Turkish Cypriots are striving to gain global recognition while the divided island is only partially recognized. The President of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), Ersin Tatar, once again brought this issue into the spotlight in New York, where the United Nations General Assembly met last week.
“Our state, which we created with our free will, must be recognized,” Tatar said, addressing Turkish Cypriots in New York, where he visited for talks last week as part of the UN General Assembly. According to a statement issued by his presidential office on Sunday, Tatar stressed that recognition of the TRNC and cooperation could bring stability to the entire region.
He said Turkish Cypriots living abroad were united and still connected to their homeland, emphasizing the importance for future generations to maintain their ties with the TRNC. Tatar also recognized Ankara’s support in this regard, highlighting President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s speech to the assembly, in which he expressed the need to end injustices against Turkish Cypriots, end the embargo and isolation of the TRNC and to recognize its independence. This support is crucial to promoting and gaining recognition for their just cause around the world, Tatar said. He also highlighted the importance of strengthening relations with different countries, emphasizing that the TRNC was the homeland where Turkish Cypriots could live independently in the future.
Eastern Mediterranean island Cyprus is mired in a decades-long dispute between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, despite a series of diplomatic efforts aimed at reaching a comprehensive settlement. Ethnic attacks that began in the early 1960s forced Turkish Cypriots to retreat into enclaves for safety. In 1974, a Greek Cypriot coup aimed at Greece’s annexation of the island led to Turkey’s military intervention as a guarantor power to protect Turkish Cypriots from persecution and violence. The TRNC was founded in 1983. It has experienced an intermittent peace process in recent years, including the failure of an initiative in Switzerland in 2017 under the auspices of the guarantor countries Turkey, Greece and the United Kingdom. United. The Greek Cypriot administration has been admitted to the EU. in 2004, the same year Greek Cypriots thwarted a UN plan to end a long-running conflict.
