Türkiye says no Cyprus initiative can succeed by ignoring Turkish Cypriot rights

No initiative concerning Cyprus or the Eastern Mediterranean can succeed without Türkiye or by disregarding the rights of Turkish Cypriots, Turkish Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz said Monday.

Speaking at a ceremony marking July 20, Peace and Freedom Day, in Lefkosa, capital of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), Yilmaz said Türkiye would continue to stand by the Turkish Cypriot people.

“Türkiye, as the motherland and guarantor, has stood and will continue to stand by the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus so that Turkish Cypriots can live freely, honorably and safely under the roof of their own state,” he said.

Yilmaz said Türkiye’s 1974 Cyprus Peace Operation fulfilled its responsibilities under the 1960 Treaty of Guarantee and ended years of violence against Turkish Cypriots.

He argued that decades of negotiations since them have failed because the Greek Cypriot side is unwilling to share governance and resources or recognize Turkish Cypriots as equal partners.

“The international community must now accept that Turkish Cypriots are as much the owners of this island as Greek Cypriots,” he said.

Yilmaz reiterated Ankara’s support for a settlement based on the sovereign equality and equal international status of two states, saying proposals that would reduce Turkish Cypriots to minority status could not produce a lasting solution.

He also urged the international community to end the unjust isolation and embargoes imposed on Turkish Cypriots.

Yilmaz said the TRNC had maintained its existence for 43 years with strong institutions and a deeply rooted democratic culture, adding that Türkiye would continue supporting its economic development and international visibility.

“Cyprus will never be a Greek Cypriot island,” he said. “The Century of Türkiye will also be the century of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.”

Intervention as guarantor power

Cyprus has been mired in a decades-long dispute between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, despite diplomatic efforts by the UN to achieve a comprehensive settlement.

Ethnic attacks starting in the early 1960s forced Turkish Cypriots to withdraw into enclaves for their safety.

In 1974, a Greek Cypriot coup aimed at Greece’s annexation of the island led to Türkiye’s military intervention as a guarantor power to protect Turkish Cypriots from persecution and violence. As a result, the TRNC was founded 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 UK.

The Greek Cypriot Administration entered the EU in 2004, the same year Greek Cypriots single-handedly blocked a UN plan to end the longstanding dispute.