I do not accept the term ‘Cypriot’: TRNC president

TRNC president Ersin Tatar on Friday said he does not accept the term “Cypriot” to refer to people from the island of Cyprus.

Addressing the TRNC’s Ataturk teachers’ academy, he said, “there are two peoples in Cyprus, the Turks and the Greeks are separate.

“I do not accept the term ‘Cypriot’, that is geographically, ‘Cyprus’. The Turkish Cypriot people have a right to determine their own future.”

He added that the Republic of Turkey “has a say” on the island, and that “the Turkish Cypriot people’s sovereign rights are inherent”.

“The Turkish Cypriot people want to live in peace, tranquillity, and security on this island,” he said, adding that Cyprus was “seen as a springboard for enosis” by the Greek Cypriot leadership.

“The problem now is that the TRNC is not recognised but the Greek Cypriot state is, but even if the TRNC is not recognised, it is real. The TRNC is a modern state and is developing in every field,” he said.

He also made reference to the planned electricity cable which, if built, would connect the north’s electricity grid to that of Turkey, though tangible progress on that front has been hard to come by of late.

The agreement for the construction of an interconnecting electricity cable was signed by Turkish Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz and the north’s ‘prime minister’ Unal Ustel in July last year, with its completion date set for 2028.

The timetable set out in the agreement was based on the planning phase having finished and construction having begun in 2024, but with 24 days to go until the end of the year, construction has not begun.