Condemning Armenia’s attacks on Azerbaijan, Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) Prime Minister Ersin Tatar said that Turkish Cypriots would always side with their Azerbaijani brothers.
Border clashes broke out last Sunday when Armenian forces targeted Azerbaijani civilian settlements and military positions, leading to casualties. Azerbaijan's parliament declared a state of war in some of its cities and regions following Armenia's border violations and attacks in occupied Nagorno-Karabakh.
According to Bayrak Radyo Television (BRT), Tatar also touched upon the tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean during a televised interview.
Underlining that Greece and the Greek Cypriot administration have violated the rights of Turkish Cypriots for years and acted as if the island belonged completely to them, Tatar said the struggle to claim their rights would continue with Turkey.
He reiterated his will for a solution based on sovereign equality.
The island of Cyprus has been divided since 1974 when a Greek Cypriot coup took place after decades of violence against the island's Turkish community and resulted in Ankara's intervention as a guarantor power. The TRNC was established in 1983 on the northern tier of the island and is only recognized by Turkey. The country faces a longstanding embargo on commerce, transportation and culture.
Attempts to establish a long-term solution for the island over the years through talks and resolutions saw no results, including the latest initiative in Crans Montana, Switzerland under the auspices of guarantor countries Turkey, Greece and the U.K., but the process collapsed in 2017.
