President Ersin Tatar issued a message in commemoration of the 9th March Paphos Resistance and its Martyrs. In his message, Tatar drew attention to what is happening in Ukraine and reiterated that motherland Turkey’s guarantee can never be given up.
In his message, Tatar noted “While the Turkish Cypriot people were massacred in the Bloody Christmas attacks launched by the Greek Cypriot-Greek duo on 21st December 1963 with the aim of Enosis, all Turkish regions throughout the island, especially the Turkish region of Lefkoşa, were subjected to very heavy attacks. The aim of the Greek Cypriot leadership was to break the Turkish resistance and make Cyprus a Hellenic Island. While the world remained as spectator against these attacks and brutality, only the guarantor country, the Republic of Turkey, took action. Turkey gave a note to the Greek Cypriot-Greek duo that it would intervene if the attacks did not stop. After this determined stance of Turkey, the Greek Cypriot attacks came to an end.
The experiences of the Turkish Cypriot people in the past and what is going on in Ukraine today reveal the reasons why we cannot give up the Turkish troops with the guarantee of Motherland Turkey. Today, the Greek Cypriot-Greek duo and some circles argue that the 1960 guarantee system is outdated and impose “zero troops, zero guarantee”; Turkey’s full and effective guarantee and the presence of Turkish troops in Cyprus are our red lines that we can never give up. We will continue our way with motherland Turkey. This is our greatest debt to our people and our martyrs. My wish is that the problem will be resolved through dialogue, not war and weapons and that peace and tranquillity will prevail all over the world. My call to the Greek Cypriot side is to put an end to activities that create tension with armaments and to approach our dialogue proposals positively.”
Source: TRNC Public Information Office
