Minister Ertuğruloğlu: “It is an undeniable fact that there exist two sovereign states and two distinct peoples on the island”  

Minister of Foreign Affairs Tahsin Ertuğruloğlu delivered a speech at the Annual Coordination Meeting of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation held at the UN headquarters in New York.

In his address, Minister Ertuğruloğlu stated the following:

“Many regions across the world continue to grapple with the devastating consequences of war and terrorism. Our brothers and sisters in Palestine, in particular, are enduring immense suffering. Israel’s ongoing aggression against the Palestinian people, which amount to genocide and war crimes, stand in blatant violation of international law and the core principles of the United Nations charter.

As the Turkish Cypriot people, who endured systemic persecution and isolation in besieged enclaves under harsh and inhumane conditions for more than a decade between 1963-1974, we deeply feel and share our Palestinian brothers and sisters’ pain and suffering. We stand firmly with the Palestinian people, their just cause and unwavering struggle for freedom and dignity.

The recent extraordinary meetings held at various levels within the OIC framework on Gaza – including the executive committee and council of foreign ministers meetings in Jeddah and the Joint OIC-Arab League meeting in Doha – have underscored the collective will of the Muslim world to stand in unity against Israel’s aggression and expansionist policies, condemning the atrocities, including acts amounting to genocide, committed against the Palestinian people. These meetings have highlighted the shared commitment to uphold justice, protect human rights, and urge the international community to take effective action against systematic violations of international law and human rights.

As an observer state, while we have not participated in these meetings, we fully align ourselves with their principles and the collective stance of the Muslim world.

The international community must act urgently and decisively to immediately put an end to this genocide and to actively encourage a process aimed at achieving the long overdue two-state solution.

As regards the Cyprus issue, after more than five decades of negotiations failed to yield a positive outcome, the Turkish Cypriot side, in awareness of the futility to keep doing the same things but expecting different results, in 2021, put forward its new and realistic vision for an agreement on the Cyprus issue.

Since then, we have been supporting a new process of negotiations with a view to establishing a cooperative relationship between the two existing states, as neighbors, upon the formal reaffirmation of our inherent sovereign equality and equal international status.

It is an undeniable fact that there exist two sovereign states and two distinct 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 sides on the island on equal footing in real terms. in other words, one island, two states.

As a matter of fact, on numerous occasions the Greek Cypriot side made it abundantly clear that they never intended to share power and prosperity with the Turkish Cypriot people, but only paid lip service to such a settlement to consolidate its unlawful title as the so-called “Government of the Republic of Cyprus” while continuing to keep the Turkish Cypriot people under an all-embracing isolation.

With the unwavering support of our Motherland, the Republic of Türkiye, we have worked tirelessly to counter the effects of this inhumane and illegal isolation imposed on our people. Our resolve to take our rightful place as an equal member of the international community is as strong as ever.

In this respect, I would like to express the deepest gratitude of the Turkish Cypriot people to H.E. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the President of the Republic of Türkiye, for his consecutive speeches since the 77^th General Assembly openly calling upon Member States of the United Nations to recognize the independence of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus and to establish diplomatic, political and economic ties with our country.

I take this opportunity to renew our call to the Member States of the OIC to lead the way in supporting the rightful cause and aspirations of the Turkish Cypriot people and to further strengthen their bonds with them in all walks of life. Our solidarity is of utmost importance for us in our struggle to continue to live in Cyprus in peace and with dignity, as opposed to being open to oppression and atrocities by the Greek Cypriot people.”