TR
President Eroğlu Discusses the Cyprus Negotiations
BAU hosted another important statesman. One of the guests in the 6th week of the School of Politics, held for the eighth time this year, was Dr. Derviş Eroğlu, President of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. In his speech titled "The Past, Present and Future of the Cyprus Negotiations," Eroğlu assessed the process. Former Istanbul Police Chief and Gaziantep Member of Parliament in the 23rd term Hasan Özdemir was also in the audience.
"NO ONE SHOULD DREAM OF RETURNING TO THE PRE-1974 PERIOD"
Eroğlu began his speech by saying: "To assess today, one must know yesterday," and stated that no one should dream of returning to the period before the 1974 Cyprus Peace Operation, through which Cyprus was reborn. Derviş Eroğlu said: "They should not lie to their own people. They should not make strategies by ignoring this structure. They continue to deceive themselves. We will not leave the TRNC at the mercy of the Greek Cypriots."
"WE ARE NEITHER HUNGRY NOR OUT IN THE COLD"
Saying that the people of Cyprus are tired of being left in limbo and listening to negotiations, the President said: "But we are neither hungry nor out in the cold; we will continue our existence with the effective and actual support of our motherland Türkiye." Eroğlu continued: "We do not accept sitting at the table with preconditions. We will produce a new agreement text. Let them make their intentions clear," and said of the EU: "They are aware that they have admitted a problematic country; they made a mistake."
In the sixth week of the 8th School of Politics program, with the participation of Tunceli Member of Parliament Hüseyin Aygün, Felicity Party Chair Mustafa Kamalak, Adıyaman Member of Parliament Mehmet Metiner and retired Colonel Erdal Sarızeybek in addition to Eroğlu, the topics of the new constitution work, the Cyprus negotiations, Türkiye's democratization process, remembering Dersim 1938, the constitution and democracy, and terrorism were discussed.
In summary, the participants said the following:
HÜSEYİN AYGÜN:
"The Dersim region is geographically extremely important. The Prime Minister's statement that 'if such an apology is needed in the state literature, I apologize and I am apologizing' is extremely important, but it was seen by Europe as a half apology. Today, the events in Sivas face the statute of limitations, and the public is asking when an apology will be made for Maraş."
Prof. Dr. MUSTAFA KAMALAK:
"The power and strength of a nation lie not in its cannons, rifles and technological weapons, but in the existence of new generations who are idealistic, self-confident, committed to their cause and willing to devote themselves to their nation. It is not possible for people to live in peace without justice, and as we will see in this period, justice has remained only on paper or on walls; the text that will define justice is the constitution, and our country is in great need of a high-quality constitution in this period. In creating this constitution, there is no need for any support from Europe or America; the power in question is in our country, and the goal should be to embrace society and bring it peace."
MEHMET METİNER:
"Democracy is a word of vital importance, so it must be given real substance. Neither our Republic nor our generation can be considered very old, but today's young generation in particular is very lucky because it has not seen coups. Türkiye today is not a country in danger of sinking but one standing firm with its solid economy. When determining how far we have come in democracy, we need to rely on objective criteria. Having made great progress on democracy does not mean that we are at the desired level today. In my opinion, democracy is only a form of government, not a way of life or an ideology. A democratic state is not a state that is hostile to its different citizens; if it cannot protect differences, that regime is not democratic anyway."
ERDAL SARIZEYBEK:
