Erdoğan to Erhürman: no solution in Cyprus without the rights of the Turkish Cypriots, as the Organization of Turkic States backs a settlement “based on the realities”

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan received Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhürman on Friday, October 30 at the Presidential Complex in Ankara and told him that no process that does not protect the rights and interests of the Turkish Cypriots can lead to a lasting solution in Cyprus. The meeting took place on the sidelines of the 13th Summit of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS), where the regime in the occupied part of Cyprus takes part as an observer. The declaration adopted by the leaders takes Ankara’s line on the Cyprus problem: a solution “based on the realities on the island”.

According to the statement of the Communications Directorate of the Turkish Presidency, Erdoğan expressed his satisfaction that the occupation regime is represented in the OTS and assured Erhürman that Turkey “will always continue to stand by” it. On the Turkish side the meeting was attended by AKP deputy chairman Kürşat Zorlu, Communications Director Burhanettin Duran, Erdoğan’s chief foreign-policy and security adviser Akif Çağatay Kılıç, and other aides.

From the summit podium Erhürman said he would continue to work for “a just and lasting solution on the island, in close consultation and cooperation with Turkey”. He added that the integration of the Turkish Cypriots into the international community and the search for a solution are processes that reinforce each other, and hoped the Eastern Mediterranean would become a region of mutual respect, inclusive cooperation and shared prosperity rather than tensions and political exclusion. His remarks were carried by the Turkish state agency Anadolu.

What the Ankara Declaration says

The Ankara Declaration, which according to Daily Sabah has 163 points, calls for a “negotiated, mutually acceptable and sustainable” solution of the Cyprus problem based on “the realities on the island” and backs efforts for the “inherent equal rights” of the Turkish Cypriots, whom it describes as an “integral part of the Turkic world”. The same wording is used for Hungary, Turkmenistan and the pseudo-state in the occupied territories, the three observers whose “contribution” the text acknowledges.

The declaration also calls for full implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 2803 on Gaza, supports completion of the OTS Strategy for 2027-2031 and welcomes progress on a draft Treaty on Strategic Partnership, Eternal Friendship and Brotherhood among the Turkic states. It further asks for regular contacts among foreign ministers and promotes a common Turkic alphabet of 34 letters. The summit came a day after the celebrations of the Turkish Republic’s anniversary, when Erdoğan declared himself determined to “neutralise” those who stand in the way of Turkey’s goals.

The legal position and the open wound of the missing

The “realities on the island” formula has a concrete meaning: the 1974 invasion and the continuing occupation of 37% of the territory of the Republic of Cyprus, a member state of the European Union. The United Nations Security Council has condemned the declaration of the so-called “TRNC” as legally invalid, and the only framework it recognises is a bizonal, bicommunal federation with political equality, as set out in the relevant UN resolutions. An organisation of states that admits the occupation regime as an observer does not alter that status.

For the Greek Cypriot side, the fate of the people who went missing during the invasion also remains open: 920 cases are still unresolved, according to the figures of the Committee on Missing Persons. See our explainer on the missing persons of Cyprus, the CMP figures and the rulings of the European Court of Human Rights.