Foreign Minister Tahsin Ertuğruloğlu said on Monday that Pakistan was proof of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus’s existence.

“Here we are being treated like a recognized state,” he told reporters at a press conference held at the TRNC Representation Office in Islamabad.

Voicing the TRNC’s new views on the Cyprus issue and responding to journalists’ questions, Ertuğruloğlu said the state policy the Turkish Cypriot side was not advocating was based on two sovereign and equal international states on the island.

Stating that they refrained from promoting a policy of recognition for the TRNC, he said, “What we are defending now is that there are two sovereign states with equal international status on the island”.

Pointing to the speculative reports that Pakistan and Azerbaijan were preparing to recognize the TRNC, Ertuğruloğlu stated that the TRNC currently had no such expectations.

Noting that the international community’s policy recognizing the Greek Cypriot side as the sole legitimate government on the island must come to an end, Ertuğruloğlu stated that there are two equally sovereign states in Cyprus.      “If negotiations take place between these two states then we are ready to negotiate. Otherwise there will be no negotiations process,” said Ertuğruloğlu.

He also said that there will be no room for talks if the international community continues to treat Turkish Cypriots as part of the so-called Republic of Cyprus.

Pointing out that there is a real threat to turn the island into a Greek island and the Turkish Cypriots into a minority, Ertuğruloğlu noted that the UN and the EU are contributing to this scenario.

Explaining that a state not being recognized does not mean it is non-existent; Ertuğruloğlu thanked Pakistan for its position regarding the Cyprus issue and said, “Apart from motherland Turkey, Pakistan is the only country that has a positive and correct approach to Cyprus and the realities on the Cyprus issue. I hope other countries will follow Pakistan’s example.”