STATEMENT OF H.E. MR. TAHSİN ERTUĞRULOĞLU, MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS
We strongly condemn the US Senator Bob Menendez’s statement dated 30 August 2021, regarding his goal “to see the last Turkish soldier leave the island” during his speech at the ceremony where he was awarded “the Grand Cross of the Order of Makarios III” by the Greek Cypriot administration of Southern Cyprus. Being sponsor for many resolutions at the US Senate against Motherland Turkey and TRNC and notorious for his anti-Turkish sentiment, Senator Menendez’s remarks uttered with the sole aim of paying the debt of having been elected with the support of the Greek-Greek Cypriot associations in the USA, are null and void for the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.
Supporting the Greek-Greek Cypriot duo in return for personal gain, Menendez harms the relations between Turkey and the USA. Similarly, Menendez, undermines efforts to restore security and stability both in the Island and the region.
We remind Menendez that the Turkish army intervened in the island to prevent the annihilation of the Turkish Cypriot people, who were subjected to all kinds of inhuman treatment, including mass murder, by the Greek Cypriot side, especially between 1963 and 1974. It is an undeniable fact that the Republic of Turkey intervened by using its rights and obligations stemming from the 1960 Treaty of Guarantee. We emphasise that the Turkish Armed Forces, the sole guarantor for the security for the Turkish Cypriot people, are on the island upon the request of the Turkish Cypriot people in order to prevent the repetition of past sufferings.
Demanding the withdrawal of the Turkish Armed Forces, which has been maintaining peace and security prevailing on the Island since 1974, means nothing but dragging the Island back to war and opening the door for Greek Cypriot brutality. Only losers like Menendez, who have no idea on the Cyprus issue and try to conceal their ignorance with anti-Turkish sentiment, can ask its withdrawal from the Island. Neither him nor his words have any value.
Source: TRNC Public Information Office