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The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) will not abandon Türkiye’s right to intervene in Cyprus, Foreign Minister Tahsin Ertugruloglu said, arguing that the dispute began with Greek Cypriot attacks in 1963 and the denial of political equality between the island’s two partners.
Ertugruloglu made the remarks in an interview marking the 52nd anniversary of the Cyprus Peace Operation.
He said six decades of negotiations had failed because the Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot sides had not been treated as political equals.
“As our founding President Rauf Raif Denktas also stated, the Cyprus issue is a question of status,” Ertugruloglu said.
“The Greek Cypriot side is viewed as the ruler and sole owner of a Hellenic island, while the Turkish Cypriot side is being reduced to minority status. If you sit at the table without equality, you leave without equality. The 60-year negotiation process has failed because of this approach,” he added.
Ertugruloglu said the Cyprus dispute was created when the United Nations granted the Greek Cypriot side the status of the “Republic of Cyprus.”
He said the European Union repeated what he described as the same mistake in 2004.
“The U.N. made this mistake, and the EU repeated the same mistake in 2004. Now they expect us to legalize their mistakes. They will wait a long time,” he said.
Ertugruloglu argued that the EU could not act impartially on the Cyprus issue.
He said an approach based on the view that there is a Turkish occupation on the island would remain disconnected from what he described as the realities of Cyprus.
No settlement could be achieved unless Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots were given equal status, he said.
Ertugruloglu said the TRNC would continue pursuing a foreign policy based on two sovereign and equal states with equal international status.
“We have our state, our motherland and our military. No one should come here hoping to deceive us,” he said.
Addressing the guarantor countries in Cyprus, Ertugruloglu said Britain and Greece had failed to perform their responsibilities throughout history.
“The Republic of Türkiye is the only guarantor that fulfilled its duty,” he said.
Ertugruloglu reiterated that the Cyprus dispute resulted from Greek Cypriot attacks beginning in 1963 and the refusal to recognize political equality between the island’s two partners.
“We will not abandon Türkiye’s right to intervene in Cyprus,” he said.
“Türkiye’s unilateral right of intervention is indispensable for Turkish Cypriots, and we will never give it up.”
Ertugruloglu said the Cyprus issue began in 1963 and rejected accounts suggesting that Türkiye intervened on the island without cause on July 20, 1974.
He said such approaches were incompatible with historical facts.
“The Cyprus Peace Operation was not the beginning of the problem; in a sense, it was the solution,” he said.
Ertugruloglu said the Turkish Armed Forces’ intervention on July 20, 1974, saved the Turkish Cypriot population from genocide and allowed the community to survive.
He said the joint struggle of Turkish soldiers and Turkish Cypriot fighters 52 years ago prevented Cyprus from becoming a Hellenic island.
Ertugruloglu described the Turkish military as a deterrent force rather than an aggressive one and said Türkiye’s strength was visible in every field.
He commemorated those killed during the Cyprus Peace Operation and expressed gratitude to its veterans.
Ertugruloglu said the Turkish Cypriot people would not experience the painful events of the past again as long as Türkiye continued to exist.
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