Is the TRNC really a sovereign country?
The waters in the Mediterranean have started to heat up again. The EU's recent activity in Cyprus, “our distant neighbour next door” has attracted attention. The recognition of Southern Cyprus as the “Republic of Cyprus” by some Central Asian countries of “Turkic” origin has also accelerated this activity.
There are US, British and French bases in the south of the divided Cyprus Island. In the north, Turkey has maintained around 60,000 troops since the 1974 intervention. In the 1960s, the Workers' Party of Turkey (TİP) advocated the thesis of “a united Cyprus with two regions and two communities, free from foreign bases and troops”. Today, peaceful and progressive people on both sides of the island are fighting on the same line. However, the Turkish-backed TRNC administration's insistence on the “two equal and sovereign states” thesis complicates the efforts for a solution in Cyprus.
I always say: Northern Cyprus is “Little Turkey”. The country's army, police, economy and even the religious organisation are all dependent on Turkey. Even the head of religious affairs, called “mufti”, and imams are sent from Turkey. When one of these muftis said “It is a religious duty to fulfil every wish of your husbands without objection” while preaching to women in the mosque, all hell broke loose and Cypriots protested on the streets for days saying “We don't want imported muftis!”.
Since the AKP government does not see the Turkish Cypriots as “Turkish as Mount God and Muslim as Mount Hira”, it is trying to impose the ideology of political Islam on them. While classes are taught in container schools, the construction of mosques in the villages has accelerated with the support of Turkey. They want to make education religious just as they have done here. Since this reactionary approach conflicts with the secular and modern way of life of Turkish Cypriots, there is tension in the society. In recent days, the harshest debates in the country are being held over the turban, which is wanted to be introduced in secondary schools.
In his speech in the TRNC, Erdoğan said, “Those who try to deal with the headscarf of our daughters will find us in front of them”. The people of Cyprus consider this as an interference in their will and do not accept it. The union leaders responded to Erdoğan's term “a handful of marginals” used for the protesters by saying, “100 organisations and tens of thousands of people took to the streets and protested for days against the interference in our way of life. We want secular education and a secular society.”
The palace regime's pressures and impositions on Northern Cyprus do not end! Four years ago, Tayyip Erdoğan had threatened the TRNC Constitutional Court for its decision on Quran courses...
Every time Erdoğan goes to Cyprus, as if he is saying something good, he says, “Whatever we have, you will have too!”. Hearing this, the Turkish Cypriots always objected, “We know what have, keep those things away from us!”...
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Tayyip Erdoğan also moved his son-in-law's TEKNOFEST (Aviation, Space and Technology Festival) to Northern Cyprus this year. He also opened the “Yavru Külliye” in Nicosia on 3 May. During his visit to Cyprus four years ago, he had given the good news: “We will build a kulliye here too!” He kept his promise and built an ‘illegal palace’ there, despite the opposition of Cypriots!
In my article titled Erdoğan's Cyprus Expedition in BirGün dated 26 July 2021, I approached the issue with a bit of irony and said the following:
“Poor TRNC Presidents live in a “shanty” Presidential Residence dating back to the colonial era, while MPs work in a parliament building that is a cigarette factory...
Would such a state have a “reputation” in the outside world?
The TRNC needs a magnificent “complex” with a palace, a national garden, a parliament, working offices, counselling rooms and a mosque!"
Cypriots were very offended that the Presidential Residence was called a “slum”. They felt humiliated. In that anger, they even protested several times at the construction site, but four years later, Erdoğan, acting as the owner of the TRNC, inaugurated the “small complex” on a land in Nicosia with zoning and title deed problems.
There was again protest at the opening, but not enthusiasm. The European newspaper welcomed Erdoğan with the headline “You are not welcome!”. A group of protesters who unfurled the banner “We have the will” were immediately detained.
Cypriot journalist Cenk Mutluyakalı wrote in Yenidüzen newspaper as follows: “The Yavru Külliye was opened. We neither know the architect nor the engineer. The project is unknown. But this “gift” was brought in all its splendour and placed in our country like a monument of sub-administration.”
Tayyip Erdoğan had brought along a team of applauders for the inauguration of the “külliye”, thinking that there would not be enough crowds. Cyprus newspapers reported that a plane full of cheerleaders were transported to Cyprus with the organisation of AKP. During the ceremony, the crowd was made to shout “Everywhere Cyprus, everywhere Erdoğan”, but despite all efforts, the participation was not at the desired level...
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There is no state in the world that recognises the TRNC other than Turkey. It is obvious how Turkey recognises it! The will of the people of Cyprus is not respected, and elections are interfered through various methods. The country they call “independent and sovereign” is treated like “Turkey's 82nd province”. Does Trump want Canada, Greenland and Gaza, but Erdoğan does not want the TRNC? Cypriots view the Turkish Ambassador as a “Colonial Governor” and define their own position as “sub-government”. Those who witness what is written and spoken in the Cypriot media every day see that the “ship is taking water”...
While the Turkish Cypriot people are dealing with their own problems, they are also closely interested in the situation of Ekrem İmamoğlu, the President of İBB, who did part of his education in the TRNC and plays football for the Türk Ocağı Limassol team. Because those people know very well that the peace in Northern Cyprus is closely linked to the democratisation of Turkey...
Note: This text has been translated from the original Turkish version titled KKTC gerçekten egemen bir ülke midir?, published in BirGün newspaper on May 10, 2025.
