President Ersin Tatar evaluated the latest developments at a live program he attended on the Turkish Ulusal Channel on Thursday.

“It is not possible for us to talk about a federation, agree to a partnership with the Greek Cypriots, and accept the withdrawal of the Turkish troops from the island along with the termination of Türkiye’s guarantees” said Tatar.

Drawing attention to the decision by Washington to lift the arms embargo on the Greek Cypriot Administration, he said that purchasing arms only served to increase tensions on the island.

President Ersin Tatar said that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s call to the international community to recognize the TRNC, lift the embargos on the Turkish Cypriot people and end their persecution was an extremely important and historic step.

Stating that efforts continue to increase the status of the TRNC, Tatar said “it is no longer possible for us to talk about a federation and enter a partnership with the Greek Cypriots or accept the withdrawal of the Turkish troops from the island along with the termination of Türkiye’s guarantee.”

He noted that the only aim of the Greek-Greek Cypriot duo was to transform Cyprus into a Hellenic island.

“We have to be very careful about our national interests. Those who call us every day with the hope of an agreement in Cyprus still continue to take up arms because their intentions are different. I have never been involved in conflict, but of course, we need both the guarantee of Türkiye and the presence of Turkish troops in order to maintain our existence on this island,” the president said.

Stating that the US had rewarded South Cyprus for acting in unity with it in the war on Ukraine, Tatar noted that such armament campaigns increased tensions on the island.

“I invite everyone to exercise common sense, approach matters calmly and realistically. There are two separate states in Cyprus. The state in the north is the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) and no one can change that. Türkiye supports us as a guarantor country. What we want is sovereign equality and equal international status. If there is to be an agreement in Cyprus, it can only be through the cooperation of the two states,” the president added.

Reiterating that the biggest and most important decision had been to reopen the fenced-off town of Maraş to the public, Tatar noted that Maraş possessed a high tourism potential and that it contributed greatly to the TRNC economically.

Stating that Maraş was now far from being a ghost city, Tatar said that the next move might be to open public buildings such as the municipality house.