The Turkish Cypriot people do not have another 50 years to lose at the negotiating table, Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay said Thursday.

“Turkish Cypriots do not have another 50 years to lose or waste at the negotiating table or under sanctions,” Oktay said, speaking at a joint news conference with Prime Minister Faiz Sucuoğlu in Ankara on Thursday after the signing of the 2022 Economic and Financial Cooperation Protocol.

The Turkish vice president said that the international community needed to review its unconditional support to the Greek Cypriot side which had no intention of solving the Cyprus Problem or living together with the Turkish Cypriots who are joint owners of the island.

“There are two equal peoples and two equally sovereign states on the island. A two-state solution based on the sovereign equality and equal international status of the two sides is the only realistic proposal. Turkiye fully supports this proposal and it is out of the question to take a step back from this position,” he said.

Oktay also said the initiative to open the fenced-off town of Maraş is in line with international law and that TRNC authorities strive to alleviate existing concerns of the island’s inhabitants rather than create new ones.

He reiterated Turkiye’s determination to protect the TRNC’s rights and interests, saying that those who try to test it will face repercussions.

Regarding the economic and financial cooperation protocol signed between the two countries, the Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay said that ₺4.25bn in financial assistance and loans will be provided for the TRNC in 2022.

He said that the money will be used for infrastructural and other projects aimed at raising the standard of living of the Turkish Cypriot people.

“We plan to provide this money for investments and infrastructural projects at international standards. This includes the construction of a new presidential palace and offices, a 500 bed public hospital in Lefkoşa, a fully equipped 100 bed military hospital in Girne, water distribution projects for Güzelyurt and the Mesarya region, new roads, two mobile power stations as well as other rural infrastructural projects,” Oktay said.

For his part, Prime Minister Faiz Sucuoğlu thanked the Turkish government for the cooperation protocol and the Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay for hosting them in Ankara.

He pointed out that the global economic crisis and pandemic as in other parts of the world had affected the TRNC causing recession and a drop in state revenues.

“As always, the government of the Republic of Turkiye, our motherland, stands beside the TRNC in its time of hardship. For this we are eternally grateful and thankful,” Sucuoğlu said.

The TRNC prime minister expressed his view that the protocol will greatly contribute to creating an economy that can stand on its own feet and provide the Turkish Cypriot people relief during this time of economic crisis.

He added that work to introduce reforms and infrastructural projects will continue.

Sucuoğlu said that hot cash will begin to circulate within the TRNC economy in a matter of months once the necessary work is completed.