Recognition of Turkish Cyprus our top agenda

ANKARA (AA) – Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said, "we defend that Turkish Cypriot people should be treated in the same way with other countries in human rights."

Holding a press conference at Ankara’s Esenboga Airport prior to his departure for Uzbekistan, Prime Minister Erdogan said, "I will pay a visit to Uzbekistan for the first time as the prime minister. We consider Uzbekistan a country having significant historical and cultural ties with Turkey."

"I believe that mutual visits will further consolidate our bilateral relations with Uzbekistan. Besides political and economic relations, regional and international issues will be taken up during our visit to Uzbekistan. A delegation of businessmen is accompanying me. We will seek ways of increasing our trade volume with Uzbekistan and investment opportunities in Uzbekistan. We are targeting to further improve our relations with Uzbekistan, one of the powerful and influential countries in Central Asia. Further improvement of Turkey-Uzbekistan relations will also help the co-operation atmosphere in the region," he said.

Upon a question about the Cyprus question, Prime Minister Erdogan said that efforts have been continuing to find a solution.

When asked whether or not British bases in Cyprus created uneasiness, Prime Minister Erdogan said, "this issues does not take place on our agenda. Existence of Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), and recognition of two separate states in the island top our agenda. We have been defending from the very beginning that there were two religions, languages and nations in the island. Both nations have declared their states. As Republic of Turkey, we have recognized TRNC as a state. Also, we defend that Turkish Cypriot people should be treated in the same way with other countries in human rights."