Akinci: Erdogan’s push for recognition of north ‘unlikely to succeed’

Former Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci said on Wednesday that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s call at the UN General Assembly for international recognition of the north of Cyprus as an independent state is “unlikely to succeed.”
Akinci acknowledged that the collapse of efforts to reach a federal settlement in Cyprus also stems from the Greek Cypriot side, pointing to the 2004 Annan Plan and the Crans-Montana talks as examples. However, he argued that Erdogan’s appeal would fail because “almost everyone knows that even Turkey, which is making this call, has not met the conditions for recognition.”
He accused Ankara of undermining Turkish Cypriot self-governance by blocking local leaders from heading key institutions, preventing sporting exchanges with Turkish Cypriot teams, and interfering in the north’s internal affairs. As a result, Akinci said, “the international community sees the TRNC as a subordinate administration of Turkey.”
He also noted that even the Organisation of Turkic States – seen as the most likely to offer recognition – has been opening embassies in the south, not in the north. “This rhetoric,” Akinci said, “only serves one purpose: to buy time until the idea of us becoming a province of Turkey takes hold.”
Referring to the upcoming Turkish Cypriot leadership elections, Akinci warned of demographic shifts and political interference shaping the outcome, as he alleged happened in 2020 when he lost to current leader Ersin Tatar. At the time, Akinci accused Ankara of openly backing Tatar, even using the Turkish embassy in Nicosia as “an election headquarters” – claims denied by Turkish officials.
Meanwhile, Cyprus’ AKEL party condemned Erdogan’s UN remarks as “unacceptable demands against our homeland” and contrary to international law and UN resolutions. It said recognition of the north would bring only “new suffering for Cyprus and all Cypriots.”
Instead, AKEL reiterated its support for a bizonal, bicommunal federal solution with political equality, stressing that reunification is the only path to lasting peace and security on the island.
Erdogan, however, dismissed the federal model as unworkable, accusing the Greek Cypriot side of intransigence. “There are two separate states and two separate peoples on the island,” he said, urging the international community to end the “unjust isolation” of Turkish Cypriots. He renewed his call for countries to “recognise the Turkish republic of northern Cyprus and establish diplomatic, political and economic relations.”