Ankara slams EU over Turkish Cyprus’ status in Turkic States’ body

ANKARA

Ankara has slammed the European Union for criticizing the Organization of Turkic States’ decision to admit Turkish Cyprus as an observer member.

“Türkiye fully rejects the statement made by EU External Action Service today [on Nov. 12] on the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus’ (TRNC) observer status in the Organization of Turkic States,” read a statement from the Turkish Foreign Ministry late on Nov. 12.

The Organization of Turkic States announced that it approved the observer status for Turkish Cyprus at a leaders’ summit last week.

The EU rejected the decision and statements made by Türkiye on the issue in a written statement on Nov. 12. “This decision, pending ratification of Organization’s members, is regrettable and is contradicting the fact that several members of the organization expressed strong support to the principle of territorial integrity and the U.N. Charter,” it stated.

“The EU has made it repeatedly clear, including at the highest political level, that the EU recognizes only the Republic of Cyprus as a subject of international law, in accordance with the respective U.N. Security Council Resolutions.”

The Turkish ministry recalled that Turkish Cypriots are an inseparable part of the Turkic world, and it is their natural right to establish and develop relations with the Turkic States in every field.

“EU’s attempts, against the call of the U.N. secretary-general, to hinder the Turkish Cypriot people to become a respectable member of the international community, are incompatible with goodwill, and they also once again clearly reveal the hypocrisy of the Union, which has been captivated by the vicious policies of the Greek Cypriot Administration and Greece,” the ministry stated.

In the meantime, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Ankara should continue its efforts for the recognition of Turkish Cyprus in the world.

Erdoğan noted that Türkiye should start to work to strengthen infrastructure for the recognition of Turkish Cyprus, stressing, “After the infrastructure work, we must communicate to the rest of the world that Northern Cyprus is a state, and we must convince the world with this idea.”

Referring to Kosovo’s recognition process, Erdoğan stated, “The number of countries that recognize Kosovo has surpassed 100 and is currently around 120. Nonetheless, it remained at that level because, unfortunately, America did not support it.”

The case of Turkish Cyprus is more difficult than that of Kosovo, but Ankara will do its best, Erdoğan said, adding, “We will strive for it. I believe we will have the chance to introduce Northern Cyprus to the rest of the world.”