Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) President Ersin Tatar remains critical of the European Union's stand on the island. Slamming a recent declaration after a leaders’ summit of the bloc, Tatar stated that the EU adopted a stance based on bullying, pressure, unfair treatment and violation of laws.
Speaking to Anadolu Agency (AA) on Wednesday, Tatar assessed a joint declaration issued at the end of the summit earlier this month. The declaration tied the improvement of relations with Türkiye to the resolution of the Cyprus question under United Nations criteria and accepted a proposal by the Greek Cypriot side to have more say on the matter. Türkiye is a proponent of international recognition of the TRNC, which has been largely left out of the international community despite recognition of the island’s Greek Cypriot entity.
Tatar highlighted that Turks have been on the island since 1571, and no one has the right to expel them from Cyprus. Reiterating that Western countries have suggested two-state solutions in places like Kosovo, Taiwan and Palestine, he stressed that it is meaningless to forcibly unite two nations with different races, languages, religions, cultures and histories in Cyprus.
He criticized what he called the U.N. and EU embargo on Turkish Cypriots and the forced federation-based system on the island, which he said would swallow the island’s Turkish Cypriot identity.
“Plots are afoot to force us to accept their ‘solution.’ We won’t fall for it. We are telling the world that the TRNC, with its own dynamics and with the support of Türkiye, can give a prosperous, independent, free and dignified future for its people.”
The president said the EU declaration sought Turkish concession on the Cyprus issue. “I cannot accept it. The aim of Greece and its allies is to turn Cyprus into Crete,” he said, referring to an Aegean island of Greece, which unilaterally declared union with Greece in 1908 while under Ottoman suzerainty.
“They want to exclude Türkiye from the Eastern Mediterranean, surround Anatolia and turn the Turkish Cypriot community into a minority in their own land,” he lamented.
Cyprus has been divided since 1974 when Türkiye, as a guarantor power, prompted by a coup aimed at Greece's annexation of the island, launched a military intervention dubbed the Cyprus Peace Operation to protect Turkish Cypriots from persecution and violence. As a result, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) was founded on Nov. 15, 1983. Since then, the violence has stopped, but tensions continue, including over who holds sway on the island's exclusive offshore economic zone, over 40% of which was claimed by Türkiye following recent natural gas discoveries.
Türkiye doesn't recognize the Greek Cypriot administration as a state and still keeps some 35,000 troops in the TRNC.
The island has recently seen an on-and-off peace process, 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 EU in 2004, the same year they thwarted a U.N. plan to end the longstanding dispute, but only the Greek Cypriot south enjoyed its full benefits. A Cyprus peace deal would reduce a source of potential conflict next door to an unstable Middle East and allow for the easier harnessing of hydrocarbon reserves in the Eastern Mediterranean's natural gas-rich waters where Türkiye has a drillship probing the seabed.
In January, the U.N. chief appointed a personal envoy for Cyprus, Maria Angela Holguín Cuellar, who met with Tatar and Greek Cypriot administration leader Nikos Christodoulides to probe for common ground between the sides after years of complete stalemate. However, Cuellar faces a herculean task as Turkish and Greek Cypriots have grown increasingly apart over the years since the last major push to reach a peace settlement in the summer of 2017.
Türkiye and the Turkish Cypriots say the only way to peace now is a two-state deal, as opposed to reunifying the island as a federation composed of Greek and Turkish Cypriot zones. Despite previously rejecting a deal on a federation, the majority of Greek Cypriots also reject anything that would formalize a partition, as well as demands for a Turkish Cypriot veto on all federal-level government decisions, permanent Turkish troop presence, and Turkish military intervention rights.
Tatar told Anadolu Agency (AA) that Turkish Cypriots went through great suffering from the 1960s to 1974 and were subject to genocide at the hands of Greek Cypriots. He said they were looking forward to the July 20 anniversary of the 1974 Peace Operation. “The presence of Turkish soldiers brought peace not only for Turks but also Greek Cypriots. It is meaningless to talk about the withdrawal of Turkish troops on the 50th anniversary of the Peace Operation,” he said.
On Greek Cypriot calls for resumption of talks on the Cyprus question, Tatar said the Greek Cypriot conditions for talks were based on a negotiation process but that the TRNC aims to be represented as a sovereign and internationally recognized equal entity. The Greek side continues to insist on a federation-based approach. He underlined that Turkish Cypriots would have to cut off ties with Türkiye in case of a federation-based approach and would face “troubles” inside the European Union.
“This means the beginning of the end for us. If Northern Cyprus does not pursue the goal of a separate, sovereign state, it will be swallowed by the European Union,” he warned.
