Turkish president marks TRNC’s 42nd anniversary

By Serdar Dincel and Mehmet Kemal Firik

ISTANBUL / LEFKOSA, Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (AA) - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday marked the 42nd anniversary of the founding of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC).

"I commemorate our heroic martyrs with mercy and express my gratitude to our veterans. We will never abandon our national cause, Cyprus," Erdogan said on the Turkish social media platform NSosyal, congratulating the Turkish Cypriots on this occasion.

Ankara will continue to strengthen its solidarity with the Turkish Cypriot people in every way, he added.

Meanwhile, on the occasion of the TRNC's Nov. 15 Republic Day, the country's president, Tufan Erhurman, said the Turkish Cypriots' struggle to protect their existence, identity and rights on the island has continued uninterruptedly for decades.

Erhurman expressed TRNC's determination to pursue its quest for finding a solution on the island to ensure lasting stability and peace both on the island and in the region.

- Decades-long Cyprus problem

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 single-handedly blocked a UN plan to end the longstanding dispute.