The TRNC’s woes

National Unity Party (UBP) leader Dervis Eroglu, who is responsible for establishing the new government, is continuing his contacts. The lack of a coalition is quite harmful during this critical time. A failure to solve this problem might lead to new TRNC elections. If the election results mirror the current situation, it will be difficult to establish a stable government. Even with a constitutional amendment, it won’t be easy. During this unclear period for the TRNC, pressure from the Greek Cypriot administration and Athens on both Turkey and the TRNC is continuing. The TRNC’s troubles will have a negative impact even as Ankara faces new conditions during its efforts to get a date for European Union membership negotiations.

In addition, the Greek Cypriot foreign minister recently said that Turkey should recognize the Greek Cypriot administration as the ‘Cyprus Republic’ before it gets a date for membership talks. The recent European Parliament report said something similar. In addition, withdrawing Turkish soldiers from Cyprus is another condition. It’s not clear if the Greek Cypriot administration and Athens will hang a veto threat over giving Turkey a date. Even if they don’t, it’s uncertain how they will treat the conditions discussed during the negotiations. The EU didn’t keep its promises to the Turkish Cypriots and Ankara, and now it’s snuggling up to the Greek Cypriot administration. At the moment, harmony between Ankara and the TRNC is very important.”