President Ersin Tatar on Tuesday highlighted the importance of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus’s (TRNC) sovereignty in facing threats in the Eastern Mediterranean from the Greek-Greek Cypriot duo.

Tatar was speaking during the land phase of the 2022 Caner Gönyeli Search and Rescue Exercise.

On the Cyprus negotiations, the president said that the Turkish Cypriot side’s sovereign equality and equal international status should be recognized.

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday at the end of the land phase of the 2022 Martyr Lieutenant Caner Gönyeli Search and Rescue Exercise, President Ersin Tatar said that the recent visit to the TRNC by Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu sent the message to the international community that the two-state solution model they had presented in Geneva was still on the table and that Ankara fully supported this position.

“If we are to have new talks and a settlement in Cyprus our sovereign equality and equal international status needs to be recognised. This is our expectation. The Turkish Foreign Minister reaffirmed that they remain committed to this position. Since the Republic of Türkiye is both our guarantor state and our motherland, to hear this from an authorised figure was very important for us,” he said.

Tatar said that what was important for the Turkish Cypriot side was that there will be no more talks for a federal settlement.

He said that time to defend a two-state solution in light of the conditions in the Eastern Mediterranean was long overdue.

“There are two peoples in Cyprus and each people has the right to self-determination. The Turkish Cypriots are just as sovereign as Greek Cypriots on this island as a result of past agreements,” Tatar said.