Türkiye fully rejects the statement made by EU External Action Service today (12 November) on the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus‘ (TRNC) observer status at the Organisation of Turkic States (OTS).

The decision granting observer status to the TRNC, one of the two states on the Island of Cyprus, was taken unanimously at the OTS Summit, where our President also attended, held in Samarkand on November 11, 2022.

As stated in the Summit Declaration, Turkish Cypriots are an inseparable part of the Turkic world, and it is their natural right to establish and develop relations with Turkic States in every field.

EU's attempts, against the call of the UN Secretary General, to hinder the Turkish Cypriot people to become a respectable member of the international community, are incompatible with goodwill, and they also once again clearly reveal the hypocrisy of the Union, which has been captivated by the vicious policies of the Greek Cypriot Administration and Greece.

A just, lasting and sustainable settlement on the Island of Cyprus can only be reached following a process that will be initiated with the reaffirmation of the inherent sovereign equality and equal international status of the Turkish Cypriot people, which have been usurped since 1963.

To this end, the international community should abandon its attitude considering the Greek Cypriot side as the sole owner of the Island and recognize the TRNC.

Türkiye, by all means, will continue to stand by the TRNC and to be the voice of the Turkish Cypriots in all international platforms.