TRNC President Tatar Gives a Lecture on 'The Strategic Importance of TRNC in the Turkic World' at PAU
27.12.2023
Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) President Ersin Tatar, who came to Denizli for a series of programs and a conference on 'The Strategic Importance of TRNC in the Turkish World' at Pamukkale University (PAU), was welcomed by Rector Prof. Dr. Ahmet Kutluhan together with Denizli provincial protocol.
TRNC President Ersin Tatar was welcomed by Denizli Governor Ömer Faruk Coşkun, Denizli Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Osman Zolan, Rector Prof. Dr. Ahmet Kutluhan and Denizli protocol members at Denizli Anemon Hotel, where they made a short evaluation before the Denizli program together with Denizli protocol.
Before the conference, TRNC President Ersin Tatar, together with the Denizli protocol members, attended funeral ceremony of Sgt. Mehmet Serinkan, the hero soldier from Denizli who was martyred in a clash with terrorists from the separatist terrorist organization in northern Iraq and wished condolences and patience to the martyr's family and relatives.
The conference titled 'The Strategic Importance of TRNC in the Turkish World' held at Pamukkale University Prof. Dr. Hüseyin Yılmaz Congress and Culture Center, where TRNC President Ersin Tatar was hosted, started with a moment of silence followed by the reading of the National Anthem.
Rector Prof. Dr. Ahmet Kutluhan made a speech first in the program that continued with opening speeches.
Speaking at the opening of the program, Rector Prof. Dr. Ahmet Kutluhan stated the following: "Mr. President, your visit to Pamukkale University, which has 19 Faculties, 17 Vocational Schools and 50 thousand students, has delighted all our students, administrative and academic staff. I would like to thank you very much. Pamukkale University stands by the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus and will remain with it. We rejoice with you and grieve with you. Recognition of TRNC in the world is our most natural right. I hope we will be blessed to see this recognition. Our 1974 Cyprus Peace Operation took place in our childhood period and it remains vivid in our memories. However, what I personally cannot forget about the Cyprus Peace Operation and what I have preserved in my memory is the anthem 'I went mourning, I came happy'. I was in boarding secondary school. We played the flute in music class. I failed to play the flute and the teacher told me I would fail the class. I told him that I had memorized the notes of the anthem and would it be okay if I sang it. He said well done and we passed. The Turkish soldier brought peace to Cyprus. The anthem written for him saved me from failing the class. I wish all our soldiers who have been martyred until today, Commander-in-Chief Gazi Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and his comrades-in-arms a great mercy. I wish strength to all members of our armed forces who are still fighting against terrorism across the border and who ensure that we remain independent in these lands.
Together with the martyr we buried today, I wish mercy from Allah to all our Mehmetçiks who were martyred in Claw Lock Operations, may their places be in heaven. Best regards."
Following the opening speeches, the program continued with a short video screening on the events and social and political developments of the TRNC from 1968 to the present day. After the video screening, TRNC President Ersin Tatar delivered his speech titled 'The Strategic Importance of TRNC in the Turkic World'.
TRNC President Tatar said: "If this struggle had not been waged, if sacrifices had not been made in Cyprus, if there had not been the 1974 Cyprus Peace Operation, if those sacrifices had not been made, Northern Cyprus would have been a Greek Island."
"TRNC President Ersin Tatar expressed the following in his speech: "Mr. Governor, esteemed Mayor, esteemed Rector, esteemed deputies, esteemed academicians, esteemed students, esteemed veterans, esteemed members of the press, I am very pleased to be in Denizli today. Today, of course, there was the funeral of our martyr. I attended this funeral ceremony and expressed my condolences to his family as the President of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. I wish Allah's mercy to all our Mehmetçiks who lost their lives in the recent Claw Lock operations. My condolences to their families, relatives, loved ones, the Turkish Armed Forces and the Turkish nation. We experienced such a pain together. As of this week, the Turkish Cypriot people also commemorate the Turkish Cypriots who were massacred 60 years ago in the 1963s and 1965s with various different ceremonies every year as the National Struggle and Martyrs Week on December 21-25. Today, this funeral ceremony is held in Denizli Tavas, of course, when Tavas is mentioned, our Colonel İbrahim Karamanoğlu is one of our commanders who was martyred on the night connecting July 20-21 in the first days of the Cyprus Peace Operation and has an exceptional place in our hearts. His grave lies in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus in the Kyrenia region of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, accompanied by a museum in that region, which we now call Karamanoğlu. I wish him mercy once again from here. May the place of our Colonel İbrahim Karaman be in heaven and may his soul rest in peace. Of course, why we are here today. I would like to thank Prof. Dr. Ahmet Kutluhan, Rector of Pamukkale University, for inviting me here and for welcoming me with such an intense participation. The Cyprus issue is a national issue. The Cyprus issue is not a matter to be taken lightly at all. Many things have changed in the last 50 years, of course there have been many developments. While explaining these to our esteemed students in a university environment, there is probably no need to say how important Cyprus is for Turkey. Because when you look at the map, you can see Turkey right under your nose, you can see the Taurus Mountains when you wake up in Kyrenia in the morning, and you can see the Beşparmak Mountains when you look this way. It is like a part of Turkey and in national unity and solidarity, both national and nationalist interests and interests, and when you say blue homeland, the government of Northern Cyprus has its own maritime jurisdiction in its own maritime jurisdiction areas, its own economic ready zone rights, its own territorial waters and its own continental right, these are all different concepts. With all these, the cooperation of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus and the Republic of Turkey gives us a much larger living space in the blue homeland, which will give our nation, the Republic of Turkey and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus a much larger living space in this critical region, with the right, law and, hopefully, in the future, in issues such as natural resources, with the dimensions of wealth and security in the geostrategic, geopolitical sense, the global stones in the whole world are shifting. With the great efforts of Mr. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, we can enter there with that status, and in various different meetings and evaluations we have made to them, we, as the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, are the representative of the entire Turkish world as a Turkish state in the southernmost part of the Turkish world and as a window opening to the Mediterranean of the entire Turkish world, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus is taking its place on our national place by becoming more institutionalized and rooted day by day. If this struggle had not been waged, if sacrifices had not been made in Cyprus, if the 1974 Cyprus Peace Operation had not taken place, if those sacrifices had not been made, Northern Cyprus would have been a Greek Island. Our struggle has not been easy at all, it has been a laborious struggle. In the same way, since there was no compromise in Cyprus, although we continued on our way in peace and security after July 20, 1974, the pressure of the international community has always been a problem for the Turkish Cypriots, even though the environment of Cyprus has changed economically and Cyprus has seen much better days. The past is the past, we have to look to the future.
TRNC President Tatar: "Cyprus is a national value beyond the case for all of us, so it is a national issue that future generations should protect this national value to the end, to glorify the national value, to glorify the stability and future in the national value."
"The Republic of Turkey is much stronger than before with its national defense industry, its army, its forces and Turkey's economic potential, and of course, the global balances have changed dramatically. What happened in the war in Ukraine, what happened in Palestine, what happened in Syria, what happened in Iraq, what do we see when we look at the big environment? The Republic of Turkey will never give up Cyprus. When we say Turkish Cypriots, some of you who went to Anatolia in 1571 and settled there and saw your future there, then some of you migrated back to Anatolia in the 1920-1930s, some of us migrated to England and Australia during our years of struggle, and therefore, in various different countries of the world, the longing and always the goal of the Turkish Cypriots all over the world, who are loyal to the Turkish nation, who are devoted to the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus and who are loyal to their homeland, is the recognition of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. There is a great mobilization in this direction. Wherever they are in the world, every Turkish Cypriot, as an honorary influence for their country, gives the good things of our state with every environment they find. I hope that day will come. Because we have no alternative other than that, our survival, our existence and our future there can of course be with the Republic of Turkey as I have stated. Turkey's support is very precious and valuable for us and Turkey's security in the skies, airspace and Euphrates in its own blue homeland, its national interests and national expectations have been passing through Cyprus since long ago. Therefore, Cyprus is a national value beyond the cause for all of us, so it is a national issue that future generations must protect this national value to the end, to glorify the national value, to glorify the stability and future in the national value. For this reason, I would like to express once again my confidence in our young people. I am glad that you exist, I am glad that as the sons of such a nation and as the brothers and sisters of you in Cyprus, our greatest wish is to carry them into the future with our inseparable and unbreakable ties with you. I greet you from here with my most heartfelt feelings. I wish you success."
TRNC President Tatar: "As loyal people, we neither forget our martyrs nor make them forget. They will always keep their exceptional place in our hearts."
"Once again, I would like to thank Pamukkale University for inviting me here. Once again, I wish God's mercy to our martyr whom we buried today. I wish my condolences to his family, his relatives and the Turkish Armed Forces. Once again, I greet all my veterans who mobilized for the landing in Cyprus during the Cyprus Peace Operation by risking all kinds of dangers and went there and who are listening to me today. I commemorate all our martyrs who were martyred in Cyprus with mercy. I wish their families patience from Denizli today. As loyal people, we neither forget our martyrs nor make them forget. They will always keep their exceptional place in our hearts. It is with these feelings, with this excitement, with these national values, while building our future, our unity and solidarity and the sanctity of the bonds between us carry us into the future. It is the wish of all of us to protect these values and to have a stronger Republic of Turkey and a stronger Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus in the future. I greet you with these feelings."
At the end of the conference, Rector Prof. Dr. Ahmet Kutluhan presented TRNC President Ersin Tatar with a Yatağan Machete made of Damascus Steel to mark the meaning and importance of the day. In addition, PAU Students Şeydanur Kaplan and Berfin Altan, who were among the National Team Athletes who won the gold medal at the Women's Goalball European Championship held in Montenegro, were presented gifts by TRNC President Ersin Tatar and Rector Prof. Dr. Ahmet Kutluhan.
After the conference program, TRNC President Ersin Tatar, Rector Prof. Dr. Ahmet Kutluhan and the accompanying delegation planted an olive tree, which is the symbol of peace, in the green area in Pamukkale University Kınıklı Central Campus. Afterwards, the delegation visited Pamukkale University Martyrs Monument and hoisted the TRNC flag with the flag ceremony held here. At the end of the flag ceremony, Rector Prof. Dr. Ahmet Kutluhan presented a gift to TRNC President Ersin Tatar in memory of the day. After the visit to the monument, TRNC President Ersin Tatar was hosted by Rector Prof. Dr. Ahmet Kutluhan at the Rectorate Office, where he had a conversation with Rector Prof. Dr. Ahmet Kutluhan for a while. TRNC President Ersin Tatar also signed the Rectorate's Memorial Book on the meaning and importance of the day.
TRNC President Ersin Tatar also visited Denizli Teleferik and Bağbaşı Plateau together with Denizli protocol within the scope of Denizli visit program and then participated in the 'Meeting with Veterans' program. In the continuation of the program, Denizli Governor Ömer Faruk Coşkun, Denizli Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Osman Zolan, Rector Prof. Dr. Ahmet Kutluhan, members of the provincial protocol came together at the dinner program hosted by Denizli Metropolitan Municipality, AYSİAD Denizli and Ekoavrasya Foundation, which brought TRNC President Ersin Tatar together with the Denizli business world. At the end of the program, TRNC President Ersin Tatar, together with the Denizli protocol, visited Denizli Metropolitan Municipality Nihat Zeybekci Congress and Culture Center, made inspections and watched the staged zeybek show.
Following the opening speeches, the program continued with a short video screening on the events and social and political developments of the TRNC from 1968 to the present day. After the video screening, TRNC President Ersin Tatar delivered his speech titled 'The Strategic Importance of TRNC in the Turkic World'.
TRNC President Tatar said: "If this struggle had not been waged, if sacrifices had not been made in Cyprus, if there had not been the 1974 Cyprus Peace Operation, if those sacrifices had not been made, Northern Cyprus would have been a Greek Island."
"TRNC President Ersin Tatar expressed the following in his speech: "Mr. Governor, esteemed Mayor, esteemed Rector, esteemed deputies, esteemed academicians, esteemed students, esteemed veterans, esteemed members of the press, I am very pleased to be in Denizli today. Today, of course, there was the funeral of our martyr. I attended this funeral ceremony and expressed my condolences to his family as the President of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. I wish Allah's mercy to all our Mehmetçiks who lost their lives in the recent Claw Lock operations. My condolences to their families, relatives, loved ones, the Turkish Armed Forces and the Turkish nation. We experienced such a pain together. As of this week, the Turkish Cypriot people also commemorate the Turkish Cypriots who were massacred 60 years ago in the 1963s and 1965s with various different ceremonies every year as the National Struggle and Martyrs Week on December 21-25. Today, this funeral ceremony is held in Denizli Tavas, of course, when Tavas is mentioned, our Colonel İbrahim Karamanoğlu is one of our commanders who was martyred on the night connecting July 20-21 in the first days of the Cyprus Peace Operation and has an exceptional place in our hearts. His grave lies in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus in the Kyrenia region of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, accompanied by a museum in that region, which we now call Karamanoğlu. I wish him mercy once again from here. May the place of our Colonel İbrahim Karaman be in heaven and may his soul rest in peace. Of course, why we are here today. I would like to thank Prof. Dr. Ahmet Kutluhan, Rector of Pamukkale University, for inviting me here and for welcoming me with such an intense participation. The Cyprus issue is a national issue. The Cyprus issue is not a matter to be taken lightly at all. Many things have changed in the last 50 years, of course there have been many developments. While explaining these to our esteemed students in a university environment, there is probably no need to say how important Cyprus is for Turkey. Because when you look at the map, you can see Turkey right under your nose, you can see the Taurus Mountains when you wake up in Kyrenia in the morning, and you can see the Beşparmak Mountains when you look this way. It is like a part of Turkey and in national unity and solidarity, both national and nationalist interests and interests, and when you say blue homeland, the government of Northern Cyprus has its own maritime jurisdiction in its own maritime jurisdiction areas, its own economic ready zone rights, its own territorial waters and its own continental right, these are all different concepts. With all these, the cooperation of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus and the Republic of Turkey gives us a much larger living space in the blue homeland, which will give our nation, the Republic of Turkey and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus a much larger living space in this critical region, with the right, law and, hopefully, in the future, in issues such as natural resources, with the dimensions of wealth and security in the geostrategic, geopolitical sense, the global stones in the whole world are shifting. With the great efforts of Mr. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, we can enter there with that status, and in various different meetings and evaluations we have made to them, we, as the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, are the representative of the entire Turkish world as a Turkish state in the southernmost part of the Turkish world and as a window opening to the Mediterranean of the entire Turkish world, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus is taking its place on our national place by becoming more institutionalized and rooted day by day. If this struggle had not been waged, if sacrifices had not been made in Cyprus, if the 1974 Cyprus Peace Operation had not taken place, if those sacrifices had not been made, Northern Cyprus would have been a Greek Island. Our struggle has not been easy at all, it has been a laborious struggle. In the same way, since there was no compromise in Cyprus, although we continued on our way in peace and security after July 20, 1974, the pressure of the international community has always been a problem for the Turkish Cypriots, even though the environment of Cyprus has changed economically and Cyprus has seen much better days. The past is the past, we have to look to the future.
TRNC President Tatar: "Cyprus is a national value beyond the case for all of us, so it is a national issue that future generations should protect this national value to the end, to glorify the national value, to glorify the stability and future in the national value."
"The Republic of Turkey is much stronger than before with its national defense industry, its army, its forces and Turkey's economic potential, and of course, the global balances have changed dramatically. What happened in the war in Ukraine, what happened in Palestine, what happened in Syria, what happened in Iraq, what do we see when we look at the big environment? The Republic of Turkey will never give up Cyprus. When we say Turkish Cypriots, some of you who went to Anatolia in 1571 and settled there and saw your future there, then some of you migrated back to Anatolia in the 1920-1930s, some of us migrated to England and Australia during our years of struggle, and therefore, in various different countries of the world, the longing and always the goal of the Turkish Cypriots all over the world, who are loyal to the Turkish nation, who are devoted to the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus and who are loyal to their homeland, is the recognition of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. There is a great mobilization in this direction. Wherever they are in the world, every Turkish Cypriot, as an honorary influence for their country, gives the good things of our state with every environment they find. I hope that day will come. Because we have no alternative other than that, our survival, our existence and our future there can of course be with the Republic of Turkey as I have stated. Turkey's support is very precious and valuable for us and Turkey's security in the skies, airspace and Euphrates in its own blue homeland, its national interests and national expectations have been passing through Cyprus since long ago. Therefore, Cyprus is a national value beyond the cause for all of us, so it is a national issue that future generations must protect this national value to the end, to glorify the national value, to glorify the stability and future in the national value. For this reason, I would like to express once again my confidence in our young people. I am glad that you exist, I am glad that as the sons of such a nation and as the brothers and sisters of you in Cyprus, our greatest wish is to carry them into the future with our inseparable and unbreakable ties with you. I greet you from here with my most heartfelt feelings. I wish you success."
TRNC President Tatar: "As loyal people, we neither forget our martyrs nor make them forget. They will always keep their exceptional place in our hearts."
"Once again, I would like to thank Pamukkale University for inviting me here. Once again, I wish God's mercy to our martyr whom we buried today. I wish my condolences to his family, his relatives and the Turkish Armed Forces. Once again, I greet all my veterans who mobilized for the landing in Cyprus during the Cyprus Peace Operation by risking all kinds of dangers and went there and who are listening to me today. I commemorate all our martyrs who were martyred in Cyprus with mercy. I wish their families patience from Denizli today. As loyal people, we neither forget our martyrs nor make them forget. They will always keep their exceptional place in our hearts. It is with these feelings, with this excitement, with these national values, while building our future, our unity and solidarity and the sanctity of the bonds between us carry us into the future. It is the wish of all of us to protect these values and to have a stronger Republic of Turkey and a stronger Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus in the future. I greet you with these feelings."
At the end of the conference, Rector Prof. Dr. Ahmet Kutluhan presented TRNC President Ersin Tatar with a Yatağan Machete made of Damascus Steel to mark the meaning and importance of the day. In addition, PAU Students Şeydanur Kaplan and Berfin Altan, who were among the National Team Athletes who won the gold medal at the Women's Goalball European Championship held in Montenegro, were presented gifts by TRNC President Ersin Tatar and Rector Prof. Dr. Ahmet Kutluhan.
After the conference program, TRNC President Ersin Tatar, Rector Prof. Dr. Ahmet Kutluhan and the accompanying delegation planted an olive tree, which is the symbol of peace, in the green area in Pamukkale University Kınıklı Central Campus. Afterwards, the delegation visited Pamukkale University Martyrs Monument and hoisted the TRNC flag with the flag ceremony held here. At the end of the flag ceremony, Rector Prof. Dr. Ahmet Kutluhan presented a gift to TRNC President Ersin Tatar in memory of the day. After the visit to the monument, TRNC President Ersin Tatar was hosted by Rector Prof. Dr. Ahmet Kutluhan at the Rectorate Office, where he had a conversation with Rector Prof. Dr. Ahmet Kutluhan for a while. TRNC President Ersin Tatar also signed the Rectorate's Memorial Book on the meaning and importance of the day.
TRNC President Ersin Tatar also visited Denizli Teleferik and Bağbaşı Plateau together with Denizli protocol within the scope of Denizli visit program and then participated in the 'Meeting with Veterans' program. In the continuation of the program, Denizli Governor Ömer Faruk Coşkun, Denizli Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Osman Zolan, Rector Prof. Dr. Ahmet Kutluhan, members of the provincial protocol came together at the dinner program hosted by Denizli Metropolitan Municipality, AYSİAD Denizli and Ekoavrasya Foundation, which brought TRNC President Ersin Tatar together with the Denizli business world. At the end of the program, TRNC President Ersin Tatar, together with the Denizli protocol, visited Denizli Metropolitan Municipality Nihat Zeybekci Congress and Culture Center, made inspections and watched the staged zeybek show.
