Northern Cyprus - International Status and Foreign Relations

International Status and Foreign Relations

The international community, with the exception of Turkey, does not recognise Northern Cyprus as a sovereign state, but recognises the de jure sovereignty of the Republic of Cyprus over the whole island. The United Nations considers the declaration of independence by Northern Cyprus as legally invalid in several of its resolutions.

In wake of the April 2004 referendum on the United Nations Annan Plan, and the support of the Turkish Cypriot community for the plan, the European Union made pledges towards ending the isolation of Northern Cyprus. These included measures for trade and 259 million euro in aid. A pledge by the EU to lift the embargo on Northern Cyprus in the wake of the Annan Plan referendums has been blocked by the Greek Cypriot government.

In 2004, the Organisation of Islamic Co-operation upgraded the delegation of the Turkish Cypriot Muslim community from "observer community" (1979) to that of a constituent state with the designation "Turkish Cypriot State", making Northern Cyprus an observer member of the organization. A number of high profile formal meetings have also taken place between former President Mehmet Ali Talat and various foreign leaders and politicians including the former US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, the then British foreign minister, Jack Straw and former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, and between President Dervis Eroglu and Ban Ki-Moon, Secretary-General of the United Nations.

In 2004, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe gave observer status to the representatives of Turkish Cypriot Community. Since then, Northern Cyprus's representatives have actively participated in all PACE activities without voting rights.

The European Union considers the area not under effective control of the Republic of Cyprus as EU territory under Turkish military occupation and thus indefinitely exempt from EU legislation until a settlement has been found. The status of Northern Cyprus has become a recurrent issue especially during the recent talks for Turkey's membership of the EU where the division of the island is seen as a major stumbling block in Turkey's road to membership.

The Autonomous Republic of Nakhichevan (Azerbaijan) has issued a resolution recognizing Northern Cyprus' independence, but Azerbaijan has yet refrained to officially support this decision due to the Nagorno-Karabakh issue.

Naturalised citizens of Northern Cyprus or foreigners carrying a passport stamped by Northern Cyprus authorities may be refused entry by the Republic of Cyprus or Greece, although after the accession of the Republic of Cyprus to the EU such restrictions have been eased following confidence-building measures between Athens and Ankara and the partial opening of the UN controlled line by Northern Cyprus authorities. The Republic of Cyprus also allows passage across the Green Line from the south of Nicosia, as well as a few other selected crossing points, since Northern Cyprus does not leave entry stamps in the passport for such visits. There are seven border crossings between Northern Cyprus and the Republic of Cyprus. Since May 2004 some tourists have taken to flying to the Republic of Cyprus directly then crossing the green line to holiday in Northern Cyprus.

On 18 February 2008, the Northern Cyprus government sent a message to the Republic of Kosovo congratulating it on its unilateral declaration of independence. A government spokesman clarified that this statement did not constitute, or signal an imminent move toward, formal diplomatic recognition of Kosovo. In contrast, the Republic of Cyprus has rejected Kosovo's declaration of independence, and in lieu of the ICJ ruling that Kosovo's declaration of independence was not illegal stated that Kosovo and Northern Cyprus were not analogous situations. It is argued by some analysts that the independence of Kosovo could provide support for the recognition of Northern Cyprus.

In October 2012, Northern Cyprus became an observer member of the Economic Cooperation Organisation under the name "Turkish Cypriot State".