Serdar Denktaş, Deputy Prime Minister of Northern Cyprus, together with a panel of Cypriot government officials, met with Finance Minister Nihat Zeybekci in his office. In the meeting, Zeybekci said, "We would like to reach our 2023 goals together with Cypriot citizens." Zeybekci added that Northern Cyprus shares top priority among Turkey's other priorities.
In addition to reinforcing that Turkey has always supported Northern Cyprus and it would continue to support it, Zeybekci said that the situation of Cypriot citizens would never be a matter of negotiation with the EU as far as Turkey is concerned.
Emphasizing that Turkey adds 300,000, which is the population of Northern Cyprus, to its total population of 78 million, Zeybekci underscored that "we want the flag of Northern Cyprus to wave independently and we support the preferences of Cypriot citizens." Stating that they signed a Joint Committee Memorandum of Understanding and updated the list of products of Northern Cypriot origin that will be exported to Turkey, Zeybekci said that they wanted to continue to advance relations between Turkey and Northern Cyprus.
Serdar Denktaş said that a resolution in Cyprus could be reached when the Greek side was in need of it. "However, we should compete with all the countries in the world regardless of whether a resolution can be reached or not," added Denktaş. Emphasizing that the most important way to achieve a resolution is by engaging in economic integration with Turkey, Denktaş said that the aim of this visit was to overcome some commercial and economic obstacles and to consult with Turkey as to how to confidently move the Northern Cyprus economy forward. Denktaş also highlighted the fact that the Greek people are their partners not their competitors, and that Turkey is an opportunity for the Greeks.
