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President Ersin Tatar holds a meeting with UN Secretary-General António Guterres in New York

“Most important development that has made a mark at the 77th UN General Assembly is the call by the President of the Republic of Türkiye to the international community for the formal recognition of the TRNC.

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President Ersin Tatar has met with UN Secretary-General António Guterres at the UN Headquarters in New York which took place in a positive and constructive atmosphere. 

During the meeting, President Tatar stated that anew formal negotiation process can only be started following the reaffirmation of the sovereign equality and equal international status of the Turkish Cypriot People which is an inherent right.

The President expressed his gratitude to the Secretary-General for facilitating the conveying of the six cooperation proposals of the Turkish Cypriot Side to the Greek Cypriot Side, asked him to monitor the matter and to encourage the Greek Cypriot Side to implement these proposals which will be beneficial to both sides.

President Tatar emphasised that the most important development that made a mark at the 77th UN General Assembly is the call made by the President of the Republic of Türkiye for the international community to formally recognise the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.   The President underlined that it is a right for our sovereign equal State to be recognised in the international arena, adding that the Turkish Cypriot People will continue the struggle together with Motherland Türkiye, for the realisation of this right.

Stating that the Turkish Cypriot People have been and are continuing to be subjected to inhumane isolation, the President asked the Secretary-General to take an initiative on the matter with the objective of ending the restrictions as soon as possible.  He said the continuation of the inhumane restrictions, including the inability of Turkish Cypriot youth to participate in international sports competitions as a result of Greek Cypriot intervention and pressure, is not acceptable in this day and age. The President stressed that Turkish Cypriot youth do not deserve to be subjected to this form of persecution.

President Tatar also expressed concern at the armament efforts of the Greek Cypriot Side and the recent lifting of the arms embargo by the US on the Greek Cypriot Side adding that necessary counter steps will be taken by the TRNC together with the Republic of Türkiye.

Recalling the proposal given to the UN Deputy Secretary-General by Minister of Foreign Affairs Tahsin Ertuğruloğlu in New York to sign a Status of Forces agreement between the TRNC and the UN on Peacekeeping operations, the President underlined that hopefully the UN will approach this in a positive manner as it is a necessity.

UN Secretary-General Guterres stated that he is well aware of the Turkish Cypriot Side’s position with regards to how formal negotiations can be started, and he added that his Deputy Rosemary DiCarlo will visit the island of Cyprus within the scope of exploring whether common ground exists between the sides. The Secretary-General expressed his pleasure at again meeting with the Turkish Cypriot Side.

President Ersin Tatar was accompanied by Minister of Foreign Affairs Tahsin Ertuğruloğlu, Special Representative M. Ergün Olgun, TRNC New York Representative Mehmet Dana, Bilateral Technical Committees Coordinator Güneş Onar and Special Advisor Osman Ertuğ.