President Ersin Tatar on Friday said that the Turkish Cypriot side’s policy in favour of a two-state solution based on sovereign equality and the continuation of Turkiye’s active and effective guarantees in Cyprus must continue.

In an interview with Turkish State Television TRT Haber, Tatar said that the Ukraine-Russia conflict revealed how justified the Turkish Cypriot side’s insistence on the continuation of the system of guarantees was.

“The war in Ukraine has shown us how precious Turkiye’s guarantees are and how necessary the presence of Turkish troops on the island is for the Turkish Cypriot people. This is something which I explained to the US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland,” he said.

The president also said that the TRNC reality was not receiving acceptance from international actors.

“The importance of this cannot be underestimated or downplayed,” he added.

Tatar pointed out that the recent references made to the TRNC in statements made by top international diplomats showed that the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus was not recognised was not acknowledged as a reality.

He repeated that the dialogue and confidence-building measures (CBMs) were always welcomed but that proposals which would extend the sovereignty of South Cyprus to the TRNC cannot be accepted.

“The issue of electricity is one area where we could cooperate. To connect the island with Europe via Turkiye thus achieving interconnectivity. Such a project would bring with it numerous advantages for us. This would help ease the economic difficulties being experienced,” Tatar said.