Ankara mayor Mansur Yavas on Wednesday said the Turkish government’s “silence” over the signing of a joint declaration by five central Asian states and the European Union which ruled out the prospect of any of them recognising the north as an independent country “created an image of weakness in our foreign policy”.
He said the joint declaration, signed by Kazakhstan, Kyrgzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan, has “created deep concern”.
Four of those states, Kazakhstan, Kyrgzstan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan, have majority Turkic populations, and are members of the Organisation of Turkic States (OTS).
“The fact that our sister states are taking steps in this direction and that statements on [the Cyprus] issue are included in the declaration is an extremely serious and thought-provoking development. Turkey’s silence on these developments creates an image of weakness in our foreign policy and gives the impression that it is a conscious choice,” he said.
He added that the move had “damaged the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus’ political status” and that “our national interests have been ignored”.
“We invite the Republic of Turkey to take a determined and effective diplomatic stance in the face of this important development and invite the governments of our sister states to turn back from this mistake,” he said.
Meanwhile, Muharrem Ince, opposition political party the CHP’s presidential candidate in 2018, also moved to criticise the country’s government in the wake of the development.
“During the AK Party government’s time in office, Turkey could not prevent the Greek Cypriot state from becoming a member of the EU, could not ensure that Turkic republics recognise the TRNC, and could not stop Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan from accepting a decision in the agreement signed with the EU that the Republic of Turkey is an occupier in Cyprus,” he said.
He added, “the AK Party government, which has been in power for 23 years, is a complete fiasco in foreign policy as well as in agriculture, education, and the economy”.
The joint declaration was signed in the Uzbek city of Samarkand earlier this month said all five countries “reaffirmed our strong commitment” to United Nations security council resolutions 541 and 550.
Resolution 541 said the security council “deplores the declaration of the Turkish Cypriot authorities of the purported secession of part of the Republic of Cyprus” while calling on UN member states not to recognise the north.
Resolution 550 said it “reiterates the call upon all states not to recognise the purported state of the ‘Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus’, set up by secessionist acts, and calls upon them not to facilitate or in any way assist the aforesaid secessionist entity”.
On Tuesday, Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar had called on central Asian Turkic states to “be more careful”, amid a wave of anger in Turkey in the wake of the joint declaration’s signing.
He had added that it was possible that the signatories had “overlooked” the rticles of the joint declaration which precluded recognition of the north, and added, “do they know where the outcome of these articles will lead and what consequences they will have, and for whom?”
Other high-profile Turkish political figures who have criticised the move include Ayyuce Turkes Tas, deputy leader of the Iyi Party responsible for the Turkic world and overseas relations, whose father, former Turkish deputy prime minister Alparslan Turkes, was himself a Cypriot.
“We need to analyse where there are deficiencies and mistakes, where we could not adequately explain our foreign policy even to our brother countries … we could not make them feel the importance of the TRNC,” she said.
Earlier, the CHP’s deputy leader for financial affairs Ozgur Karabat said the country’s government is “turning a blind eye to the strengthening of the Greek Cypriot administration’s strengthening of its status as a state”.
“The AK Party has ruled Turkey for 23 years yet has not been able to get even one country to recognise the TRNC,” he added.
“The AK Party, which thinks of itself as a ‘game maker’, does not see that it is actually an extra,” he said, before going on to use Turkey’s relationship with Qatar, and Qatar’s relationship with the Republic of Cyprus, as an example.
“Many countries are working to extract energy resources in the eastern Mediterranean. So, what is Qatar, which the AK Party calls a friend, doing? It is drilling on behalf of the Greek Cypriots!” he began.
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