Statement of the TRNC Ministry of Foreign Affairs regarding the Cyprus issue

As the Government of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), we reiterate that our official policy on the Cyprus issue, jointly pursued with our Motherland, the Republic of Türkiye, is firmly grounded in the principles of sovereign equality and equal international status. A lasting agreement on the island can only be achieved through the acknowledgment of the equal status of the TRNC by the international community. The existence of two separate Peoples and two separate independent and sovereign States is the fundamental reality on the Island. Policies pursued in disregard of these realities will continue to be doomed to failure.

The issue of a “rotating presidency”, which has once again been raised in recent days in the context of the Cyprus issue, was one of the elements of the model negotiated for decades but it ultimately collapsed due to the Greek Cypriot administration’s maximalist and intransigent stance, which consistently refused to recognise the equal status of the TRNC and to share power and resources. Moreover, such an arrangement, which envisages a governing structure based on a unitary state, is fundamentally at odds with the TRNC’s position based on sovereign equality and equal international status.

In a similar vein, referring to the “two seats allocated to the Turkish Cypriots” in the European Parliament and seeking to claim these seats would, in effect, amount to recognising the status of the so-called “Republic of Cyprus”, a status which was usurped by the Greek Cypriot side by force of arms in 1963 and no longer represents the Turkish Cypriot People who have since been excluded from that arrangement by the Greek Cypriot side. Speaking of the “two seats” would also amount to recognising the European Union membership of the Greek Cypriot administration on the basis of that status. Neither the recognition of such a status nor any initiative pursued on this basis can be accepted. Turkish Cypriot People cannot be expected to lend their support to such efforts.

In light of the foregoing, we reiterate that the inherent rights of the Turkish Cypriot People, namely the sovereign equality and equal international status of the TRNC, which represents the will of the Turkish Cypriot People, must be reaffirmed. We therefore once again call upon the international community to take concrete steps in this direction.