Foreign Policy in 2023: A Retrospective
The Cyprus problem has seen a stagnant course in the year 2023 in efforts for a solution. The Turkish side continued its policy of calling for recognition to the world and pursuing solution policies on the grounds of sovereign equality and a two-equal-state state.
In February, President Ersin Tatar met with Nikos Christodoulides, who won the presidential elections at the Greek Cypriot Administration, in unofficial and social gatherings.
At the end of the year, the two leaders reached an agreement on the “Personal Representative” who will serve as the personal representative of the UN Secretary-General for a period of 6 months.
Having been accepted as an observer member of the Cooperation Council of Turkic States (TDT) in November 2022, the TRNC participated in many meetings of the TDT with the president, ministers, bureaucrats, and civil society organizations in 2023.
As the leader of the TRNC, Ersin Tatar met with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in He met with Ilham Aliyev in Baku in the fall. Aliyev said that the TRNC flag should wave at events in Azerbaijan and it will wave.
There was tension both at Taksim Square and later in Pile in 2023 when the Greek Cypriot leader Christodoulides won the election, the attempts to register “halloumi” by the EU, and the efforts of the Turkish side to promote the TRNC in the world have been among the most important events highlighted in the Cyprus Turkish and Greek Cypriot press.
In February, following the election of Christodoulides, President Ersin Tatar met for the first time with Nikos Hristodulidis, and emphasized in his statement after the meeting that “I confirmed before the UN that we could only pass to official talks only with the acceptance of our sovereignty. We are pursuing a new national policy in Cyprus.”
Hristodulidis said, “From Mr. Tatar, on the Cyprus issue – which he also shares with the public, I did not hear anything unexpected.”
The leaders’ second meeting took place on July 28, during a visit to the Buffer Zone as part of the visit to the Anthropology Laboratory of the Committee on Missing Persons.
President Tatar and the leader of the Greek Cypriot Administration, Hristodulidis, expressed support for the work of the Committee on Missing Persons during this visit.
After the visit, President Tatar said that it is a humanitarian issue and that it should not be interpreted as an opening for a negotiation, but the recognition of equal sovereignty and equal internationally recognized status are required for the Turkish side to sit at the table.
The third and final meeting of Tatar and Hristodoulidis in 2023 took place at the year-end reception held by the United Nations Good Offices Mission, and the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Cyprus, Colin Stewart, called on all parties to life leaders’ peace efforts.
On the other hand, the period of the UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) was extended for a year and Tatar and Turkish Foreign Minister Ertuğruloğlu criticized the UN Security Council decision.
The President said in comments on the decision of the UNSC: “There is no common ground for the negotiations and we cannot sit at the negotiation table without the acceptance of our equal sovereignty and equal international status. The UNSC has made federative demands in a way that supports the Greek side, despite knowing this fact.”
In addition, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs emphasized that UN Security Council decisions that continue to treat one side of the island as a “state” and the other as a “community” are unacceptable.
During a visit to London in March, President Tatar had two foreign guests. The first was Mario Nava, Director General of the Structural Reform Support Unit at the European Commission, and the second was Rosemary DiCarlo, Deputy Secretary-General for Political Affairs and Peacebuilding Affairs for the United Nations.
During her meeting with Nava, Tatar expressed his dissatisfaction with the fact that no officials from the TRNC were invited to the opening of the Cooperation Center built by the TRNC authorities with the permission of the local authority in Kormacit, the EU grant, and the UN Development Programme. Nava responded to Tatar’s sensitivities on this issue and stated that the relevant municipal mayor and a member of parliament were invited to the opening.
In her meeting with Di Carlo, Tatar said, “The new policy put forward by the Turkish side at the 5+1 talks in Geneva is valid. We can move from unofficial talks with the acceptance of equal sovereignty and equal international status to official negotiations.”
After these meetings, President Tatar hosted U.S. Ambassador to South Cyprus, Julie D. Fischer at the Presidential Complex the same week and called on the U.S., as well as other countries, to support the new Turkish policy.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting held in the basement of the presidential palace, Fischer said, “The lifting of the arms embargo against South Cyprus by the new U.S. administration is seen as a development that will increase tension in the region,” and reiterated that they are ready to work with the Greek side to explore natural resources in the area together.
On June 10, Rum leader Hristodulidis attending the ETIK congress in South Cyprus extended an offer to meet with President Ersin Tatar and restart negotiations. This means that they are ready to start the negotiations again and that the intention is to achieve tangible results that will get negotiations back on track, emphasized Hristodulidis.
President Erdogān from Turkey, however, clarified the Turkish stance on Cyprus. Speaking about Cyprus, Erdogān said that the return of the Turkish side to the negotiating table depends on the recognition of the TRNC.
On September 19 at the UN General Assembly in New York, President Erdogān called on the international community to recognize the TRNC. In a press conference, Erdogān said, “Our approach to Cyprus has been clear for a long time. The realistic nature of federation formulas has been realized and there is an understanding that they do not work. Denying this reality is nothing but a push for deadlock in Cyprus. We made efforts for a two-state, fair, and permanent solution in Cyprus. We invited our counterparts to achieve that. That is, recognize the independence of the TRNC as an independent state is the only step that will contribute to a solution to the Cyprus problem.”
Meanwhile, South Cyprus President Hristodulidis repeated his readiness to meet with Tatar and restart negotiations at a meeting in a media event.
Rum leader Christodoulides, in his speech at the congress of the Economics and Technology Industry Chambers, said as an emotion, addressing the President, “Please inform Mr. Tatar about our proposal to talk and resume talks. It would take a thousand leaps, but if the negotiations start and if not it will create new tension.”
All of the developments on the Cyprus problem in 2023, especially the tension at Taksim Square and subsequently in Pile, as well as the close reciprocal statements of the leaders of the two communities, were on the agenda of the UN Security Council, and it was emphasized that President Erdogān’s calls for recognition of the TRNC have changed the course in Cyprus.
Finally, 2023 witnessed important steps towards the PDO-directed (Protected Designation of Origin) of THB, as Turkish hellim producer, and the path that is opened for the removal of apartheid, which continues in the EU. A Greek Cypriot, on the other hand, filed a new application to the Leasing Commission.
The centuries-old Cyprus problem seems to fall under increased pressure as 2023 ends, as a council has ruled that production of THB (Target-Hellim-Bullet) in the TRNC can go forward. Growing concern about Turkish hellim producers and local grassroots organizations including Elwiyeh Gazh and Tada have arised.
During the year, KTSO General Director Kemal Öztürk announced that more than one company will soon join the list of producers with the PDO certificate, while Turkish Cypriot Chancellor announced that the PDO certificate will be given to the new factory.
Rum side’s news on this issue are usually active on the news.
In December, a Greek Cypriot took the issue to the Leasing Commission, another turning point where the TRNC and Greek Cypriots face-to-face.
