As world leaders gather for an annual session of the U.N. General Assembly, Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) President Ersin Tatar hopes his country will be restored its rights.
Tatar flew to New York on Saturday for talks with U.N. officials, aiming to secure support for ending the international isolation of Turkish Cypriots.
Tatar is set to meet U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to discuss demands for direct flights, trade, international contact and the lifting of an embargo on the Turkish Cypriot community, according to a statement from the TRNC Presidency.
The visit follows a six-month assessment by Angela Holguin, the U.N. chief’s personal representative, who recently concluded a fact-finding mission to the island
Tatar recently rejected calls from Greek Prime Minister Kiryakos Mitsotakis to resume negotiations in Crans Montana, referring to failed talks in 2017 in the Swiss municipality. He warned that the talks could jeopardize Turkish Cypriot sovereignty and Türkiye's role as a guarantor power.
"We will not sit at the table until the equal status and sovereignty of the Turkish Cypriots are recognized," Tatar stated. He said he would continue efforts to gain international recognition for Northern Cyprus during his visit.
Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) is only fully recognized by Türkiye, whose leader Recep Tayyip Erdoğan will also be in New York this week for an annual speech to the assembly. Erdoğan is expected to renew his call for recognition of the TRNC during his talks at the United Nations with other heads of state.
The island of Cyprus has been mired in a decades-long dispute between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, despite a series of diplomatic efforts 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. The Greek Cypriot administration was admitted to the European Union in 2004, the same year that Greek Cypriots thwarted a U.N. plan to end the longstanding dispute. Türkiye fully supports a two-state solution on the island of Cyprus based on sovereign equality and equal international status.
