Ozgur Ozel, the leader of Turkey’s largest opposition political party the CHP, on Thursday said his country must respect the will of the Turkish Cypriot people ahead of next week’s Turkish Cypriot leadership elections.

“As elections approach, the CHP respectfully salutes the will of the Turkish Cypriot community and their fight for existence to protect this will, regardless of political affiliation,” he said.

“Our party calls on all individuals and institutions in our country to respect the will of the Turkish Cypriot people and to be diligent in ensuring that this will is duly respected.”

He added that the office of the Turkish Cypriot leader is “a gateway for Turkish Cypriots to the outside world”, and that “therefore, regardless of who wins the elections, what matters is that the will of the Turkish Cypriots is respected”.

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This, he said, “is one of the most important conditions for achieving a sustainable solution in Cyprus”.

He added that Turkish Cypriots “possess the maturity to elect their own president within the framework of democratic principles”, and that “those who disregard this situation and interfere in the elections, whether from inside or outside Turkey, will inflict the greatest damage on the dignity of the TRNC and of the Turkish Cypriots”.

“If we seek international recognition for the TRNC, treating the TRNC as an independent state and respecting its will must be our top priority. Any attitude or behaviour which undermines this is disrespectful towards the Turkish Cypriots,” he said.

“Every political party in Turkey must consider how its stance and decisions regarding the TRNC will impact that fight,” he said.

His comments come as a wave of officials from Turkey have visited Cyprus in the runup to the election, with opposition figures viewing these visits as attempts on the part of the Turkish government to sway the election in favour of incumbent Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar and away from opposition-backed challenger Tufan Erhurman.

Turkish Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz, for example, is on Thursday set to make his third visit to the island since the start of August, having previously given a speech at a Tatar campaign stop.

Aside from Yilmaz, former interior minister Suleyman Soylu, former defence minister Hulusi Akar, opposition Zafer Party leader Umit Ozdag, and former footballer Mesut Ozil have all visited the island in recent weeks to declare their support for Ersin Tatar.

Meanwhile, newspaper Kibris, which has been under Turkish ownership since 2022, published a poll which placed Tatar ahead in the race which was later declared “misleading” by the Turkish Cypriot media ethics board.

Prior to that, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ruled out any return to negotiations towards a federal solution to the Cyprus problem, regardless of who wins next month’s Turkish Cypriot leadership election.

“The matter of federation is now closed for us. No one can draw us back into talks for a federation with wordplay. Turkish Cypriots will never accept being a minority on the island. The only realistic solution is to accept the existence of two states on the island,” he said.

This is despite the fact that Erhurman has repeatedly stated that were he to be elected on October 19, he would seek to return to negotiations based on a federal solution.