Albayrak: “We will continue seismic exploration in the licensed areas of the TRNC”
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6 November, 2017“We exist in Cyprus today and our existence will continue,” Foreign Minister Tahsin Ertuğruloğlu stated, following a meeting with Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey Recep Akdağ in Ankara yesterday.
During the meeting, Minister Ertuğruloğlu and the Deputy Prime Minister discussed the Cyprus issue, and the forthcoming elections that are approaching in both the TRNC and South Cyprus. The Minister added that a new process will emerge on the Cyprus issue following the elections on both sides.
The Foreign Minister emphasised that the Turkish Cypriot people need a reprieve from the Greek Cypriot Administration’s policies, which seek to oppress, convict and impose embargos on their neighbours in the North. Ertuğruloğlu said, “At this stage, we intend to turn a new page as soon as possible regarding our domestic policy, and to let go of a foreign policy approach that has failed repeatedly over the last 50 years.”
Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey Recep Akdağ stated that the TRNC has great potential for growth and development, and reiterated that Turkey is prepared to lend wide-ranging and substantive support to help the TRNC’s economy flourish. Stating that the TRNC will determine a new roadmap after the elections, Akdağ added, “We will support this process as Turkey. South Cyprus has become the spoilt child of the West. They did wrong. The inappropriate stance of EU made it even more difficult to reach a final settlement.”
“We have a historic responsibility and right of guarantee that is written into international law. There is no doubt that we will fulfil this responsibility. The Greek Cypriots and everyone who is in partnership with the Greek Cypriots should know this. They should not attempt to do something wrong. Both Cyprus as an island and the territorial waters around Cyprus belong to the two communities living on the island. We certainly cannot allow it to be unilaterally owned by the Greek Cypriots. This is our political stance,” the Deputy Prime Minister concluded.