily under the isolation imposed on them.

We believe that it is the high time that the Turkish Cypriot People take their rightful place in international arena, in line with the relevant resolutions on the situation in Cyprus of the OIC, namely for the member countries to take concrete steps to end the isolation of the Turkish Cypriot People. This would present an opportunity to the Turkish Cypriot People to take their rightful place among their Muslim brothers and sisters.

I also sincerely hope that the member states of the OIC would expeditiously take concrete steps to engage with the Turkish Cypriot State to help us overcome the inhumane restrictions and isolation imposed upon us by the Greek Cypriot side, pretending to be the non-existent “Republic of Cyprus”.

I also wish to express that we are capable and would be grateful to host future OIC events, especially in the field of education, in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. Such a step would demonstrate, not only in words, but in deeds, the solidarity of the OIC countries towards their Muslim sisters and brothers in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.

Before I conclude, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the Republic of Türkiye for the unwavering support extended to the Turkish Cypriot People in every field of life. We are also proud of the exemplary efforts of Türkiye in addressing the issue of irregular migration, affecting the whole region”.