Turkish Cypriot leader: We will not give up our sovereignty and will not live under Greek oppression

Arsen Tatar, president of the unrecognized Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, declared that the Turkish Cypriots would not relinquish their sovereignty, and that they would refuse to live under “Greek oppression”.

“Preserving Turkey’s status as a guarantor state, the presence of Turkish forces in Cyprus and our sovereignty and our sovereign equality is a red line,” the local Turkish newspaper, Kibris, quoted Tatar as saying.

He added that abandoning those conditions “would mean being under Greek oppression.”

This came in an implicit response to the statements of the representative of Cyprus to the United Nations Andreas Mavroiannis, who spoke about the rejection of the Greek party in Cyprus the principle of sovereign equality.

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In addition, the Turkish Cypriot leader declared his rejection of the statements of the opposite party that the Turks represent a minority in Cyprus, considering this as evidence of the “racism” of the Greek Cypriots and their “desire to control” the entire island.

Tatars accused the Greek Cypriot leaders of stoking tension by making “unacceptable demands”.

Arsen Tatar reaffirmed the demand for a two-state solution to the Cyprus issue, which he insists on as the Turkish Cypriot leader, and which Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke about recently.

It is worth noting that Greece and the Greek side of Cyprus insist on settling the Cyprus issue on the basis of establishing a federal state.

Source: TASS

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