TRNC urges global recognition of sovereign equality, equal status

The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus on Sunday urged the international community to take concrete steps toward recognizing its sovereign equality and equal international status. In a written statement, the TRNC Foreign Ministry noted that both the TRNC and Türkiye base their official Cyprus policy on these foundational principles, emphasizing that sustainable peace requires acknowledgment of the TRNC's equal standing. "The fundamental reality is that there are two separate peoples and two independent and sovereign states living side by side on the island. Policies pursued in disregard of these realities will continue to be doomed to failure," the ministry said, underlining that recognition remains essential for any viable settlement.

Rejection of rotating presidency

The statement specifically dismissed proposals for a rotating presidency between Turkish and Greek Cypriots within a unified state structure, arguing that such models contradict the TRNC's commitment to sovereign equality. "Although this issue was an element of the model negotiated for decades, that model ultimately collapsed due to the maximalist and uncompromising stance of the Greek Cypriot Administration, which refused to recognize the TRNC's equal status and rejected the sharing of governance and resources," the ministry stated. The concept envisages governance within a unitary state framework that remains fundamentally incompatible with the TRNC's position based on sovereign equality and equal international status, the statement added.

European representation dispute

The ministry also addressed recent discussions regarding Turkish Cypriot representation in the European Parliament, warning that claiming allocated seats would imply acceptance of the Greek Cypriot-led Republic of Cyprus's authority over the entire island. Attempting to claim two seats allocated to Turkish Cypriots would mean recognizing the status of the so-called Republic of Cyprus, an entity in which Turkish Cypriots neither participate nor are represented following the 1963 seizure of institutions by the Greek Cypriot side, according to the statement. The ministry further noted that such an approach would require accepting the Republic of Cyprus's EU membership on that basis, rendering the initiative unacceptable to the Turkish Cypriot people who do not recognize that administration's legitimacy.

Historical context

Cyprus has remained divided between Greek and Turkish Cypriots despite decades of United Nations-led diplomatic efforts to achieve a comprehensive settlement. Ethnic attacks beginning in the early 1960s forced Turkish Cypriots to withdraw into enclaves for their safety, while a 1974 coup by Greek Cypriots seeking union with Greece prompted Türkiye's military intervention as a guarantor power to protect Turkish Cypriots from persecution and violence. The TRNC was subsequently founded in 1983, though the Greek Cypriot Administration has represented the entire island within the European Union since 2004, the same year Greek Cypriots rejected a UN reunification plan endorsed by Turkish Cypriots. Peace talks collapsed most recently in 2017 during negotiations in Switzerland under the auspices of guarantor countries Türkiye, Greece, and the United Kingdom.