Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey

Attending the meeting were TOBB President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu, the Union of Hellenic Chambers President Constantine Michalos, TRNC Chamber of Commerce President Fikri Toros and the Cyprus Chamber of Commerce Phidias Pilides and the businessmen accompanying them. TOBB President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu emphasized that they are witnessing a historic event of the island and said, “For the first time, the peoples of the both sides of Cyprus, Greece and Turkey are coming together to discuss the matter of Cyprus. Just this fact by itself should show how hopeful for the future of these talks.”

- TOBB’s full support

Thanking TRNC Chamber of Commerce and the Cyprus Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Hisarcıklıoğlu stated that they would provide all the support they were able to with Union of Hellenic Chambers President Constantine Michalos throughout the process: “It is an honor to be here. I hope that the steps we take today will result in the establishment of a mechanism for dialogue between the business communities. As TOBB, we support this process to the very end.”

- Joint declaration

At the end of the summit, it was decided that the second meeting would be held in September 14^th, 2014 in İstanbul. Additionally a joint declaration was made in which emphasis was made on contributions of the parties to the process; that a lack of solution is detrimental to the interests of everyone involved. “We, the Chambers, are in support of the February 11^th 2014 Joint Declaration signed prior to the negotiations aiming to bring an end to the issues effecting Cyprus. We believe that the solution will contribute greatly to the island’s economy; will increase the prosperity of all Cypriots – Turkish and Greek. We, the Chambers, also believe that Cyprus will also benefit the region it is situated in as a part of the expanded European Union including Cyprus, Greece and Turkey.

We, the Chambers, will not only contribute to the establishment of an atmosphere of positivity and engendering more trust, we will also contribute to the encouragement of removal of obstacles to economic and trade relations. This is a great opportunity to bring the Cyprus issue to a resolution and as the Chambers, we will do all that we can to make sure this chance is not wasted.”