Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will demand explanations from institutions that failed to provide timely information about the appointment of ambassadors by Central Asian Turkic states to the Republic of Cyprus, according to remarks on Haber Global TV by Associate Professor Cihat Yayci from Istanbul Topkapi University, Report informs.
He stated that some forces' claims that this step by Central Asian states is not an important issue and will not have any impact on Türkiye's policy are either an attempt to hide the truth or due to their lack of information on the subject:
"Four of the five states that signed this decision are members of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS), while Tajikistan is a country with a significant number of Turkic-origin people and with whom we have normal relations. These five states gained independence after the collapse of the USSR. For 35 years, they did not appoint ambassadors to Southern Cyprus, meaning they indirectly did not recognize that administration."
The expert believes that the current step is a major loss of credibility in 35 years of Turkish foreign policy:
"It's interesting why these states signed such a document after 35 years? Especially after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said, 'The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus will be recognized,' and after this country was accepted as an observer member in the OTS, taking such a step raises many questions. History will demand accountability for this. Erdogan will demand accountability from those who caused this division, asking, 'How did you undermine my word?' He will also request explanations from relevant institutions that were not informed in time and did not prevent it."
Yayci stated that Central Asian states have expressed loyalty to UN Security Council resolutions 541 and 550 regarding the Cyprus issue in their agreement signed with the European Union:
"Those documents state that the Southern Cyprus administration is the Republic of Cyprus, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus does not exist, that territory is occupied, and the occupying state is Türkiye."
The expert noted that Türkiye's foreign policy has never received such a large-scale wound throughout history:
"Cyprus has been the number one issue of Turkish foreign policy. All other issues came after Cyprus. So what will be the position of the OTS now? Because, as I mentioned earlier, Northern Cyprus has observer country status there. How will Türkiye react after this? The European Union is giving 12 billion euros to Central Asian countries for the construction of the Middle Corridor. Countries like Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan don't need that money. These states didn't take such a step even when their citizens were in need of bread. So it's not about money. They are simply using the EU and the US through the lobbies of Greece and Greek Cyprus."