Foreign Minister Tahsin Ertuğruloğlu said that the Turkish Cypriot people have requested the reaffirmation of the official recognition of Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) under the sovereign equality and equal international status of the Turkish Cypriot State.
Foreign Minister Tahsin Ertuğruloğlu spoke at the Foreign Ministers Annual Coordination Meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) held in line with the 77th UN General Assembly meeting in New York.
According to information by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ertuğruloğlu stated that more than 50 years have been wasted on negotiations based on a federation model in the (TRNC).
Following the collapse of the Cyprus conference in Crans-Montana in July 2017, the time had come to explore other options in Cyprus, the minister said.
Ertuğruloğlu expressed expectations from the OIC member states to swiftly take concrete steps and officially recognize the (TRNC) and establish relations with the Turkish Cypriot State to help overcome the Greek Cypriot side’s inhumane restrictions and embargoes.
“The Cyprus issue is a status issue”
Foreign Minister Ertuğruloğlu said the Cyprus issue is a status issue.
“The Cyprus issue has been on the international community’s agenda for nearly 60 years and is continuing to be. The UN Security Council wrongly diagnosed the issue from the beginning. The Cyprus issue is a status issue. The fact is that both peoples on the island are sovereign equals and any effort to resolve this issue must take this fact into account”, Foreign Minister Ertuğruloğlu said.
