The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) on Thursday criticised the European Union after the European Commission referred to past commitments to end the isolation of Turkish Cypriots and efforts to “build bridges” and “enhance dialogue,” which the TRNC dismissed as an attempt to create a “false impression” of progress.
The TRNC Foreign Ministry said the references in the Commission’s letter did not reflect the realities on the island, accusing the EU of maintaining a “biased and insincere” stance on the Cyprus issue.
The ministry said Turkish Cypriots had for years been forced to live under what it described as inhumane isolation and embargoes in violation of international law and human rights.
It said restrictions in areas ranging from education and sports to culture and economic life violated the fundamental rights of Turkish Cypriots.
The statement also accused the EU of seeking to preserve the “unjust status quo” on the island and of yielding to vetoes by the Greek Cypriot side.
“There is an obvious reality: the people of the TRNC are still being subjected to inhumane isolation before the eyes of the EU and the international community,” the statement said.
EU shows ‘no willingness’ to ease isolation
The TRNC statement described the European Commission’s references to 2004 European Council decisions aimed at ending the isolation of Turkish Cypriots, as well as its claims about “building bridges” and “enhancing dialogue,” as “nothing more than an attempt to create a false impression.”
“The EU has taken no concrete steps, and has demonstrated no sincere approach, political will or vision, to eliminate the unjust restrictions imposed on the Turkish Cypriot people and the inhumane obstacles created by the Greek Cypriot side.
"The EU, which supports the Greek Cypriot leadership that even prevents our young people and athletes from establishing ties with the world, is the biggest protector of the status quo on the island," it added.
“We cannot take seriously the European Union and its so-called representative, (European Commission Vice President and EU Special Representative for Cyprus) Raffaele Fitto, which disregard the will, sovereign equality, and equal international status of the Turkish Cypriot people and distort the realities on the island through biased reports, letters and statements.”
The statement said the Turkish Cypriot people and the TRNC will continue their struggle under their own state structure, with the strong support of the Republic of Türkiye, and will remain determined to defend their rights on the basis of sovereign equality despite all embargoes and attempts at obstruction.
“The TRNC will not accept these empty, delaying tactics and approaches aimed at concealing the existing injustice on the island. There is one fundamental truth that the international community must understand: unless these outdated embargoes imposed on the Turkish Cypriot people are completely lifted, and our sovereign equality and equal international status are recognised, the EU’s declarations of ‘goodwill’ will have no validity in our eyes.
“At the same time, it is impossible to understand the portrayal in the press and public of a false impression that positive developments are taking place within the EU regarding the isolation. Far from taking steps to lift the isolation of Turkish Cypriots, the EU will show no willingness even to ease it.”
Decades-long problem
The island has been mired in a decades-long dispute between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots.
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-administered Southern Cyprus entered the EU in 2004, the same year Greek Cypriots single-handedly blocked a UN plan to end the longstanding dispute.
