Physical Address
Indirizzo: Via Mario Greco 60, Buttigliera Alta, 10090, Torino, Italy
The Blue Homeland is essential for the Eastern Mediterranean as it is for the Turkic world, the president of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) Ersin Tatar said on Tuesday, underlining that the Turkish Cypriots are not alone.
Speaking to the press after a ceremony in Istanbul, Tatar said they have strengthened the TRNC’s diplomatic status on international platforms thanks to the two-state policy pursued with the support of Türkiye over the past five years.
The TRNC’s representation in the Organization of Turkic States (OTS), the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) are important indicators of the foreign policy success of recent years, he stressed.
Emphasizing that the federal solution model poses serious risks for the Turkish Cypriots, Tatar said: “Under the guise of a federation, Turks will be reduced to a minority, the Republic of Türkiye will withdraw from Cyprus, the Republic of Türkiye’s guarantorship will be eliminated, and Turkishness will lose the Eastern Mediterranean.”
Underlining the geopolitical importance of the Eastern Mediterranean, Tatar said the TRNC should be evaluated as a whole, not only as a landmass but also with its maritime jurisdictions, continental shelf, exclusive economic zones and airspace.
“As (Turkish) President (Recep Tayyip) Erdoğan has said, the TRNC will continue to be a shining Turkish state in the Eastern Mediterranean,” Tatar added.
Later, at a reception in Istanbul marking the 51st anniversary of the Cyprus Peace Operation, known as Peace and Freedom Day, he underscored that the Turkish soldiers in the TRNC will continue to remain there as a deterrent force.
If an agreement is to be signed on the Cyprus issue, the Turkish Cypriots will only sign an honorable agreement that is built on solid foundations, with Türkiye as a guarantor and the Turkish military remaining there as a deterrent force, the president underlined.
“Blue Homeland” is the name of a doctrine conceived by two former Turkish naval officers, encompassing Türkiye’s maritime jurisdictions, exclusive economic zone and continental shelf in line with United Nations resolutions.
The island of Cyprus has been mired in a decadeslong struggle between Greek and Turkish Cypriots, despite a series of diplomatic efforts by the U.N. to achieve a comprehensive settlement. Five decades of Cyprus talks have led nowhere.
In the early 1960s, ethnic attacks forced Turkish Cypriots to withdraw into enclaves for their safety. In 1974, a Greek Cypriot coup aiming at Greece’s annexation of the island led to Türkiye’s military intervention as a guarantor power to protect Turkish Cypriots from persecution and violence.
The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) was founded in 1983.
The island has seen an on-and-off peace process in recent years, including a failed 2017 initiative in Switzerland.
The Greek Cypriot administration entered the European Union in 2004, the same year that Greek Cypriots thwarted the U.N.’s Annan plan to end the decadeslong dispute, which had envisaged a reunited Cyprus joining the EU.
The status of the island remains unresolved in spite of a series of negotiations over the years.
While Greece and the Greek Cypriot administration supported a federation in Cyprus, Türkiye and the TRNC insisted on a two-state solution that reflected the realities of the island.
Economic ties grow
Stressing that economic relations between Türkiye and the TRNC are developing, Tatar said annual trade volume between the two countries is approaching around $3 billion.
He said they trade with more than 100 countries and noted that significant strides have been made in tourism with the Varosha (Maraş) initiative, which has been partially made available to the public.
