TRNC recognition cannot be prevented, Turkish Cypriot president says

LEFKOSA, Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus

The full recognition of Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) cannot be prevented, the Turkish Cypriot president said on Saturday, a day after its admission into the Organization of Turkic States as an observer state.

Responding to Greek and Greek Cypriot officials’ statements regarding the observer status, Ersin Tatar said they are “opposed to our sovereign equality and equal international status."

He said the Turkish Cypriots would not step back from a two-state solution for the Cyprus dispute.

Earlier, Tatar welcomed the Turkic bloc's decision, saying he has been "putting forward a vision to put an end to the persecution of my people, who have been subject to inhuman isolation for more than half a century, deprived of their inherent rights ... their sovereignty and international status.”

He also thanked Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu for continuing support to Turkish Cypriots and the TRNC.

Cyprus issue

The island has been mired in a decades-long dispute between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, despite a series of diplomatic efforts to achieve a comprehensive settlement.

Ethnic attacks starting in the early 1960s forced Turkish Cypriots to withdraw into enclaves for their safety.

In 1974, a Greek Cypriot coup aimed at Greece’s annexation of the island led to Türkiye’s military intervention as a guarantor power to protect Turkish Cypriots from persecution and violence. The TRNC was founded in 1983.

It has seen an on-and-off peace process in recent years, including a failed 2017 initiative in Switzerland under the auspices of guarantor countries Türkiye, Greece and the UK.

The Greek Cypriot administration was admitted to the EU in 2004, the same year when Greek Cypriots thwarted a UN plan to end the longstanding dispute.