Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu criticized the United States and the European Union for threatening the Turkic world during the process to grant observer status to the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC).
"We’ve seen that the U.S. and the EU put pressure on members of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) and even threatened them ... They should not forget the fact that the Turkic world no longer bends its needs in the face of such threats, whether it be the EU or the U.S.," the top Turkish diplomat told a joint news conference with his Mexican counterpart Marcelo Ebrard in the capital Ankara.
He noted that Türkiye or the TRNC will not seek permission for the latter’s observer status in global organizations.
Harshly criticizing the U.S. for disturbing the balance, regarding its stance on Türkiye-Greece relations and the Cyprus issue, Çavuşoğlu urged Washington to adopt a balanced stance and acknowledge Greece and the Greek Cypriot administration’s violations of international law.
He asserted that the U.S. was unbalanced both on Cyprus and in relations between Ankara and Athens, adding that if Washington is "talking about international law," it should address the violations committed by Greece and the Greek Cypriot administration.
Regarding the statement by the EU on the inclusion of the TRNC in the OTS as an observer, Çavuşoğlu emphasized that the bloc had no right to intervene in matters of the international body.
Çavuşoğlu continued by criticizing the EU for failing to fulfill its pledge to lift restrictions on the TRNC and for not accepting the 2004 Annan Plan.
Calling for cooperation and action for the benefit of all, Çavuşoğlu highlighted that the unity of the Turkic world was important for peace and stability in the region.
TRNC has become a non-member observer state to the OTS, Çavuşoğlu announced last week. Following the decision, there were protests from both the EU and the U.S.
Türkiye rejected an EU statement in which the bloc expressed concerns about the admission. Meanwhile, the TRNC Presidency in a statement said the EU has once again shown its biased approach.
The EU statement's aim is to isolate the Turkish Cypriots from the world and attach them with the Greek Cypriots under the guise of a federation, it added.
Also, Türkiye has ramped up the criticism of its NATO ally United States for abandoning a balanced policy and escalating tensions on the issues of Cyprus and the Eastern Mediterranean, reiterating that it will protect its rights and interests against the Greek side.
Türkiye has many times invited its NATO ally United States to adopt a neutral stance on the Cyprus issue.
This will be the first time the TRNC is being represented in an international organization with its constitutional name.
The TRNC is also an observer member in the Economic Cooperation Organization and Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) as well as the International Organization of Turkic Culture (TÜRKSOY). The country is represented in 18 countries with 25 representations including Germany, the United States and Pakistan.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan during his speech at the United Nations in September called on the international community to "recognize the TRNC."
Cyprus has been mired in a decadeslong dispute between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots despite a series of diplomatic efforts by the U.N. 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 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 United Kingdom.
The Greek Cypriot administration entered the European Union in 2004, the same year Greek Cypriots thwarted the U.N. Annan Plan to end the longstanding dispute.
Today, the Turkish side supports a solution based on the equal sovereignty of the two states on the island. On the other hand, the Greek side wants a federal solution based on the hegemony of the Greeks.
Türkiye, which has the longest continental coastline in the Eastern Mediterranean, has rejected maritime boundary claims by Greece and the Greek Cypriot administration, stressing that their excessive claims violate the sovereign rights of Türkiye and the Turkish Cypriots.