The 39th Anniversary of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) was celebrated in London on Saturday in central London.
The TRNC London Office held a reception celebrating the 39th anniversary of its established special guests include Turkey’s Ambassador to London Ümit Yalçın, Turkish Consul General Bekir Utku Atahan, including diplomats, heads and representatives of non-governmental organizations, well-known London businessmen, academics, local mayors.
TRNC Representative Çimen Keskin and TRNC Consuls greeted guests at the door before a minute of silence was held and the Turkish National Anthem played.
In her speech, Keskin said: “The road to our independence has never been easy. We established our state 39 years ago on November 15, 1983. The TRNC is a solid expression of the freedom and independence of the Turkish Cypriots. After the failure of past talks and the collapse of the Crans-Montana Conference in 2017, Turkish Cypriots took a stance in favour of a two-state solution on the island. In this context, we welcomed the call of the President of the Republic of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, at the last meeting of the United Nations, to “recognize the TRNC as soon as possible”. We invite the entire international community to see the facts and bring a new approach to the Cyprus issue. We expect the United Kingdom, which has an international leading role, to bring a new approach to Turkish Cypriots. Before I end my speech, I would like to mention an important development. As our Foreign Minister Tahsin Ertuğruloğlu stated, it is a historic day. TRNC has been accepted as an Observer Member of the Organization of Turkic States. We express our gratitude to our homeland Turkey and to all members of this organization.”
Then Ambassador Yalçın also spoke at the event celebrating the Republic Day and gave a speech on the 39th anniversary of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, highlighting Turkey’s support and reading a statement made by the Turkish foreign office regarding the announcement of TRNC’s new position as observer members within the Organization of Turkic States. Yalçın who will be leaving his post as Turkey’s Ambassador to London at the end of the year also thanked the Turkish Cypriot community for their warm hospitably he has received during his time in London.
