The withdrawal of Turkish troops from Cyprus of which Türkiye is a guarantor is unthinkable, President Ersin Tatar said on Tuesday.
He said that the Turkish Cypriots had just as much a say as Greek Cypriots in the Eastern Mediterranean.
Speaking on a live programme on private Turkish news channel TGRT on Tuesday as part of his contacts in Türkiye, President Ersin Tatar said that the launch of Türkiye’s 4th drilling ship, the Abdulhamid Han, revealed just how strong it had become in the Eastern Mediterranean.
“This is a turning point showing just how powerful Türkiye has become in the region,” he said.
Hailing the efforts and vision of his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the president said that the Greek Cypriot administration was trying to encircle the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) and Anatolia.
“Türkiye is one of Cyprus’s guarantor countries. I could not think of the withdrawal of Turkish troops from the island,” he said.
Tatar added that the TRNC, through the authority and licenses it has granted to Türkiye, has the right to carry out its own exploration activities in the region.
Regarding a settlement in Cyprus, President Ersin Tatar said that it was out of the question to break the Turkish Cypriot people’s bond and ties with Türkiye.
He also said that it was out of the question for the Turkish Cypriot people to accept a federal settlement in Cyprus which was aimed at breaking its ties with Türkiye and through time reducing it to a minority under a Greek Cypriot state.