Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has reiterated that Turkey will “never abandon the Turkish Cypriot people”, calling on the Islamic world to strengthen its support for the self-declared 'Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus' ('TRNC'). His remarks came during the 41st Session of the Standing Committee for Economic and Commercial Cooperation of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (COMCEC), held in Ankara on Monday.
Speaking before the committee, Erdoğan claimed that “strong signals” were emerging of attempts to include Cyprus “on the menu of a new imperialist game being set up in the region”. He warned that the island risked becoming a target of wider geopolitical manoeuvring and urged OIC member states to show “greater solidarity” with the Turkish Cypriots.
“Among us today are our brothers from the TRNC. I welcome them with all my heart,” Erdoğan said, insisting that the Turkish Cypriot people were “an inseparable part of the Islamic world” who had suffered from “unjust, unlawful and baseless isolation” for decades.
He praised the Turkish Cypriots for not succumbing to “pressure” and for defending their “sovereign equality”, asserting that their determination to live “with dignity in their own homeland” would not be compromised.
“I expect you to lend even more support to the Turkish Cypriots’ struggle for rights, freedom and justice on the basis of a two-state solution,” he told fellow OIC leaders.
Reaffirming Ankara’s position, Erdoğan concluded: “Turkey, as the motherland and guarantor power, will never leave the Turkish Cypriot people alone. We will continue to stand by them in their just struggle.”
Christodoulides: 'The only one behaving imperialistically is Turkey'
Responding to Erdoğan’s comments, President of the Republic Nikos Christodoulides emphasised that Nicosia remains ready “at any time” for the resumption of peace talks within the framework of United Nations parameters.
Speaking to reporters in Nicosia before inaugurating the Cyprus branch of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Christodoulides said the government continues to work towards “positive developments” that could lead to the renewal of Cyprus negotiations.
He dismissed suggestions that the process was being delayed until 2026, when Cyprus will hold the rotating Presidency of the EU Council, stressing that the two issues “do not affect each other”.
“It would have been good if the UN Secretary-General’s Personal Envoy for Cyprus, Ms. Holguín, had been able to visit the island in early November as planned, but this was not possible for reasons that are well known,” the President noted.
Blame game over delay
Asked about Erdoğan’s motives for the delay, Christodoulides replied: “I cannot know what Erdoğan is doing; what I know is what we are doing. We are ready at any time. The delay, in quotation marks or without, is not caused by our side.”
The President also reiterated his willingness to meet with the new Turkish Cypriot leader, Tufan Erhürman, recalling that he had offered to meet “even the next day” after their first contact.
He clarified that any such meeting would take place “within the framework of the United Nations”, as had been the case with previous encounters facilitated by the UN.
Commenting on Erdoğan’s assertion that Cyprus was being drawn into a “new imperialist game” and that the solution lies in two states, Christodoulides responded pointedly:
“The only one behaving imperialistically in the region, trying to implement a neo-Ottoman approach, is Turkey. One should ask all neighbouring states what their view is of Turkey’s policy in the region.”