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No initiative concerning Cyprus or the Eastern Mediterranean can succeed without Türkiye or by disregarding the rights of Turkish Cypriots, Turkish Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz said Monday.
Speaking at a ceremony in Lefkosa marking July 20 Peace and Freedom Day, Yilmaz said Türkiye would continue to stand by the Turkish Cypriot people and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC).
"Türkiye, as the motherland and guarantor, has stood and will continue to stand by the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus so that Turkish Cypriots can live freely, honorably and safely under the roof of their own state," he said.
Yilmaz said Türkiye's 1974 Cyprus Peace Operation fulfilled its responsibilities under the 1960 Treaty of Guarantee and ended years of violence against Turkish Cypriots.
He argued that decades of negotiations since then had failed because the Greek Cypriot side was unwilling to share governance and resources or recognize Turkish Cypriots as equal partners.
"The international community must now accept that Turkish Cypriots are as much the owners of this island as Greek Cypriots," he said.
Yilmaz reiterated Ankara's support for a settlement based on the sovereign equality and equal international status of two states.
He said proposals that would reduce Turkish Cypriots to minority status could not produce a lasting solution.
He also urged the international community to end what he described as unjust isolation and embargoes imposed on Turkish Cypriots.
Yilmaz said the TRNC had maintained its existence for 43 years with strong institutions and a deeply rooted democratic culture.
He added that Türkiye would continue supporting the TRNC's economic development and international visibility.
"Cyprus will never be a Greek Cypriot island," he said. "The Century of Türkiye will also be the century of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus."
The TRNC held a ceremony Monday to mark the 52nd anniversary of Türkiye's 1974 Cyprus Peace Operation and July 20 Peace and Freedom Day.
The ceremony at the Ataturk Monument in Lefkosa was attended by TRNC President Tufan Erhurman, Turkish Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz, TRNC Parliament Speaker Ziya Ozturkler, Prime Minister Unal Ustel, other senior officials from both countries and members of the public.
The event began with a moment of silence and the Turkish national anthem, followed by the laying of wreaths at the monument.
The ceremony concluded after Erhurman and Yilmaz signed the memorial book.
Cyprus has been mired in a decadeslong dispute between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, despite diplomatic efforts by the United Nations (U.N.) to reach a comprehensive settlement.
Ethnic attacks beginning in the early 1960s forced Turkish Cypriots to withdraw into enclaves for their safety.
In 1974, a Greek Cypriot coup aimed at Greece's annexation of the island led to Türkiye's military intervention as a guarantor power to protect Turkish Cypriots from persecution and violence.
The TRNC was founded in 1983.
The island has seen an on-and-off peace process in recent years, including a failed 2017 initiative in Switzerland under the auspices of guarantor countries Türkiye, Greece and the United Kingdom.
The Greek Cypriot Administration entered the European Union (EU) in 2004, the same year Greek Cypriots rejected a U.N. plan to end the longstanding dispute.
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