Speaking at a ceremony in Mersin Square to mark the 47th anniversary of the Turkish invasion, the Turkish Cypriot leader said that Turkish Cypriots have been fighting on the island since 1571 and “stand up despite oppression, persecution, and massacres.” “They wrote an epic with the support of Turkey.”
However, he claimed that “the dream of the Greek side for a Union is not over“. “Today is the day of the birth of the Turkish Cypriot people, the day they have gained their freedom, sovereignty, and independence,” he said.
Ersin Tatar said 50 years of federation negotiations were over, arguing that the game being played here was to turn the Turkish Cypriots into a minority, remove Turkey from the island and strategically weaken it in the region.