Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) President Ersin Tatar on Tuesday denounced the U.K.’s High Commissioner to Southern Cyprus Irfan Siddiq for claiming the TRNC would never be recognized.
"The British High Commissioner has no right to interfere in our internal affairs in any way. We have the support of the Turkish nation behind us," Tatar told Anadolu Agency (AA).
Tatar emphasized that Siddiq, who claimed the TRNC will never be recognized, is in "no position to give advice or counsel to the Turkish Cypriots and the leadership of the TRNC."
He pointed out that Siddiq's statements aimed to tilt the balance in favor of the U.K. in the Eastern Mediterranean.
"There will be no turning back on the federation issue, and the TRNC will continue to exist as a Turkish state in the Blue Homeland of the Eastern Mediterranean forever, and no one can prevent this," he said.
Tatar said that just like before, they will continue on their path with their homeland Türkiye.
He reiterated that the prerequisites for commencing negotiations with Southern Cyprus are sovereign equality and equal international status.
In a written statement, Turkish Cypriot Foreign Minister Tahsin Ertuğruloğlu also strongly reacted to Siddiq's remarks.
Ertuğruloğlu said Siddiq "exceeded both diplomatic and etiquette boundaries by interfering in the internal affairs of the TRNC."
He accused Siddiq of attempting to incite the public, saying: "There is no return to the federation model; we have closed that chapter. You insult the Turkish Cypriot people who resist treating the Greek Cypriots as 'the Republic of Cyprus.' This impertinence is devoid of diplomatic courtesy."
Ertuğruloğlu strongly criticized Siddiq, saying his interference in the internal affairs of the TRNC is beyond diplomatic bounds.
He rejected any return to the federation model and asserted that the TRNC is a "reality" independent of Siddiq's approval and will be recognized by other countries.
Siddiq said in an interview with a newspaper that: "The Turkish Cypriot leadership needs to be very clear. What do they want? If their position is 'sovereign equality and equal international status,' that cannot be granted. Then what will you offer to your people? Recognition of the TRNC? That's not likely either. You will not be able to get two states accepted."
Cyprus 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.
After ethnic attacks in the early 1960s and a Greek Cypriot coup aimed at Greece’s annexation in 1974, Türkiye launched a military intervention, dubbed Cyprus Peace Operation, as a guarantor power to protect Turkish Cypriots from persecution and violence, eventually leading to the foundation of the TRNC in 1983.
The Greek Cypriot administration joined the European Union in 2004, the same year Greek Cypriots thwarted a U.N. plan to end the longstanding dispute.
Today, the Turkish side supports a solution based on the equal sovereignty of the two states on the island. On the other hand, the Greek side wants a federal solution based on the hegemony of the Greeks.