Turkish President Recep Tayyib Erdogan, in his Sunday visit to the north, reiterated his support of Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar and the pursuit of a two-state solution, signalling Ankara’s commitment to closer cooperation in the future.

“Today, we are here together with the same faith and determination as we were 51 years ago. Just as our motherland Turkey and the north stood shoulder to shoulder in the past, we continue today with the same determination and in the same direction,” he said  in his speech during the “peace and freedom day celebrations” in Nicosia.

Referring to the 1974 invasion as a “peace operation” which brought “crystal peace and freedom” to Turkish Cypriots, he said Makarios had inflicted “a stench of blood on the island”, which “all the flowers of Cyprus could not erase.”

The Turkish President assured Tatar of Turkeys full support for his “vision for a two-state solution”, calling for on the international community to formally recognize the north and for multilateral economic and political cooperation to be established.

Related Articles

“Every step we take, every stone we erect is not just a building, a road, or a facility, but also a symbol of our brotherhood, our solidarity, and our shared belief in the future,” Erdogan said, emphasizing Turkey was fully aligned with Tatar regarding future plans on how to shape the north.

Addressing the Cyprus problem, he stressed that Turkish Cypriots did not have “another 60 years to lose” while Greek Cypriots were insisting on a unitary state, conflicting with the federal solution proposed by the north.

“Just as our motherland Turkey and the north stood shoulder to shoulder in the past, we continue today with the same determination and in the same direction,” he concluded.

In a post following his visit, he later wrote that “with god’s permission and Turkey’s support, Turkish Cypriots will continue to live freely in their own homeland forever”, adding that “no power will be able to prevent this.”