TRNC Foreign Minister Tahsin Ertuğruloğlu addressed the Meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organisation of Turkic States (OTS).

Minister Ertuğruloğlu, who went Ankara as guest of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Türkiye Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, attended the Extraordinary Summit of the OTS with the theme of ‘Disaster-Emergency Management and Humanitarian Assistance’ organized within the context of the Meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers.

In his speech, Foreign Minister Tahsin Ertuğruloğlu expressed his pleasure to be with the ministers and delegations from friendly and brotherly countries at the Extraordinary Summit and Meeting of the Organisation of Turkic States.

Emphasizing that the member and observer states of the OTS should prioritise solidarity in terms of information, technology, experience sharing and humanitarian aid and should put the cooperation mechanisms that will concretise solidarity into practice, Minister Ertuğruloğlu stated that he would be pleased with the establishment of the ‘OTS Civil Protection Mechanism’ and that the TRNC would do its part.

The Minister also referred to the unjust isolations imposed upon the Turkish Cypriots and said “We have tried to overcome the destructive consequences of the inhumane and illegal isolation imposed on the Turkish Cypriot people until today with the endless support of our Motherland, the Republic of Türkiye, in every field”.

Ertuğruloğlu stated that they continue to defend the just cause with the support of the Organisation of Turkish States and that this cause is not only the struggle of the Turkish Cypriots to exist on the island of Cyprus, but also the cause of Türkiye and the Turkish states.

Stating that Cyprus cause is the cause of the Turkic world, which is preparing to leave its mark on history in the 21st century, Ertuğruloğlu said, “I believe that the 21st century will be the century of the Turkic world.”

The Minister pointed out that there are two separate peoples and two separate states representing two separate peoples in the island of Cyprus and that the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, the representative of the Turkish Cypriot people, is a full-fledged state with all its institutions and said “I would also like to state that the acceptance of this fact would be the most realistic approach to the Cyprus issue.”

Ertuğruloğlu concluded his speech by thanking the authorities of the Republic of Türkiye for the presence of the TRNC at the OTS Summit and all OTS members who supported the acceptance of the TRNC as an observer member.