Cyprus (Turkish) » International Relations

The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus Relation with the International Community

The international community with the exception of Turkey does not recognize the TRNC as a sovereign state. In fact, all national governments and the United Nations recognize only the de jure sovereignty of the Republic of Cyprus over the whole island. Since the April 2004 referendum on the United Nations Annan Plan, the attitude of the international community towards the TRNC has begun to improve. Gunter Verheugen, the EU's Enlargement Commissioner, was reported as saying that the EU was considering opening a representative office in the TRNC. EU foreign ministers agreed to give the TRNC 259 million Euros (US$307 million) in aid.

Legally, however, the European Union continues to consider Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus as EU territory with a disputed foreign military presence and thus indefinitely exempt from EU legislation until a settlement has been reached. While certain outlying regions of the EU can and do obtain exemptions from EU law, Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus is the only part of the Union where such laws are not enforceable. The number of seats assigned to Cyprus in the European Parliament (six seats) is based on the population of the entire island.

Despite the fact that the Turkish Cypriot residents of Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus and possibly some of the naturalized Anatolian Turks are EU citizens, fewer than expected Northerners voted in the 2004 elections. There is no support for admitting two Cypriot member states into the EU, as long as the Cyprus problem is not solved.