President of the Republic of Türkiye Recep Tayyip Erdoğan paid his first official foreign visit to the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus following his re-election as President.

Erdoğan was welcomed by TRNC President Ersin Tatar at the Ercan Airport with a military ceremony. Erdoğan met with Tatar in a bilateral meeting. Then a meeting was held between delegations. Following their meeting at the Presidency, Tatar and Erdoğan held a joint press conference.

In his speech, President Erdoğan stated that they continued the tradition by paying his first foreign visit to the TRNC after taking office.

Indicating that they discussed all the issues on their agenda in detail during their talks with President Ersin Tatar, Erdoğan stressed that the most important steps will be to ensure the transfer of electricity from Türkiye to Northern Cyprus through cable in a very short time.

Emphasizing that they also evaluated the current situation regarding the Cyprus issue and the Eastern Mediterranean, Erdoğan added that the Turkish Cypriot side has always adopted a constructive and result-oriented attitude on the Cyprus issue.

President Erdoğan continued and said: “Turkish Cypriots have never been and will never be a minority. Those who ignore these facts continue to console themselves with their dreams of being the sole sovereign of the island. I strongly advise these groups to put aside their obsessions and face the realities of the island. Despite the efforts of the Turkish Cypriots, more than half a century has been wasted due to the uncompromising and maximalist approaches of the Greek Cypriot side. Nobody can tolerate to lose another 50 years.”

“The confirmation of the sovereign equality and equal international status of the Turkish Cypriots, which are their inherent rights, is a sine qua non for us. If there is to be a return to the negotiation table, the way to do this is through the recognition of the TRNC. The realistic and result-oriented vision put forward by President Tatar at the last informal meeting in Geneva, which we also support, essentially consists of this”.

In his part, President Tatar said: “We are determined to continue the new policy with the support of the Motherland Republic of Türkiye”.

Stating that it is very important for them that President Erdoğan has paid first visit abroad to the TRNC as the 13th President of the Republic of Türkiye, President Tatar said, “With this visit, you are sending a message to all the states of the world that you always protect the TRNC and that you will protect it with the same understanding from now on.”