Erdogan links Cyprus peace talks to Turkish Cypriot status recognition

IZMIR, Turkey — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan redoubled his calls to the international community on Thursday to recognize the Turkish Cypriot state, saying that no new talks on the divided island could happen without recognizing the equal status of Turkish Cypriots. 

Erdogan made his statement at a ceremony marking the 49th anniversary of the 1974 Turkish military intervention, which followed a Greek Cypriot coup aimed at uniting Cyprus with Greece and has left the island divided along ethnic lines ever since.   

“July 20 is the symbol of sovereignty and the equal status of the Turkish Cypriots,” he said, accusing the internationally recognized Greek Cypriot south of usurping the name “Republic of Cyprus” and pretending to be the “only owner” of the island, including its membership to the European Union. The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) is recognized only by Turkey.  

Earlier Thursday, Erdogan called on the global community to use the renovated Ercan airport on the north of the island, despite UN resolutions that place the breakaway state under an embargo. “Due to the unfair and purely political restrictions on the TRNC, only Turkish planes can fly there. But I believe that the days that there would be international flights are not far away,” said Erdogan, whose plane was the first to land at the reopened airport Thursday. 

Though Erdogan has made numerous attempts to get other countries to recognize TRNC, only Turkish planes fly to Ercan. Last year, Turkish Cypriot sources claimed that Russian airlines might do so. Moscow denied this, much to the glee of the Greek Cypriots. 

The Cypriot key  

The resettlement talks on the island — and the status of Ercan airport — are likely to get on the diplomatic agenda as the relations between Turkey and the European Union show signs of coming out of hibernation.  

Josep Borrell, the EU high representative for foreign policy, said Thursday, “We are convinced that there is a reciprocal interest to develop a stronger relationship between Turkey and the European Union. ... A sustainable de-escalation in the Eastern Mediterranean would benefit the stability and security of the whole region,” 

Issues on the table include a customs union agreement and visa liberalization, he said, as well as "serious attempts to resume talks on Cyprus based on the resolutions and agreements of the United Nations.” 

With recent elections in Turkey, Greece, and Greek Cyprus, an improved atmosphere between Turkey and Greece  and Ankara’s economic woes that make approaching the EU more necessary, some Eurocrats think there is more maneuvering space for a solution on the island. However, the Turkish and Greek sides have moved to divergent positions. Turkey favors a "two-state solution" in Cyprus, as underlined by Erdogan once more in Nicosia. The Greek Cypriots and most international community support a bizonal, bicommunal federation with a UN framework. 

Since Erdogan’s call to the European Union to put Turkey’s candidacy back on track, Greece and Greek Cypriots have stepped up lobbying efforts for resettlement on the divided island and the extension of the customs union to EU-member Cyprus, which Ankara does not recognize.   

The last European Union council called “for the speedy resumption of negotiations” in Cyprus and said it was “ready to play an active role in supporting all stages of the UN-led process, with all appropriate means at its disposal.” 

Greek Cypriots also urge the appointment of an EU envoy for Cyprus, preferably before the UN General Assembly this fall. Turkey and the Turkish Cypriots have so far opposed such an appointment, claiming that the EU — where Greece and Cyprus have a seat at the table and a potential veto — has been biased on the issue. 

The Greek Cypriot government last year suggested the return of Varosha (which the Turkish side calls Maras and opened to development in 2021) to the Greek side in exchange for ending the economic isolation of the Turkish Cypriots. Under the proposal, the Turkish side would transfer the fenced-off part of Varosha/Maras to the UN (which would later transfer it to the Greek Cypriot side), and Turkey would open at least one port to Cyprus-flagged ships and airspace to Greek Cypriot aircraft. In exchange, customs services for the northern port of Famagusta could be placed under EU authority and Ercan airport operations under the UN. 

The Turkish Cypriot side brushed the proposals off, portraying them as a “political stunt” to “conceal the essence of the issue and to sustain its comfort zone bestowed by the status quo.”