A ceremony was held at the Cyprus Foundations Administration Headquarters Building on the occasion of the 453rd anniversary of the establishment of the Cyprus Foundations and the 68th anniversary of their transfer to the Turkish Cypriot people by the British Colonial Administration.

President Ersin Tatar, President of the Assembly of the Republic Zorlu Töre, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Tourism, Culture, Youth and Environment Fikri Ataoğlu, Minister of National Education Nazım Çavuşoğlu, Minister of Labor and Social Security Sadık Gardiyanoğlu, General Director of the Cyprus Foundations Administration Prof. attended the ceremony. Dr. Mustafa Tümer, Foundations Administration Board Members, Foundations employees, some bureaucrats, teachers and students attended.

The ceremony, which started with a moment of silence and the reading of the National Anthem, continued with laying a wreath on the Atatürk bust.

Tatar: “No one can underestimate what the Foundations Administration does to keep the economic wheels turning.”

President Ersin Tatar, in his speech at the ceremony, II. He stated that the Cyprus Foundations Administration was established as the first action upon completion of the conquest of Cyprus on August 1, 1571, during the reign of Selim III.

Tatar said, "Sultan Selim Han's seal was put there to establish us in these lands by taking root in them," and added that the first foundation was established by Sultan Selim Khan. Stating that the Foundations Administration ensures that the property, property and savings of the Turkish Cypriot people are carried forward in a beneficial way, President Tatar said:

“This is the biggest answer to those who question our political stance and political rights in Cyprus. We are happy to have come this far with our 500-year history in this country, with what we have done here, with our efforts, with our work, with our knowledge, with the values we have created and with the dedication of these, and with the arrangements made to carry them into the future.”

Emphasizing that no one can underestimate what the Foundations Administration does to keep the economic wheels turning, Tatar stated that the managers of the Foundations Administration bear a great responsibility to ensure that the donated properties are used for good works and their income is used correctly.

“Our wish from our administrators is to do the right thing. Tatar said, "They should receive the right rent and use those rents for charity…" and noted that this is the wish, wish and will of those who strive, strive, and donate their property to themselves and their families without spending it.

Expressing that the exchange of foundation properties in Southern Cyprus is in question, Tatar said that there are now two separate peoples, two separate states in Cyprus, and if there is an agreement, it will be on the basis of sovereignty and the exchange of property will be regulated accordingly. President Tatar stated that the goods purchased here in exchange for the goods in Southern Cyprus should be evaluated and used with the same mentality.

Pointing out that the Cyprus Foundations Administration stands by the people in need, Tatar noted that the TRNC state is behind the Foundations Administration. Tatar saluted the people who served the country and the foundation and hoped that the work would continue. Tatar stated that these studies are very important for young generations to take root in these lands.

The leader of the Turkish Cypriot people's struggle for existence and freedom, Dr. Tatar, who also commemorated Fazıl Küçük, said that thanks to Küçük's struggle against the British Colonial Administration, the Cyprus Foundations Administration was transferred to the Turkish Cypriot people 68 years ago, and underlined that this was an important success that ignited and shed light on the national struggle. President Tatar, Dr. Fazıl Küçük paid tribute to Founding President Rauf Raif Denktaş and his friends.

Tatar also thanked the former General Manager of the Cyprus Foundations Administration, İbrahim Benter, for his services.

Töre: “Without foundations, there would be a great deficiency in the struggle of the Turkish Cypriot people.”

President of the Assembly of the Republic, Zorlu Töre, said, "Without the foundations, there would be a great deficiency in the struggle of the Turkish Cypriot people" and added that Turkish Cypriot properties and foundation properties were preserved thanks to the foundations.

Stating that 68 years have passed since the Foundations were transferred to the Turkish Cypriot people by the British Colonial Administration, Töre noted that the Foundations were established 453 years ago. Pointing out that the foundations remained under British rule for a while, Zorlu Töre asked, "What happened to the foundation lands, properties, lost foundations, and the foundations remaining in the south?" He stated that it was necessary to ask.

Explaining that foundation properties and lands in TRNC have been rented to the state for a long time for the use of public benefit, Töre said, “It is a tradition from our ancestors. Do good so that you may find good. "The best thing is to compete in kindness," he said.

Noting that national and spiritual values should always be protected, Töre said, “The stronger our national and spiritual values are, the stronger the Turkish Cypriot people will be. "He looks to the future with hope," he said.

Stating that "fifth column activities" are working to destroy national and moral values, Töre stated that we need to be careful against them and said, "Protecting national and spiritual values is not reactionism and bigotry. If there are people who describe it this way, they will look in the mirror themselves. This means that they are disconnected from the people. "They did not take part in the national existence struggle of the Turkish Cypriot people," he said.

Parliament Speaker Töre stated that thanks to the Foundations Administration, the Turkish Cypriot people survived on foundation properties and moved to these days, and said, “It will be better from now on. Now there is TRNC, next to us is the motherland Türkiye. Türkiye, the greatest protector of the Turkish Cypriot people, is here, the Turkish army is here, our mujahideen are here. "We will continue on our way by strengthening our national and moral values," he said.

Ataoğlu: “May our unity and solidarity be eternal”

Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Tourism, Culture, Youth and Environment Fikri Ataoğlu also paid tribute to all those who donated and those who are deceased throughout the history of the Foundations from past to present. Ataoğlu stated that foundations were established to carry values forward.

Stating that foundations with a history of nearly a thousand years should exist, Ataoğlu said that knowing the value of the foundations, there should be unity and solidarity to move them forward.

Underlining that the carrying of values from past to present is thanks to unity and solidarity, Ataoğlu said, "May our unity and solidarity be eternal."

Çavuşoğlu: “It is our duty to keep these lands entrusted to us intact in every sense and to raise them to the level of advanced contemporary civilizations in the world.”

Minister of National Education Nazım Çavuşoğlu also said that foundations, which have a history of nearly a thousand years, prioritize people and aim to help people live by doing good, aim to keep the state alive while keeping people alive.

Stating that great duties have been undertaken in the history of the national struggle to ensure that people exist, do business, turn the economic wheels and feed themselves, Çavuşoğlu stated that people have donated their goods and property for the state and its people for hundreds of years.

Emphasizing the need to highlight and spread the logic of "making people love doing good", Minister Çavuşoğlu emphasized the importance of the composition competition held in this context.

Reminding that Iskele Evkaf Turkish Maarif College was built by Evkaf, Minister Çavuşoğlu described those days by saying, "Our eyes were filled with tears of happiness." Çavuşoğlu said, "We have such a deep-rooted past that even though we try to scythe it every day, it continues towards the future by growing greener and stronger."

Minister Çavuşoğlu said, "It is our duty to keep these lands entrusted to us intact in every sense and to raise them to the level of advanced contemporary civilizations in the world," adding that generations have been raised to do this duty in the best possible way.

Explaining that he encountered many people trying to establish a foundation, Nazım Çavuşoğlu said, "Obviously, these lands will live with this feeling for thousands more years, and everyone will continue to make sacrifices while they live."

Tümer: “This philosophy, which is approximately 975 years old, includes all human values”

Cyprus Foundations Administration General Director Prof. Dr. Mustafa Tümer also said that the Cyprus Foundations, which were established after the Ottoman Empire conquered the island in 1571, were an extension of the foundation civilization established in Anatolia in 1048.

Emphasizing that this philosophy, which is approximately 975 years old, includes all human values, Tümer said, "These values include showing a smiling face towards humanity, doing one's job properly, leading a useful, purposeful and virtuous life."

Stating that the ancestors who donated their property in the past lived a life at the peak of social solidarity by removing their assets from private property forever in order to compete in goodness, Tümer stated that many foundations that touched life were established and a foundation civilization that will live for centuries was created.

"In today's world where wars, greed, selfishness, excessive consumption and materialism prevail, we all need to remember and learn our values," Tümer said, adding that it is necessary to understand that what is sustainable is to focus on production, sharing and benefit, and to do something good that will touch life. Tümer stated that a more beautiful world will be created this way.

"It should not be forgotten that where there is goodness, peace becomes inevitable and war becomes meaningless," said Tümer, noting that the importance of the Cyprus Foundations Administration is increasing day by day for both the country and the region.

Following the speeches, the 1st Inter-Secondary School Composition Competition Award Ceremony on the theme of "Foundation and Solidarity" was held, under the main sponsorship of the Tangül Ünal Çağıner Foundation, in cooperation with the Cyprus Foundations Administration and the Ministry of National Education. The names of the students who won the competition are as follows:

6th grade

1-Berre Minel Arslan Girne American College

2-Hanife Şöföroğlu   Güzelyurt TMK

3-Erke Doruk İşeri TMK

4-Arte Kuzey Boğaç     Güzelyurt TMK

5-Koral Mertdağ Bayraktar Secondary School

7th grade

1-Pembe Sadeli   Bayraktar Secondary School

2-Huriye Şık    TMK

3-Belgin Haydaroğulları Güzelyurt TMK

4-Yusuf Boztemir Bayraktar Secondary School

5-Lara Çakır    Martyr Hüseyin Ruso Secondary School

8th grade

1-Melis Atay    TMK

2-Nil Yörütmen     Güzelyurt TMK

3-Zehra Çaktu    Güzelyurt TMK

4-Yağmur Kızılcanlı Esentepe Secondary School

5-Hira Yüksel    Hala Sultan Theological College

After the ceremony held in the headquarters building, Foundations General Director Prof. Dr. Mustafa Tümer, board members, institution managers and employees, Dr. He visited Fazıl Küçük's grave in Anıttepe. During the visit, Dr. A wreath was placed on Küçük's grave and a moment of silence was observed.