Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is pictured delivering a speech during the COP31 Leaders’ Summit in Antalya on Nov 12.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Nov. 15 marked the 43rd anniversary of the establishment of Turkish Cyprus, reaffirming Ankara’s support for Turkish Cypriots and their sovereignty.
In a written statement, Erdoğan extended his “heartfelt congratulations” to Turkish Cyprus, commemorating “our heroic martyrs with mercy and our honored veterans with gratitude.”
“I send my greetings and warmest regards to our Turkish Cypriot brothers and sisters, with whom we will continue to strengthen our solidarity in every field,” he wrote.
Calling the Cyprus issue Türkiye’s “national cause,” Erdoğan vowed that Ankara “would never abandon the island under any circumstances.”
In a statement, the Foreign Ministry also hailed Turkish Cyprus as a symbol of its people’s struggle for sovereignty and existence.
The ministry said the island’s northern part stands as proof that Turkish Cypriots, whom it called an inseparable part of the Turkish nation, have “never relinquished their sovereignty and freedom and never will.”
It also paid tribute to late Turkish Cypriot leader Fazıl Küçük and the country’s founding President Rauf Raif Denktaş, expressing gratitude for their contributions to the Cyprus cause.
The Defense Ministry also congratulated Turkish Cyprus on its anniversary, vowing that it would continue to stand by “our Turkish Cypriot brothers and sisters, as it has in the past and will into the future.”
The divided island’s Turkish Cypriot administration declared independence on Nov. 15, 1983, and is recognized only by Türkiye.
The anniversary comes amid renewed U.N. efforts to encourage cooperation between the island’s two communities, despite the continued absence of common ground for a comprehensive settlement.
A new process was launched in 2025 at U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ initiative to identify areas of practical cooperation that could benefit both communities and build trust.
The first expanded informal meeting, bringing together the two island leaders, the foreign ministers of Türkiye and Greece and a British minister of state, was held in Geneva in March 2025. Participants identified six potential areas of cooperation.
A second meeting in the same format was held in New York four months later to assess progress, but no breakthrough was achieved on key issues, including the opening of new crossing points.
Guterres visited Cyprus on July 27-29, holding bilateral and trilateral meetings with the two leaders in a further diplomatic effort to advance cooperation.
The leaders of the island later agreed to open two new crossing points during a three-hour meeting with the U.N. chief’s personal envoy on Cyprus, Maria Angela Holguin Cuellar, at the buffer zone on Nov. 9.
