Pr. Tatar says TRNC’s status needs to be upgraded for embargoes to be lifted

Tatar who pointed out that the Islamic Solidarity Games will be held in another country in 2025 said that their efforts to enable the participation of Turkish Cypriot athletes in that competition would continue.

Evaluating his contacts in Türkiye upon his return at Ercan Airport, President Tatar said that he had found the opportunity to speak at the 13^th Ambassadors conference in Ankara which he attended as the guest of the Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu.

“For that, I would like to thank Mr Çavuşoğlu. I was able to once again inform the Turkish ambassadors of our new vision and position,” he said.

Pointing out that he had also attended the 5th Islamic Solidarity Games opening ceremony in Konya, Tatar said that he had met with his Azeri counterpart İlham Aliyev on the sidelines of the event.

“We discussed ways of enhancing relations and cooperation between our respective countries. Mr Aliyev shares our view that we are one nation, three countries,” he said.

Tatar said that he had also conveyed to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and other heads of state the disappointment he was experiencing over the fact that Turkish Cypriot athletes were not allowed to participate in the games.

“I told them about the sports embargoes and isolation Turkish Cypriots face. We are observers within the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). It is our desire to see our athletes compete in the games. But there are problems and so we need to upgrade the status of the TRNC to overcome these problems,” he said.

The president said that he had also visited Karaman on the last day of his contacts during which he had addressed a conference on the Cyprus Issue.

He said that he had explained that all efforts to reach a federal settlement had been exhausted and that any settlement to be reached on the island needed to be on the basis of sovereign equality.

Also drawing attention to the launch of Türkiye’s 4^th drilling ship, the Abdulhamid Han, Tatar said that the Turkish Cypriot side’s new policy was proceeding as planned and in light of developments in the Eastern Mediterranean was fully supported by Ankara.