The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) has rejected the European Parliament’s controversial 2025 Türkiye Report, saying it ignores the inherent rights, sovereign will and current realities of the Turkish Cypriot people.
In a written statement released on late Thursday, the TRNC Foreign Ministry criticized the report, which was adopted by the European Parliament’s General Assembly on June 17.
“We completely reject the baseless accusations directed at our motherland Türkiye, as well as the assessments that disregard the inherent rights, sovereign will and existing realities of the Turkish Cypriot people on the island,” the ministry said.
The statement said the sections of the report concerning Cyprus once again revealed the European Union’s “biased and detached” approach to the Cyprus issue.
It stressed that the TRNC is a sovereign and independent state that continues to exist through its institutions, democratic structure and the free will of its people.
“The report’s description of the Turkish Cypriot people merely as a ‘legitimate community of the island,’ and its call on Türkiye to ‘open political space’ for Turkish Cypriots, clearly disregards the TRNC, which was founded through the democratic will of our people, as well as our people’s right to determine their own future,” the ministry said.
The statement said the EP’s continued attempt to impose a federation-based settlement model as the only option does not correspond to the political and practical realities on the island.
It added that reviving a negotiation model that has been exhausted due to the Greek Cypriot side’s uncompromising stance would not contribute to efforts to reach a settlement.
The ministry said a lasting and just agreement could only be achieved through the recognition of the sovereign equality and equal international status of the Turkish Cypriot people.
It also rejected what it called “baseless claims” in the report regarding Akyar, Pile and Maraş, as well as property issues, missing persons, cultural heritage matters, buffer zone violations and Türkiye’s legitimate presence in Cyprus.
“All of these biased and unfounded assessments are entirely one-sided and null and void from our perspective,” the ministry said.
The ministry also criticized the report’s call for the European Commission to appoint a new special representative for Cyprus, calling the proposal “unwarranted.”
“It is not credible for the EU, which has ignored the fundamental rights of the Turkish Cypriot people for years, to claim that it can contribute to a settlement as a ‘neutral’ actor,” the statement said. “EU intervention will never be accepted.”
The statement said the EU had failed to fulfill its 2004 commitments to lift the isolation of the Turkish Cypriot people, while rewarding what it described as the uncompromising stance of the Greek Cypriot side.
It also criticized what it called attempts to obstruct the TRNC’s developing ties with the international community through the Organisation of Turkic States (OTS) and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).
“These developments have once again revealed the EU’s biased position on the Cyprus issue,” the ministry said.
The TRNC called on EU institutions to abandon what it described as one-sided political approaches favoring the Greek Cypriot administration and instead adopt a constructive and balanced position based on the realities on the island.
The ministry said such an approach should respect the inherent rights, sovereign equality and equal international status of the Turkish Cypriot people.
The statement added that the TRNC, in full harmony and solidarity with Türkiye, would continue to protect the sovereignty, security and welfare of its people.
It also said Turkish Cyprus would resolutely continue its struggle for the international recognition of its sovereign equality and equal international status.
The Cyprus issue has remained one of the world’s longest-running political disputes and continues to be a major point of tension between Türkiye and the EU.
The island has been divided between Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots for decades despite repeated diplomatic efforts to reach a comprehensive settlement. The issue frequently resurfaces in regional geopolitics and in relations between Türkiye and European institutions.
The peace process has seen several on-and-off attempts in recent years, including a failed 2017 initiative in Switzerland held under the auspices of the guarantor countries, Türkiye, Greece and the U.K.
The Greek Cypriot administration joined the EU in 2004, the same year Greek Cypriots rejected the U.N.-backed Annan Plan, which aimed to end the long-standing dispute.
Turkish Cyprus now supports a settlement based on the sovereign equality and equal international status of the two states on the island. The Greek Cypriot side, backed by the EU, continues to advocate a federation-based solution.
For Ankara and Turkish Cyprus, the EU’s stance has long been viewed as one of the key fault lines in Türkiye-EU and TRNC-EU relations. Turkish officials argue that Brussels has failed to adopt a balanced position, while using the Cyprus issue as political leverage against Türkiye and overlooking the rights and political will of the Turkish Cypriot people.
