President Ersin Tatar has said that dynamics in the Eastern Mediterranean have shifted, raising the importance of Cyprus once again.

“That is why preserving and maintaining the existence of Turkish Cypriots on the island has become more important than ever. These shifting dynamics and balances have demonstrated the importance of the national cause waged in Cyprus,” the president said during a speech he delivered at a conference organised in Lefkoşa on Thursday.

Addressing the opening session of a symposium titled “Security, Stability and Cooperation in the Mediterranean” organised by Türkiye’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TİKA) and the Centre for Middle Eastern Studies (OSRAM) at the Ankara Social Sciences University’s North Cyprus campus, President Ersin Tatar drew attention to the shifting balances and equations in the Eastern Mediterranean.

He said that the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus had once again proved its strategic importance for the Blue Homeland Doctrine as well as the Türkiye-Libya Maritime Boundary Deal.

Tatar added that the Turkish Cypriot people will continue to maintain and further develop its close cooperation with motherland Türkiye.

“We need to continue to implement our national policy unwaveringly. We can only have a say in this region by maintaining our existence,” said President Tatar, adding that the time had come for the UN to stop insisting on a federal settlement which had been adopted as a basis for a solution 60 years ago.

“There are two sovereign peoples in Cyprus and any settlement to be reached must be on the basis of sovereignty,” noted Tatar, reminding that the island’s hydrocarbon resources should be shared fairly through a joint committee to be set up by the two states on the island.

Referring to his recent cooperation proposals, Tatar said that the island’s energy needs could be addressed by interconnecting the island’s grid with that of Turkiye which is located 40 miles from Cyprus.

He also said that the water from Türkiye could be shared with the south as a confidence-building measure.