first statue of Ecevit --who was the Turkish Premier at the time of the 1974 intervention-- in TRNC was erected in front of a high school carrying his name in Lefkosa Monday, with a ceremony held with the participation of the recently elected Turkish Cypriot President Dervis Eroğlu and Acting Premier and Foreign Minister Hüseyin Özügürgün, ministers and a large crowd of citizens.

Eroğlu who addressed the crowd said the former Turkish Premier Ecevit was not a mere politician, but a great statesman that left his mark on history, noting that TRNC was paying a late homage to him.

"We are inaugurating the statue of the great statesman, late Bülent Ecevit, who has master minded the '1974 Peace Operation', and who has lead to the foundation of a state on the territory liberated by that operation," said Eroğlu.

Eroğlu said the 1974 intervention was misinterpreted by many different states.

He said Turkish Cypriots were being massacred before 1974, adding that motherland Turkey intervened under those circumstances, using its rights stemming from "the treaty of guaranty" and other agreements.

He said Turkish Cypriots enjoyed a life of freedom in the lands liberated by that intervention, saying that they should appreciate this fact.

Eroğlu said he would carry on the settlement talks with the Greek Cypriot Administration, noting however that they would not give up the earned rights of the Turkish Cypriots in the negotiation table.

Eroğlu  pointed out that it was time for the world to recognise the Turkish Cypriot people's struggle to live an honourable life. He said that a biased approach to the Cyprus issue was wrong urging those states vigorously insisting for a solution to see the facts, so that the incidents of the past would not recur.

Source: THE ANATOLIA NEWS AGENCY  LEFKOŞA