Turkish Cyprus vows to preserve Türkiye's guarantor role

NICOSIA, As Turkish Cyprus prepares to commemorate the 52nd anniversary of Türkiye’s 1974 Peace Operation on July 20, its foreign minister, Tahsin Ertuğruloğlu, has reaffirmed the importance of Ankara’s guarantor rights over the island. Speaking ahead of the anniversary, Ertuğruloğlu stated that Turkish Cypriots will not accept any agreement that requires them to give up these rights, which are enshrined in the 1960 Treaty of Guarantee. Türkiye initiated the 1974 Peace Operation in response to a coup backed by the Greek military junta, which aimed to unify Cyprus with Greece. The operation was conducted to restore constitutional order and safeguard the interests of the Turkish Cypriot community, following years of escalating intercommunal tensions. The move ultimately led to the division of the island into two separate entities, the Republic of Cyprus in the south and the self-declared Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus in the north, a situation that persists to this day. In his remarks, Ertuğruloğlu framed the core of the Cyprus dispute as a political rather than territorial issue. He criticized the international community for recognizing the Greek Cypriot administration as the sole legitimate authority on the island, effectively marginalizing the Turkish Cypriot perspective. According to him, this recognition has perpetuated the perception of Turkish Cypriots as a minority, undermining their sovereignty and self-determination. “Cyprus is fundamentally a question of status,” Ertuğruloğlu said, quoting former Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktaş. “The Greek Cypriot side is treated as the exclusive owner of a Hellenic island, while the Turkish side is expected to accept minority status. If you sit at the negotiating table without equality, you will leave it without equality. That is precisely why six decades of negotiations have produced no lasting settlement.” He further accused the United Nations of laying the groundwork for the current stalemate by continuing to recognize the Greek Cypriot administration as the “Republic of Cyprus” even after the constitutional partnership collapsed in 1963. Ertuğruloğlu claimed that the European Union exacerbated this problem by granting Cyprus full membership in 2004 despite the unresolved conflict. “The U.N. made that mistake, and the European Union repeated it in 2004,” he said. “Now they expect us to legitimize those mistakes. That is simply not going to happen.” Additionally, Ertuğruloğlu dismissed the EU’s involvement in the peace process, asserting that Brussels cannot be viewed as an impartial party due to its persistent portrayal of the Cyprus issue as one involving a “Turkish occupation.” This stance reflects broader frustrations among Turkish Cypriots who feel excluded from meaningful dialogue and decision-making processes. Meanwhile, preparations are underway for a high-profile visit by U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to Cyprus from July 27 to 29. This will mark the first time a sitting U.N. secretary-general has visited the island in over 16 years, following a similar visit by Ban Ki-moon in 2010. The visit comes amid ongoing efforts to revive stalled peace talks, which have been effectively frozen since the collapse of the 2017 Crans-Montana negotiations.