President Ersin Tatar called on Greek Cypriot Leader Nicos Christodoulides to respect the agreement to start the excavation work at the Atlılar mass graves of Turkish Cypriots who had been massacred by the Greek Cypriots in 1974.

In his written statement, President Ersin Tatar emphasised that it is unacceptable for the parties to take a step back from the joint agreement on Atlılar for political reasons and said, “My call to the Greek Cypriot leader is to immediately reverse this wrong decision and to start the excavations at the Atlılar mass grave as jointly agreed and also to visit the relevant Committee together enabling a joint statement to be issued as soon as possible.”

President Tatar pointed out that this situation is also valid for the Cyprus negotiations and said, “Our position is clear. I would like to reiterate that formal negotiations can start immediately with the confirmation of our sovereign equality and equal international status”.