Foreign Minister Ertuğruloğlu: “The reality on the Island will eventually be acknowledged”

Foreign Minister Tahsin Ertuğruloğlu stated that, in time, the world would be compelled to formally acknowledge the existing realities on the island.

He emphasized that recognition of the sovereign equality and equal international status of the Turkish Cypriot people is essential for achieving a settlement grounded in the realities of the island.

Ertuğruloğlu pointed out that, while the United Nations continues to recognise the Greek Cypriot side as the Republic of Cyprus, a settlement based on two states with equal status remains unattainable.

After more than half a century of negotiations, he noted that it has become increasingly clear that the Greek Cypriot side had no genuine intention of establishing a partnership with the Turkish Cypriots. Every possible method had been exhausted, and no issue left unexplored.

Ertuğruloğlu underlined, “In light of these experiences, the Turkish Cypriot side changed its policy in 2021 to pave the way for reconciliation, by calling for the verification of its inherent rights. As long as the UN recognizes the Greek Cypriot side as the Republic of Cyprus, the sides on the island can’t reach a solution. We have witnessed this reality for the past 50 years.”

He further stressed that abandoning official and inherent rights was not an option for Turkish Cypriots and that the world would be obliged to recognize the de facto situation legally eventually.

Looking ahead, he concluded that within the next five to ten years, the current status quo  would inevitably change.