Statement by TRNC Ministry of Foreign Affairs Regarding the conclusions adopted at the General Affairs Council of the European Union (EU)

The assessments made regarding Türkiye in the conclusions adopted at the General Affairs Council of the European Union (EU) held in Brussels on December 17, 2024, with direct reference to the Cyprus issue are unacceptable.

First and foremost, it needs to be emphasized that the EU’s decision to accept the Greek Cypriot Administration (GCA) as a full member in 2004, which is in violation of international treaties and its own accession criteria, has made the problem on the island intractable.

While the emphasis on Türkiye’s status as a candidate country along with its strategic role is a positive step, the statements regarding the Cyprus issue clearly reveal that the EU continues to pay lip service to the Greek Cypriot side and Greece.

EU’s approach is a clear indication that it prefers to hold Turkey-EU relations hostage to the Cyprus problem rather than seeking a solution to the Cyprus issue.

The insistence on the side of the EU, on a solution model that has been tried and failed for more than half a century, serves no purpose other than maintaining the status quo on the island. In this context, a realistic and sustainable solution in Cyprus will only be possible with the recognition of the inherent  rights of the Turkish Cypriot people. A two-state solution based on the sovereign equality and equal international status of the Turkish Cypriot people is inevitable.

It needs to be underlined that by imposing isolations upon the Turkish Cypriot people, the EU has been creating a comfort zone for the Greek Cypriot side and thereby reinforcing the current status quo.

Fenced off area of Maraş, located within the borders of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), is under the full sovereignty of our state. In this context, it is worth reiterating that the opening of the fenced off area of Maraş has been designed in a manner that respects property rights safeguarded under international law and the European Convention on Human Rights, to which the EU is also aspiring to be a party.

In this regard, we invite the EU to refrain from referring to the long outdated UN Security Council resolutions, issued long before the establishment of the Immovable Property Commission, which has been established with a view to examining the property claims of the Greek Cypriot people and recognized by the European Court of Human Rights as an effective domestic legal remedy.

We would like to take this opportunity once again to emphasize that we will never accept the interference of the EU and its institutions into the Cyprus issue. In conclusion, it is expected that the EU encourage the Greek Cypriot Administration to recognize the inherent rights of the Turkish Cypriot People, namely it sovereign equality and equal international status rather than targeting Türkiye.