He argued that "The fact is a substantial number of today’s Muslim Turkish Cypriots have a Christian past, and are partly descended from those Venetian, Genovese and French families that had estates on the island who proselytised to Sunni Islam.
He maintained that "A significant portion of today's Muslim Turkish Cypriots has a historical Christian heritage and is partly related to the Venetians, Genoese, and French families who once lived on the island and later embraced Sunni Islam."