Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhurman on Friday stressed the Turkish Cypriots’ “strong will” for a solution to the Cyprus problem as he attended an Organisation of Turkic States summit for the first time in the city of Turkistan, in southern Kazakhstan.

“The Turkish Cypriot people have been subjected to unjust isolation for many years. The restrictions we face in all areas of life, including science, sports, culture, economy, trade, transportation, and international contacts, constitute a limitation of the fundamental human rights of our people,” he said.

However, he added, “the Turkish Cypriot people, who have internalised universal values ​​such as human rights, democracy, and the rule of law, have consistently and clearly demonstrated their will for a just and lasting solution and reconciliation on the island”.

He stressed that “our people’s strong will for a solution” was demonstrated at the 2004 referendum held to reunite Cyprus on the basis of the Annan plan.

The result of that referendum, which saw the Turkish Cypriot electorate approve the plan but the Greek Cypriot electorate reject it, “most clearly showed that the isolation and restrictions imposed had no legitimate justification”, he said.

He then spoke about how the European Council had shortly after the referendum said that it was “determined to end the isolation of the Turkish Cypriots”, while also making reference to similar statements made in the referendum’s aftermath by then United Nations secretary-general Kofi Annan and the parliamentary assembly of the council of Europe.

It was based on those statements, he said, that the Turkish Cypriots had gained observer member status of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation in 2005, before adding that “our current observer membership within the Organisation of Turkic States is a natural continuation of the same legitimate basis,” he said.

After this, he spoke about the most recent round of formal negotiations aimed at solving the Cyprus problem, which was held in the Swiss ski resort of Crans-Montana in 2017, and said that in those negotiations, “the Turkish Cypriot side and Turkey demonstrated a strong will for a solution”.

“This fact is well known to the international community. Therefore, it is unacceptable that the Turkish Cypriot side continues to be subjected to isolation, despite all the constructive efforts and sincere will it has demonstrated,” he said.

He added that “in this context, the solidarity shown by friendly and brotherly countries with the Turkish Cypriot people on this legitimate basis constitutes not only a requirement of fraternal ties, but will also make a significant contribution to the efforts to find a just and lasting solution in Cyprus”.

“The Turkish Cypriot people maintain their will for a solution and continue their search for a solution together with the guarantor country, Turkey. For us, diplomacy, dialogue, lasting stability on the island and in the eastern Mediterranean, cooperation, solution, and the pursuit of peace are essential,” he said.

To this end, he said that the support of the Organisation of Turkic States and of its members “is of great importance to us”, and stressed the “legitimate basis” of that cooperation, “supported by the decisions and declarations of international organisations such as the United Nations, the European Union, and the Council of Europe”.

He then spoke about the eastern Mediterranean region at large, saying that it “should be a region of cooperation, mutual respect, common prosperity, lasting stability, and peace, not of tension and exclusionary policies”.

“Inclusive collaborations to be developed in many areas, from energy to trade, from transportation to digital connectivity, from higher education to tourism, will bring stability and prosperity not only to the island of Cyprus but to the entire eastern Mediterranean,” he said.

He closed his speech by thanking Kazakh President Kassym-Jomar Tokayev for inviting him to the summit and offering his greetings to “the friendly and brotherly peoples of Turkey, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan with feelings of love, respect, and brotherhood”.