Current Affairs
The people of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) still struggling for their rights
By Sadettin Topukcu
Ambassador, Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus

The most fundamental human rights of the Turkish Cypriot people have been denied to them for almost 41 years now, which corresponds to the advent of the Cyprus issue in 1963, when the Greek Cypriot side destroyed the partnership Republic established between the two peoples of Cyprus in 1960. Greek Cypriots launched all out armed attacks on the Turkish Cypriot people in December 1963 as a result of which the Muslim Turkish Cypriot people were forced to live under inhuman conditions between 1963-74. An ethnic-cleansing campaign was waged against the Turkish Cypriot people for eleven years similar to what the Muslim people of Bosnia were subjected to.

Many Turkish Cypriots were massacred, maimed or wounded by Greek Cypriot paramilitaries. Some of them were abducted never to be seen or heard of again. Our sacred sites were torn down, our 103 mosques destroyed. The only factor which prevented the Greek Cypriots from exterminating the Muslim Turkish Cypriot people as a whole was the motherland Turkey’s legitimate right to intervene in the island. After the Turkey’s righteous intervention, the Turkish Cypriot people found a safe place in the North of Cyprus where they established their own sovereign state on 15 November 1983, 20 years after being left stateless.

The Turkish Cypriot people now live under the secure umbrella of their own state. In spite of this, they are still under the heavy burden of embargoes instigated by the Greek Cypriot regime, which usurped the title of “the sole government of the whole Cyprus”. So long as the international community continues to treat the Greek Cypriot regime as such, expecting the settlement of the Cyprus issue would be futile.

The Turkish Cypriot party has participated, in the negotiations, in a constructive manner and displayed maximum flexibility as much as it could during the course of negotiations. Despite the pains it entailed for them, the Turkish Cypriot side displayed its goodwill in the referendum, which took place in Cyprus on 24 April 2004 by saying yes to the UN-sponsored plan, which was the compromise of the two sides’ negotiators as a result of a long process of talks. On the other hand, the Greek Cypriot side’s rejection of the plan by 76 per cent in referendum conducted in South Cyprus has revealed that the Greek Cypriot side does not have the notion of reaching an agreement with the Turkish Cypriot people.

It is an indisputable reality that for 41 years the Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot peoples, which are politically equal, have lived separately and governed themselves completely independent of each other. It is important to note that conducting of separate simultaneous referendum in Cyprus proves this reality and further underlines the fact there are two sovereign peoples in Cyprus and neither side has the right to represent the other.

A new situation has arisen in Cyprus after the referenda which took place on both parts of Cyprus. The Turkish Cypriot people should no longer suffer from a situation which has been created by the Greek Cypriot side. In view of the fundamentally changed circumstances in Cyprus, steps in putting an end to the unjust isolation of the Turkish Cypriot people should be taken without further delay. The international community should give its full backing to the people of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus by engaging in direct economic, commercial, social and cultural contacts with them.

Keeping in line with the numerous resolutions and final communiqués of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) relevant to Cyprus, particularly the ones adopted after the referenda, the Muslim Turkish Cypriot people expect the effective solidarity of the OIC to enable them to develop relations with Muslim countries in the fields of trade, tourism, education, culture, information and sport. Such an effective solidarity will strongly contribute to Muslim Turkish Cypriot people’s struggle in overcoming the inhuman embargoes inflicted upon them for the last 41 years. It is unfortunate to observe that the members of the OIC are still inactive to take any measure to eliminate the isolation having effect of impeding development of the Turkish Cypriot people. In fact, such an initiative by the OIC members will be a strong signal to the Greek Cypriot side that the persistence of its intransigent attitude would not be tolerated and that the Turkish Cypriot people should not be punished due to the impasse in Cyprus. If these resolutions are put into action without further delay, it will encourage the Greek Cypriot side to feel the need for a settlement in Cyprus thereby accelerating the attempts of all concerned to find a just and a fair comprehensive agreement to the Cyprus issue.

It has now become obvious that there are two sovereign Republics in Cyprus, one being the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus representing the Turkish Cypriot people and the other the Greek Cypriot Republic representing only Greek Cypriots and that the Greek Cypriot side has no right to extend its writ over North Cyprus. The fact that the Greek Cypriot side has been the intransigent side was once more proved by the no vote of the Greek Cypriot leadership and its populace to an agreement between the two equal peoples. Therefore, the Greek Cypriot side has no ground to hold the Turkish Cypriots hostage under international isolation. The partnership option of the two equal peoples may be a good opportunity for Cyprus that we have supported for so many years. However, for this option to be realized, we must be sure that neither side is subordinate to the other in setting up a partnership. Lastly, although the establishment of a new partnership between the two peoples seems a good option, one must ask how much longer the Turkish Cypriot people have to wait for this to be materialized. We believe that the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus has other options to embrace.