Ertuğruloğlu addresses ECO Council of Foreign Ministers’ Informal Meeting in New York: “One island, two states”

Minister of Foreign Affairs Tahsin Ertuğruloğlu addressed the informal meeting of the Council of Ministers (COM) of the Economic Cooperation Organisation (ECO) in New York. The statement delivered by Minister Ertuğruloğlu is as follows:

“It is a privilege for me to address this informal meeting of the Council of Ministers of the Economic Cooperation Organisation. On behalf of the Turkish Cypriot people and the government of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), I extend to you all our heartfelt greetings.

At the outset, I would like to express our gratitude to Ambassador Dr. Asad Majeed Khan, Secretary General of the Economic Cooperation Organisation for his support to and solidarity with the Turkish Cypriot people. I would also like to thank the dedicated staff of the ECO Secretariat for their precious efforts in organizing this significant meeting despite the regional security challenges they had to cope with recently.

I wish to thank the member states for extending our observer status, which was granted in 2024 for another three years. Since attaining observer status in 2012, the TRNC has been doing its utmost to contribute to the work of the Organization.

Furthermore, we hope and trust that within the framework of the envisaged ECO reforms, the status of the observer members will become permanent within the Organization.

The ECO Vision 2025, entitled “Trade, transportation and connectivity, energy, tourism, economic growth and productivity as well as social welfare and environment” sets out the main areas of cooperation between the members of the Organization.

In this connection, I would like to state that we have been a keen participant in the meetings and events of the Organization at all levels. We have co-hosted numerous successful ECO events such as “Economic Cooperation Organisation Second Tour Operators Forum” in the TRNC, in line with the 2025 Eco calendar of events.

I also think that, one of the most important pillars of our economy namely higher education can be another area of cooperation with the brotherly ECO member states, in addition to the areas specified in the ECO Vision 2025. The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus has granted scholarships to students from ECO member states to study at our universities in previous years.

I am sure you are closely following the political developments vis-à-vis the Cyprus issue.

It is an undeniable fact that there exist two peoples on the island with two different nationalities, languages and religions, each exercising sovereignty over their own territories.

It is, therefore, high time that the international community recognizes the inherent rights of the Turkish Cypriot people, namely the sovereign equality and the equal international status of their state, putting the two states on the island on equal footing in real terms.

The TRNC remains determined on reaching an agreement based on sovereign equality and equal international status of the two states.

With the unwavering support of our motherland, the Republic of Türkiye, we have worked tirelessly to counter the effects of the inhumane and illegal isolation imposed on our country and people. In this respect, we expect the brotherly member states to take bold actions towards ending the isolation imposed on the Turkish Cypriot people.

I take this opportunity to call on the member states of the eco to lead the way in supporting the rightful aspirations of the Turkish Cypriot people so that they can take their rightful place in the international forums.”