The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus does not have observer status in OTS and ECO, it is not accepted – expert

During the summit of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) held in Samarkand on November 11, 2022, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) did not receive observer status in the organization. The document signed in Samarkand does not indicate that the TRNC will be an observer. Uzbek politician and professor Sayfiddin Jurayev informed about this in an interview with QALAMPIR.UZ.

The issue arose when Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stated at the summit in Samarkand that the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, not recognized by any country in the world apart from Ankara, had joined the Organization of Turkic States as an observer, expressing gratitude to the leaders of the organization for this. However, on November 16, 2022, Kubanichbek Omuraliyev, the Secretary General of the Organization of Turkic States, confirmed in an interview with the "Anadolu" agency that the TRNC entered the OTS as an observer.

Shortly after that, the QALAMPIR.UZ team visited Istanbul, the headquarters of the Organization of Turkic States, and witnessed the hanging of the flag of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus among other member and observer states in the building of the organization.

In the extraordinary summit of the organization held in Ankara, the capital of Turkey, in March 2023, the President of the TRNC, Ersin Tatar, participated alongside other Presidents. At that summit, Erdogan stated, "With the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus joining us, our family council has become stronger. As an organization, we have shown our strength and determination to the Turkish Cypriot people. We support the Turkish Cypriot people. We will continue our struggle for the recognition of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus and the abolition of restrictions imposed on our Turkish Cypriot brothers," Erdogan said.

On November 3 of the same year, the 10th summit of the Organization of Turkic States took place in Astana, Kazakhstan. Ersin Tatar, the President of the TRNC, did not attend. Among the flags of the member and observer states of the organization, there was no flag of the Republic of Korea. However, during this meeting, Erdogan stated that the TRNC, an observer in the Organization of Turkic States, would now also receive observer status in the Economic Cooperation Organization.

On November 9, Tashkent hosted the 16th summit of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO). To participate in it, the President of the TRNC, Ersin Tatar, came to Tashkent and took part in the summit. However, he did not sit at the same table with other Presidents, but rather from the back row. The flag of the Republic of Tajikistan was not visible at the place where the summit was held. Ersin Tatar held meetings with the President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Prime Minister of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan Anwar ul-Haq Kakar, and Secretary General of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) Khusrav Naziri in Tashkent. Official information from the parties about these meetings stated that the TRNC received observer status in the ECO.

Despite these facts, in an interview with QALAMPIR.UZ, the politician and professor Sayfiddin Jurayev said that the TRNC was not accepted as an observer in two organizations—the Organization of Turkic States and the Economic Cooperation Organization.

"The real movement is that it has not been adopted yet. Uzbekistan was the chairman of the Samarkand summit, and this issue is not in the officially approved document," said Sayfiddin Jurayev.

Reacting to the fact that the TRNC received observer status in the ECO at the summit held in Astana, he said:

"There is no such thing in the documents that I know, in the conditions that I have seen with my own eyes. But one thing is clear: the Turkish side is making this proposal. It is natural for Turkey to make these and other proposals. Delivering as received is a contradiction. Because it [TRNC] has not been adopted yet. There was even a G20 summit after Samarkand. There, too, Erdogan said that TRNC was “accepted.” This is Turkey's and Erdogan's proposal and initiative. But no decision has been made on this issue."

You can watch this video interview on QALAMPIR.UZ's YouTube page or in the video player below.