ANKARA- National Union Party (NUP) leader Derviş Eroğlu, who secured victory in the elections held in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) on April 19, 2009, visited TEPAV in his first Turkey visit as the Prime Minister of the TRNC. He was the keynote speaker at the round table meeting carried out at the TOBB University of Economics and Technology (TOBB-ETÜ). Eroğlu said that in his visit to Ankara, course of negotiations and bilateral economic relations were addressed with Turkish officials.

At his speech, TRNC Prime Minister expressed his discomfort about the news at the foreign media arguing that the uncompromising and anti-settlement forces gained momentum in the northern part of the island following NUP's coming into power. Eroglu reminded the audience of the NUP's pre-election and post-election assurances for the continuation of the negotiations. He expressed that despite the claims in some of the foreign media outlets, all the peace talks, except the Annan Plan, were carried out during the term of his party at the office.

At another part of his speech, Eroğlu enumerated two mistakes of the international community that, in his opinion, delayed the solution of problems at the island. He maintained that the first mistake was made when the UN Security Council decided to accept the Greek Cypriots as the only heir of the Cyprus Republic with their decision in March 1964. He argued that the second mistake was made by the EU when they accepted the Greek Cypriot application into the EU in 1990;,when they accepted the starting of full membership negotiations in 1997, and finally when they were given full membership back in 2004. He claimed that these developments strengthened the uncompromising attitude of the south at the negotiation table. Eroğlu underlined the role the international community can play in securing a two-state solution. He finished his speech by assuring the audience once again that his government will continue to work towards finding a reasonable solution to the conflict.