Speaking about the allegations of “direct flights from Russia to the TRNC”, Ersin Tatar said, “A Russian company applied to our civil aviation administration for direct flights.
Ersin Tatar, who is in the Presidential Office in New York for the 77th United Nations General Assembly Meetings, answered the questions of the AA correspondent.
Condemning the decision of the USA to lift the arms embargo against the Republic of Cyprus for 2023, Tatar said that this decision was unacceptable.
Stating that the Republic of Cyprus is already armed and that such armament will not bring any benefit.
Tatar said, “This (decision) will increase tension in the region by arming the Island even more, and this will not benefit anyone. This is not really a good move, it is a madness of the Greeks in my opinion, he claimed.
Calling the US to reconsider this decision, Tatar said, “The task they will be using is such an armament, if they give these weapons, it will cause some tensions that are really undesirable in Cyprus.”
In his address to the UN General Assembly, President of the Republic of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said that “history was written” with the call for the TRNC to be recognized as an independent state, another step was taken in recognition and a new message was given to the world, Tatar said, “We mean Cyprus to the international community. “There are two separate states,” he said.
Evaluating the Cyprus position of Britain, one of the three guarantor countries in Cyprus, and emphasizing that it did not fulfill its responsibility as a guarantor country, Tatar said:
“Now it still is. England remains silent. Britain remained a spectator as the conditions in Cyprus turned in this way to the detriment of the Turkish Cypriots and in favor of the Greek Cypriots. He has not moved a finger, because they have superiors in the south, they have their own interests.
I am sorry to say this, but I am disappointed that a guarantor country, which is a spectator to so much injustice in Cyprus and should be impartial, continues to be irresponsible for this long. They are still spectators to the Turkish Cypriot people who have suffered all kinds of injustices under the embargo and isolation”.
Evaluating the news in the media that there will be direct flights from Russia to the TRNC and stating that they would be pleased with this, Tatar continued as follows:
“At the moment, my knowledge is that a Russian company has applied to our civil aviation administration for flights.
Our people, in consultation with the Turkish civil aviation, gave them an answer about the conditions under which the planes will land and take off from Ercan Airport, and they are currently reevaluating this answer, but I am not sure whether this flight will be direct or not. I know it’s a work”.
Stating that there will not be a tripartite meeting with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and Greek Cypriot leader Nikos Anastasiadis in New York this year, Tatar stated that there will be elections in the Republic of Cyprus in February 2023 and Anastasiades is no longer a candidate.
Tatar, who will have a bilateral meeting with Guterres, said that he will convey to the UN Secretary General that the only solution to the Cyprus problem is a separate sovereign state in the north and that they will never solve the Cyprus problem without Turkey.
Tatar also stated that with the opening of the new airport on November 15, Turkey will have the opportunity to reach the TRNC from various airports and said, “Every Turkish citizen should visit the TRNC at least once.”