The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) and Türkiye are celebrating the 39th anniversary of the TRNC’s foundation with ceremonies and activities across both countries today.
A message from Turkish Cypriot President Ersin Tatar and 21 cannon shots kicked off the annual celebrations as congratulations and statements commemorating the holiday began to flow in from Turkish Cypriot and Turkish officials early on Tuesday.
Every year, Northern Cyprus marks Nov. 15 as the start of its independence from the Greek Cypriot administration in the south. The island has been mired in a decadeslong dispute between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots despite a series of diplomatic efforts by the U.N. to achieve a comprehensive settlement.
In 1974, a Greek Cypriot coup aimed at Greece's annexation led to Türkiye's military intervention as a guarantor power to protect Turkish Cypriots from persecution and violence. As a result, the TRNC was established 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 United Kingdom.
The Greek Cypriot administration was admitted to the European Union in 2004, the same year that Greek Cypriots single-handedly blocked a U.N. plan to end the longstanding dispute.
In a note he signed into the official memorial book at the Atatürk Memorial in the capital Lefkoşa (Nicosia), President Tatar highlighted that the TRNC "represents the peak point of the Turkish Cypriote people’s freedom, independence and sovereignty."
Citizens of the TRNC get to "live freely and fearlessly under the roof of their government," Tatar said.
"We vow to never give up on mainland Türkiye as our guarantor and the Turkish army at whatever cost. Even if the ‘single-toothed beast’ comes down on us, we will never allow our state, freedom and sovereignty to be trampled upon," Tatar promised in Turkish leader Atatürk’s memory, referencing the Turkish national anthem.
Türkiye’s Parliament Speaker Mustafa Şentop placed a wreath of flowers at the memorial on behalf of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. "We celebrate this day with joy and pride in consensus and harmony with our Turkish Cypriot brothers and sisters. The Republic of Türkiye once again affirms that it will stand as it always has by the Turkish Cypriot and the TRNC with the awareness of its historic and conscientious responsibility," Şentop assured.
Good wishes pour in
Vice President Fuat Oktay was among the first to extend his country’s congratulations for the TRNC’s 39th Republic Day.
"Happy anniversary and Republic Day to the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. We will continue providing the strongest support and defending the Turkish Cypriot’s righteous cause in the field and on the (negotiating) table for TRNC’s flag of the moon and crescent to fly over its land forever," Oktay said via Twitter.
Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu too sent his congratulations to the island.
"Türkiye will continue determinedly working for the protection of Turkish Cypriots’ rights and the recognition of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus," Çavuşoğlu noted in a tweet.
The Turkish National Defense Ministry also marked the occasion on Twitter. "We celebrate the anniversary of the establishment of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, which 39 years ago trumpeted to the whole world that it is an independent state and congratulate our Turkish Cypriot brothers on their Republic Day. Türkiye will always continue to stand by its brothers in their just struggles," it said.
The Organization of Turkic States (OTS) joined the caravan and extended its good wishes to the country.
"I offer my sincerest congratulations to the TRNC, our observer state, for the anniversary of its foundation Nov. 15 Republic Day," Secretary-General and Ambassador Kubanychbek Omuraliev said in a statement.
Indeed, the TRNC became a non-member observer state of the OTS at the organization’s ninth summit in Samarkand last week in a move welcomed as a "positive development" by the TRNC. It marks the first time the TRNC is being represented in an international organization with its constitutional name.
At the Samarkand summit, the OTS declared 2023 as the "Year of the Rise of Turkic Civilization," Omuraliev recalled. "To the shared end of working toward regional and global peace, stability and development, I present to the TRNC government and people my heartfelt congratulations and wish a prosperous future to the whole Turkic world," Omuraliev concluded.
TRNC’s Republic Day was observed in various provinces across Türkiye, as well, including in Istanbul, the western city of Izmir and the capital Ankara.