ISTANBUL

The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) has faced isolation for many years, the deputy chairman of Turkiye's Justice and Development (AK) Party and chairperson of the Council of Elders of the Organization of Turkic States said Wednesday. 

“The legitimate rights of the people of Northern Cyprus have, unfortunately, been usurped by not being recognized,” Binali Yildirim said during the 12th meeting of the Council of Elders in Istanbul.

“For years, the TRNC has been fighting shoulder to shoulder with Turkiye to end this injustice," he added.

“We make an effort to include Northern Cyprus in the activities of the Organization of Turkic States.”

Yildirim said after the meeting of the Council of Elders that growing cooperation and coordination between member countries can be moved to a more effective point and there are opportunities to discuss joint projects.

"We discussed many issues, from political issues to the economy, from culture-education issues to tourism," he said.

The decisions that were taken at the meeting will be submitted to the Council of Heads of State, he added.

The meeting was attended by the Secretary General of the Organization of Turkic States Baghdad Amreyev, Hasan Hasanov of Azerbaijan, İkram Adyrbek of Kazakhstan, Medetkhan Sehrimkulov of Kyrgyzstan and Bakhtiyor Sayfullayev of Uzbekistan.

The Organization of Turkic States consists of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkiye and Uzbekistan as member countries and Hungary and Turkmenistan as observer states.