Foreign Minister Tahsin Ertuğruloğlu has expressed his desire for efforts to begin towards achieving international recognition of the TRNC.
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TRNC News 11.7.2017 Erdoğan: “important opportunity missed last week for Eastern Mediterranean”
Addressing the 22nd World Petroleum Congress held at İstanbul Congress Centre during the opening ceremony, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said, “Unfortunately, an important opportunity was missed last week for the Eastern Mediterranean and we are saddened by the fact that the disagreements on the island were once again left unresolved despite the constructive approach of the Turkish Cypriot side and Turkey”.
Erdoğan continued, “It is inadmissible that some energy companies are acting with and becoming part of some irresponsible measures taken by the Greek Cypriots. I want to remind them that they could lose a friend like Turkey”.
He also stressed that hydrocarbon resources in the waters around Cyprus should belong to all sides on the island as a matter of justice and complying with international law.
Erdoğan added, “We expect everyone who has taken sides in the developments in Cyprus to refrain from taking more steps that might pave the way for new tensions in the region”.
Source: TRNC Public Information Office –
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TRNC News 10.7.2017 Akıncı: “We are saddened by the result but we did our utmost”
Before leaving Switzerland, President Akıncı evaluated the Cyprus Conference, which took place from 28 June to 7 July 2017 in Crans-Montana, at a press conference. Akıncı said that they are saddened by the outcome, but that they did their utmost to find a solution.
Pointing out that he carried out the negotiations together with the negotiating team during the last two years of the 50-year-old Cyprus problem, Akıncı said, “The real architect of the five-party conference is the Turkish Cypriot side. If we had not made such steady and persistent efforts in this regard, I believe that this process would not have come to this stage, it could not have”.
Stating that it was possible to create an environment from which both sides win, and that they were very close to that point, Akıncı said, “Unfortunately, no result has been achieved and now both sides lost”.
Akıncı emphasized that he wants to make an objective assessment and that all his work has been carried out to establish a bi-communal, bi-zonal federal structure in which Turkish Cypriots would live in equality, security and freedom, and added, “Of course if these conditions will not be available, I cannot recommend our people to make an agreement”
Stating that the Greek Cypriot side said that the failure of the conference was due only to military and security issues, Akıncı pointed to the UN Secretary-General Guterres’ statement and stressed that the failure was not because of the military issue.
Akıncı also said that there was a difference in approach from the beginning of the talks, and claimed that the Greek Cypriot side insistently tried to turn the conference into a conference on security and guarantees.
Erdoğan: “We have a Plan B and Plan C”
In a press conference during the G20 Summit in Hamburg, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan evaluated the Cyprus Conference, which has failed after 10 days of negotiations in Switzerland. He said, “The second session of the Cyprus Conference which started on 28 June has been unsuccessful despite all our efforts. The self-sacrificing efforts and the sincere attitudes of both Turkey and the Turkish Cypriot side were not reciprocated and we are very saddened by the result. This outcome reached after such long efforts shows the impossibility of finding a solution within the framework of the UN parameters. There is no point in insisting on these parameters any longer”.
Turkey will continue its efforts to find a solution to the problem within different parameters. We expect the same attitude from all related parties. Otherwise, we will assess plans B and C.
Erdoğan also said that they will share the decisions taken in relation to the Cyprus issue with their counterparts.
Özgürgün: “UN Officials should make it clear that a solution cannot be reached within the framework of the UN Parameters”
Prime Minister Hüseyin Özgürgün said that UN Officials should make it clear that a solution cannot be reached within the framework of the UN Parameters, or otherwise uncertainty will continue.
Speaking at an activity, Özgürgün said that the argument that says that nothing can happen if there is no agreement is not true, and that there are many things that can be done even if there is no agreement. Ozgurgun added that the outcome of the Cyprus Conference is due to events from the past.
Indicating that the Turkish Cypriots demand a solution within the framework of the UN parameters which are bi-communality, political equality of the two people and the equal status of two constituent states, Ozgürgün said that the Greek Cypriot side has been rejecting these parameters for 48 years.
The Prime Minister stressed that the Turkish Cypriot people’s only wish is equality, and that they deserve a decent life just like the Greek Cypriots. He also added that the Turkish Cypriots have never proposed to unite the island with Turkey unlike Greek Cypriots who advocate for unification with Greece.
Yildirim : “Turkey and the Turkish Cypriot side delegations have done everything they could”
Speaking about the Cyprus Conference, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım said, “Turkey and the Turkish Cypriot side delegations have done everything they could to find a solution”.
Answering questions from the press, Yıldırım said, “Turkey and the Turkish Cypriot side delegations have done everything they could and made a huge effort to have a constructive attitude from the beginning. The Turkish side has always said that they really wanted a solution. However, the unilateral EU membership of the Greek Cypriot side after the referendum in 2004, has prepared the ground for what happened in the conference.
Yıldırım continued, “The Greek Cypriot Administration of South Cyprus did not have a constructive attitude, which was easy for them because they already are an EU member. The issue of ‘Security and Guarantees’ is our sine qua none and there cannot be any concessions on this because we don’t want the terrible events of the past to be repeated”.
Atun participates in the 22nd World Petroleum Congress
Minister of Economy and Energy Sunat Atun is participating in the 22nd World Petroleum Congress that started in Istanbul yesterday.
The congress, of which the main theme is ‘Bridges to our Energy Future’, will continue until the 13th of July and the issues of oil, gas, energy efficiency and regional energy development will be discussed. (BRTK)
Source: TRNC Public Information Office –
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TRNC News 21.6.2017 Ertuğruloğlu received by Turkish President Erdoğan
Minister Ertuğruloğlu was received by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan yesterday in Ankara, where he travelled to hold meetings ahead of the Cyprus Conference, which will start on 28 June in Switzerland.
During the meeting held at the Turkish Presidency, the Cyprus negotiation process was discussed ahead of the Cyprus Conference in Crans-Montana. The delegations also attended the meeting which lasted for around one hour.
Foreign Minister Ertuğruloğlu also met with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu in Ankara the previous day.
Yıldırım: Solution should be reached “as a whole”
Stating that the leaders have to compromise on some issues at the Cyprus Conference in Switzerland, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım has said that they do not approve of an approach that separates the discussion of the security and guarantees issue from the other issues. Yıldırım said that the solution should be reached “as a whole”.
The Turkish Prime Minister also said that the Cyprus issue was discussed during his meetings in Greece.
He said, “It is still uncertain whether the circumstances will allow the participation of the Prime Ministers of the guarantor countries Turkey and Greece in the meeting in Crans-Montana on 28 June. Cypriot leaders will have to make compromises on some issues. The issues of governance, territory, population, relationships with the EU and freedom following unification should be discussed and solved as a package. It is not certain yet if that would be possible in such a short time. We will follow the process and make any positive contributions towards reaching a solution”.
Eide to hold press conference in Geneva on 27 June
Ahead of the reconvening of the Cyprus Conference on 28 June, the UN Secretary General’s Special Adviser on Cyprus Espen Barth Eide will hold a press conference at the United Nations Headquarters in Geneva.
According to a written statement issued by the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus, the Cyprus Conference will reconvene in Crans-Montana on 28 June in line with the memorandum issued following the meeting between the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and the leaders in New York on 4 June.
Turkish Cypriot pianist Zehra Mirana Faiz gives concert in Hong Kong
Turkish Cypriot artist Zehra Mirana Faiz has given a piano concert in Hong Kong. Faiz represented North Cyprus at the international concert at City Hall, playing to great acclaim.
Source: TRNC Public Information Office –
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TRNC News 15.5.2017 Erdoğan and Tsipras to work towards Cyprus solution
Erdoğan and Tsipras agree to work towards a solution in Cyprus
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras agreed last week to work towards reaching a solution in Cyprus.
Erdoğan held a bilateral meeting with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras during his visit to Peking, in the People’s Republic of China, where he was attending the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation.
During the meeting, Erdoğan and Çipras agreed on the continuation of the Cyprus negotiations, even though the desired outcome has not been reached yet, and on increasing efforts to reach a settlement with a positive agenda.
TRNC Kids Fitness Team competes at Balkan Championship
The TRNC Kids Fitness National Team had great success at the WFF FID-KIDS Balkan Championship, in which 112 athletes from the TRNC, Croatia, Serbia, Turkey, Greece, Bulgaria, Italy, Albania, Slovakia and Bosnia Herzegovina participated.
The TRNC Kids Fitness Team won 11 individual championships and achieved first place in the group dance.
Source: TRNC Public Information Office –
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TRNC News Review 2nd March 2017
Erdoğan calls on ECO members to increase solidarity with the TRNC, in the face of unjust international isolation
Addressing the General Assembly of the 13th Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) Heads of State Summit in Islamabad, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan called on ECO members to increase their solidarity with the TRNC, which has been subjected to unjust international embargoes and isolation.
Erdoğan also proposed that the TRNC’s status within the organisation should be upgraded from observer to full member, and that it would be beneficial to encourage some of the Economic Cooperation Organization’s activities in the TRNC.
Akıncı had a telephone conversation with Tillerson
The US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has stated that he appreciates the efforts to find a solution for a bi-zonal, bi-communal federal agreement, adding that the new US government is ready to provide its support.
Tillerson called President Mustafa Akıncı earlier this week, receiving a briefing on the Cyprus negotiations. Tillerson stressed that a solution in Cyprus is important not only for the two societies in the island but for the entire region.
President Akıncı also received a thank you letter from former US Secretary of State John Kerry, who handed over his role to Rex Tillerson when the new US administration came to office. In his letter, Kerry stated that the leadership and vision President Akıncı has shown have contributed greatly to reaching the last stage of the negotiations in Cyprus, by holding a five-party conference.
President Akıncı also attended the lunch given by Pakistani Prime Minister Navaz Şerif, in honour of the leaders who attended the Economic Cooperation Organization Summit.
Source: TRNC Public Information Office –
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