President Ersin Tatar said on Wednesday that the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus will be included in the energy equation should an agreement be reached to transport natural gas from Israel or Egypt to Europe via Turkey.

He said he believed that such a situation will have a positive impact on North Cyprus’ role in the region.

In an interview with the Turkish daily Milliyet, Tatar said that the search for alternative sources to Russian gas had put the TRNC on the map.

He added that the rising need for Israeli or Egyptian natural gas and the requirement to transport this gas through the TRNC’s maritime borders would have positive implications for the north.

“It would be easier to transport the gas to Europe via Cyprus. Cyprus is only 65km from Turkiye. This will no doubt have a positive impact on our status and may even bring with it political recognition,” he said.

Referring to remarks made by the Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov who gave the example of the TRNC in relation to the situation in Ukraine, Tatar said that this was an important development.

“The Russian Foreign Minister spoke of North Cyprus when explaining Russia’s position on Ukraine. He drew similarities between the two regions which declared its independence from Ukraine and the TRNC. The world has accepted this fact. It may not recognize the TRNC but it acknowledges its existence,” he said.

President Tatar argued that North Cyprus’s position was much stronger than the separatist states in Ukraine as the Turkish Cypriot people were founding partners of the 1960 Partnership Republic.

“Turkiye is a direct party in Cyprus because of the international agreements dating back to 1955, including the Treaty of Lausanne. There are differences between our position and that of Russia. Unlike Russia, Turkiye’s military intervention in Cyprus stems from international law and existing treaties. Our position is legally solid,” he said.

Tatar also said that the Greek Cypriot administration, which was a member of the EU, was unwillingly playing along with the sanctions imposed on Moscow.

“In reality they have strong ties to Russia and are trying to play it both ways,” he said.

Regarding the Cyprus Issue, Tatar said that the reason behind the failure to solve the Cyprus Problem was the Greek Cypriots’ continued desire to achieve Enosis or the island’s union with Greece.

He said that the latest developments had shown how timely and correct the Turkish Cypriot side’s policy in favour of a two state solution was.

“This is the only way we can maintain a balance in Cyprus and the region. Whatever the international community says, we will not abandon our state, we will not become a patch to the Greek Cypriot Republic,” the president said.