Changing The TRNC Name Leads Nowhere: Erhürman

North Cyprus News - Tufan Erhurman - Leader of CTP
[CTP President – Tufan Erhürman]
Friday, 6 October 2023

Changing the name of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) to the Republic of Cyprus will not lead to any results regarding the Cyprus Issue, CTP Chairman Tufan Erhürman* stated, Yeniduzen reports.

He went on to say that the act of declaring the TRNC as a separate state affects the rights of Turkish Cypriots in the south and calls into question their right to share hydrocarbons found offshore.

Erhürman said, “It is known and should be known that a discussion conducted only within the framework of “name” will not lead us to any conclusion“.

In diplomacy, the first condition for your interlocutors to have to listen to you even if they disagree with you is the consistency of your theses.

“We have been saying that since the “new policy” regarding the Cyprus problem was put forward:

“Turkish Cypriots are one of the two founding partners in this country. Whatever exists not only in the north but also in the south (for example, hydrocarbons), Turkish Cypriots are partners in this and there is no legal basis for us to be excluded from it.

“As soon as you say “two separate states”, you are faced with the question of consistency in demanding the rights of Turkish Cypriots in the south. But as long as you speak on the basis of a bi-communal, bi-regional federation based on political equality, it is not possible for someone to accuse you of inconsistency or ignore your demands, especially when there is a will for a solution that the Turkish Cypriots put forward in the 2004 referendum and confirmed in Crans-Montana in 2017.

“Turkish Cypriot State” is the name of one of the two founding states of the federation mentioned in the Annan Plan. TRNC obtained its status in the Organisation of Islamic Conference under this name, with reference to the Annan Plan. If the new debate is about the status in the Organisation of Turkic States, it is of course possible for the same approach to be exhibited here as well.

“The debate on the “name” issue that has been brought to the agenda recently suggests that there is a search for a new approach.

“If this search results in stepping on the right ground within the framework of a solution perspective, In the Annan’s 2004 report, “The ‘yes’ of the Turkish Cypriots has eliminated all the justifications for putting pressure on them and isolating them” and With the intensive use of UNSG Guterres’s emphasis that “concerns about the recognition of the TRNC should not prevent increasing cooperation”, it can provide an important opportunity to shake the status quo and realise new initiatives.

“Apart from this, it is known and should be known that a discussion conducted only within the framework of “name” cannot lead us to any conclusion.

“Although those who claim to rule the Turkish Cypriot people joined the debate after the rulers of the Republic of Turkey and cannot fully explain the issue, the Turkish Cypriot people, whose will for a solution can be doubted by no one in the world, have the memory and vision regarding this issue that has emerged as if it were a new agenda”.

*Tufan Erhürman is a Turkish Cypriot academic, lawyer, diplomat and a former Prime Minister of Northern Cyprus. A scholar in public law by profession, he served in the negotiations to solve the Cyprus problem between 2008 and 2010.[Ed.]

Yeniduzen

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