President Ersin Tatar has held a meeting with Republican US Congressman Pete Sessions where the two exchanged views with regards to the Cyprus issue.
\nMr Sessions, who is visiting the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus through Ercan Airport upon the invitation of the Turkish Cypriot Chamber of Commerce (TCCC), visited the President together with his host, TCCC President Turgay Deniz.
\nAlso attending the meeting were Special Representative of the President, M. Erg\u00fcn Olgun and Advisor for Legal Affairs, S\u00fclen Karabacak.
\nSpeaking during the meeting, President Tatar called upon the international community and the US to \u201crecognise our new policy that is based on two States and the sovereign equality and equal international status of the Turkish Cypriot Side,\u201d adding that \u201cthis basis will provide for a practical, fair and sustainable settlement not only for the two equal Sides in Cyprus but also for the Eastern Mediterranean region\u201d.
\nPresident Tatar explained that \u201cnegotiations for more than half a century on the federal basis have been exhausted because of the Greek Cypriot mentality that sees Cyprus as a Hellenic Island,\u201d and added that \u201cwe are saying that the time has come to open a new page in Cyprus, and to look ahead with hope,\u00a0 where the two Peoples \u2013 the Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots \u2013 coexist as good neighbours in a cooperative relationship. There needs to be a fresh new approach when looking at how we can settle the Cyprus issue, rather than insisting on the same dead-end route of a federal based negotiation which has always been flatly rejected by the Greek Cypriot Side \u2013 most notably in the UN Comprehensive Settlement [Annan] Plan of 2004, and again in Crans-Montana in 2017\u201d.
\nPresident Tatar added: \u201cDue to the unjust isolation on the Turkish Cypriot People, we cannot have direct trade and direct flights. Our People are resilient and are hard working. Despite these restrictions, we have managed to develop our economy and numerous sectors from tourism to construction, from higher education to agriculture. . .with the goal of offering our young people a better future.\u201d
\nStating that Turkish Cypriot People are a different people because they have their own culture, language, religion, history and expectations, President Tatar underlined that the island of Cyprus is located in a geostrategic region, just 40 miles from Motherland T\u00fcrkiye.
\nEmphasising that the 1960 partnership Republic of Cyprus had been established on the basis of equality between the Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots, President Tatar said: \u201cThis partnership republic however was destroyed three years later, when Greek Cypriots expulsed Turkish Cypriots out of the state apparatus by force of arms. The Greek-Greek Cypriot duo staged island-wide attacks on Turkish villages from 1963 to 1974, as part of the aspiration to unite Cyprus with Greece (ENOSIS). In July 1974, a coup d\u2019\u00e9tat was staged by the Greek Junta and the \u2018Hellenic Republic of Cyprus\u2019 was proclaimed. T\u00fcrkiye exercised her obligation under international treaties and undertook the Cyprus Peace Operation, which brought peace to\u00a0 the island and stopped the bloodshed and atrocities.\u201d
\nPresident Tatar explained that the Turkish Cypriot People \u201chave been administering themselves since 1963, and this administration has evolved into the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus \u2013 a sovereign and democratic Republic established in 1983\u201d.
\n\u201cWe are ready for a settlement however this has to be practical, fair and sustainable,\u201d President Tatar continued. \u201cIn order to reach this goal, the basis of the settlement needs to be based on two States. We want this for peace to be sustained for a better Cyprus for all \u2013 not only for Turkish Cypriots, Greek Cypriots, T\u00fcrkiye and Greece, but for all interest powers who want to see stability in our region.\u201d
\nCongressman Sessions stated that he is very happy to now be visiting the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, after having previously visited the Greek Cypriot side, expressing his interest in hearing more about the new Turkish Cypriot vision regarding the Cyprus issue. The Congressman added that he believes in the importance of respecting the people of this island on both Sides, and that an agreement can only be reached through reasonable people and great leadership.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
President Ersin Tatar has held a meeting with Republican US Congressman Pete Sessions where the two [\u2026]<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-143387","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news-headlines"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pio.mfa.gov.ct.tr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143387","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pio.mfa.gov.ct.tr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pio.mfa.gov.ct.tr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pio.mfa.gov.ct.tr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pio.mfa.gov.ct.tr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=143387"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pio.mfa.gov.ct.tr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143387\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pio.mfa.gov.ct.tr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=143387"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pio.mfa.gov.ct.tr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=143387"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pio.mfa.gov.ct.tr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=143387"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}