'Turkish Cypriots have never been a minority,' says Türkiye's President Erdogan

By Diyar Guldogan

ANKARA (AA) - Turkish Cypriots will never be a minority, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday, stressing that Türkiye will continue to protect the rights of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC).

"Turkish Cypriots have never been a minority and will never be. Those who ignore these facts continue their dreams of becoming the sole ruler of the island.

"I advise this group to put aside their obsessions and face the realities of the island," Erdogan told a joint news conference with TRNC President Ersin Tatar during his first visit to the country after his reelection on May 28.

If the parties are to come back to the negotiating table, it will be through the recognition of the TRNC, Erdogan added.

"We will continue to resolutely defend the rights and interests of Türkiye and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus," he stressed.

Türkiye's roadmap is clear, Erdogan said, adding that Ankara wants the Aegean Sea to be a "sea of ​​peace."

For his part, Tatar said it is "very meaningful" that Erdogan is paying his first visit to the TRNC.

"You are sending the message to all the states of the world that you are always taking care of the TRNC," he added.

- Cyprus issue

Cyprus has been mired in a decades-long dispute between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, despite a series of diplomatic efforts by the UN to achieve a comprehensive settlement.

Ethnic attacks starting in the early 1960s forced Turkish Cypriots to withdraw into enclaves for their safety.

In 1974, a Greek Cypriot coup aimed at Greece's annexation of the island led to Türkiye's military intervention as a guarantor power to protect Turkish Cypriots from persecution and violence. As a result, the TRNC was founded in 1983.

It has seen an on-and-off peace process in recent years, including a failed 2017 initiative in Switzerland under the auspices of guarantor countries Türkiye, Greece, and the UK.

The Greek Cypriot administration entered the EU in 2004, the same year that Greek Cypriots thwarted a UN plan to end the longstanding dispute.