Turkey strongly supports the rightful reactions from the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) to the unilateral hydrocarbon activities carried out by the Greek Cypriot administration in the Eastern Mediterranean, Vice President Fuat Oktay said Tuesday.
During his first official visit to Turkey since assuming power two weeks ago, TRNC Prime Minister Ünal Üstel met with Oktay.
Speaking at a joint press conference at the Presidential Complex in the capital Ankara, Oktay said they discussed the reforms and structural revisions that need to be made with a Turkish Cypriot-oriented perspective during their meeting.
"We all want a sustainable Northern Cyprus where, not short-term plans for the future, but medium and long-term goals are discussed," he said.
He said that as part of the Turkey-TRNC 2021 Economic and Monetary Cooperation Agreement, Turkey had allocated TL 4.25 billion ($259 million) to the Turkish Cyprus government.
"The sole purpose of the cooperation protocol is to strengthen the TRNC structurally in all areas and to create the necessary conditions for it to be self-sufficient," he noted.
Touching on the informal meeting that took place in line with a call by United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, he said the Turkish side manifested a vision that is grounded and based on the sovereign equality and equal international status of the two sides on the island.
Turkey, which has the longest continental coastline in the Eastern Mediterranean, has rejected maritime boundary claims made by European Union members Greece and the Greek Cypriot administration, stressing that these excessive claims violate the sovereign rights of both Turkey and Turkish Cyprus. Both sides cite a range of decades-old treaties and international agreements to support their conflicting territorial claims.
The new TRNC government will make every effort to fully implement the financial protocol signed with Turkey for the TRNC's economic development, Üstel said for his part.
"Our government will make every effort to fully implement the financial protocol, which is extremely important for the economic progress and development of the TRNC, as soon as possible," said Üstel.
"Necessary facilities have been provided for the TRNC economy to have a sustainable structure, stand on its own feet, and for Turkish Cypriot people to improve their living standards and to increase their welfare level with the protocol signed for 2022," he explained.
Expressing his happiness over paying his first official visit to the Turkish homeland as prime minister, he thanked Oktay for Ankara's invitation.
He underlined that the worldwide economic crisis, the war between Russia and Ukraine, and the difficulties caused by the coronavirus pandemic had adversely affected Turkish Cyprus as well as all other countries, adding the national economy experienced a recession.
Later, Üstel met with Turkish Parliament Speaker Mustafa Şentop, who said Turkey supports the just cause of the Turkish Cypriots to the end, adding all political parties in Parliament set aside their differences when it comes to the TRNC.
Cyprus has been mired in a decadeslong dispute between Greek and Turkish Cypriots, despite a series of diplomatic efforts by the U.N. to achieve a comprehensive settlement.
Ethnic attacks starting in the early 1960s forced Turkish Cypriots to withdraw into enclaves for their safety.
In 1974, a Greek Cypriot coup aimed at Greece's annexation of the island led to Turkey's military intervention as a guarantor power to protect Turkish Cypriots from persecution and violence. As a result, the TRNC was founded in 1983 and is currently only recognized by Turkey.
It has seen an on-and-off peace process in recent years, including a failed 2017 initiative in Switzerland under the auspices of guarantor countries Turkey, Greece and the United Kingdom.
The Greek Cypriot administration entered the European Union in 2004, the same year Greek Cypriots thwarted a U.N. plan to end the longstanding dispute.
Currently, the Turkish side advocates a two-state solution based on the sovereign equality and equal international status of the two sides on the island.