IKV Chairman Ayhan Zeytinoğlu wished success to Ersin Tatar, who was elected as the new President of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) by winning 51.69% of the votes in the second round of the presidential race on 18 October 2020, and called for speeding up investments to the TRNC in the coming period. He made the following statement:

"We are fully confident that the newly elected President of TRNC Mr. Tatar, will defend the interests of the Turkish Cypriot people in the best possible way. In the coming period, as the Turkish business community, we will continue to stand by the TRNC and the Turkish Cypriot people. In addition to the strategic importance of the TRNC, its development as an investment base is of great importance. This will help TRNC become stronger in the international arena.”

IKV Chairman Zeytinoğlu indicated that the application of incentive tools equivalent to the ones applied in Regions 5 and 6 in Turkey would ensure the increase of investments in the TRNC, and said:

“TRNC is a country suitable for effective investments especially in agriculture sectors such as fresh fruit and vegetable cultivation and greenhouse cultivation and services sectors such as education and tourism. To encourage investment in these areas, incentive mechanisms equivalent to the ones used in Region 5 and 6 in Turkey should be applied. Such an incentive system will create a win-win formula for both Turkey and the TRNC. TRNC’s economic development will make it a more attractive destination in the Eastern Mediterranean. This will also strengthen TRNC’s hand against the Greek Cypriot Administration (GCASC) and make its negotiating position stronger. So far, the efforts within the framework of the UN have failed to yield results. We have seen that the party that does not want a solution is the GCASC. Also, the EU has ignored the TRNC. Neither the Direct Trade Regulation could be implemented nor could the issue concerning the registration of the Hellim/Halloumi cheese be resolved. It is time to shift gears in Cyprus. Providing incentives will be important for increasing the support of the business community to the TRNC and for realizing TRNC’s economic potential.”

IKV Chairman Zeytinoğlu continued his remarks by touching upon the Cyprus question and Turkey-EU relations.  Stating that the EU had made a historic mistake by admitting the GCASC as the representative of the entire island in 2004, he said the following:

"The Cyprus question is a critical issue for Turkey-EU relations. Following the Athens Agreement signed in 2003, GCASC acceded to the EU in 2004 representing the entire island. However, this membership was in breach of EU values. For, the Annan Plan which envisaged turning the island into a single entity was rejected in the referendum held in the south of the island. This way, the administration that rejected the peace plan acceded to the EU on representing the island. Although the Turkish Cypriots accepted the plan, they were punished. This was also in breach of the principle of peaceful settlement of disputes foreseen in the Helsinki Presidency Conclusions. Once acceding to the EU, GCASC has used its position to undermine Turkey’s EU accession negotiations. We see that this negative stance has been still going on. It has become clearer that the GASC does not want a solution within the framework of the UN. They are against any solution that will give the Turkish Cypriot people an equal and fair status. In this context, reaching a solution that will protect the interests of the Turkish Cypriot people seems difficult. We believe that with Turkey’s support, the newly elected President Tatar will defend the interests of the TRNC in the best possible way both in the initiatives vis-à-vis the UN and in the international fora. The EU, on the other hand, approaches the issue in a biased and unfair way and allows GCASC to block relations with a country of 80 million in this way. The EU has taken on an extremely wrong approach lending full support to Greek and Greek Cypriot claims without taking into consideration the position and arguments of Turkey which has been an associate member since 1964, a Customs Union partner since 1996, a candidate country since 1999 and a country negotiating accession since 2005 and by labelling Turkey as country acting ‘illegally and in breach of international law’. This approach does not serve security and peace in the Eastern Mediterranean, nor does it serve the EU’s long term interests. We invite the EU to adopt a far-sighted and fair approach.”