Kanlı urges Türkiye and TRNC to defend diplomatic status

In an opinion article, Kanlı criticised an Atlantic Council Turkey Programme invitation which, he said, described Foreign Minister Tahsin Ertuğruloğlu as “Head of foreign affairs of the Turkish Cypriot Community”, rather than TRNC Foreign Minister.

“If I were Mr Tahsin Ertuğruloğlu, I would thank them and decline to attend this meeting,” he wrote.

Kanlı argued that the wording concerned political status rather than terminology, questioning why Turkish Cypriot officials should accept descriptions that omit their state and official positions.

“If we do not believe in our own state, how can we expect others to believe in it?” he asked. “If we are not going to insist that our own President be called ‘TRNC President’ and our own Foreign Minister ‘TRNC Foreign Minister’, who will?”

He said the same standard should apply to President Tufan Erhürman, who should carefully consider whether to attend meetings that do not acknowledge his presidential title.

“Because what is being discussed here is not merely protocol. It is the status of the state.”

While recognising the importance of dialogue and explaining Turkish Cypriot positions internationally, Kanlı maintained that participation should not require officials to compromise their identity.

“Diplomacy does not mean leaving your own identity outside the door before entering,” he wrote.

“Especially when the other side does not relinquish its own state, sovereignty or political objectives, why should the Turkish Cypriots constantly be the side whose status is called into question?”

Kanlı argued that progress required a clear position maintained over time, rather than changing demands or accepting the terms set by others.

“You must know what you want and refuse to retreat from the principles you defend,” he said. “You can achieve results against the Greek Cypriot side through resistance, persistence and consistency, rather than through repeated pleading.”

He added: “If you want the other side to accept you as you are, you must first refuse to compromise your own identity and status.”

Calling for a joint approach by Ankara and the TRNC, Kanlı said both had a responsibility to uphold the principles they advocated.

“Either we act consistently together, or we continue to operate on ground defined by others, with the status others assign to us.”

He also called for a reassessment of the Turkish Cypriot diplomatic approach, arguing that the UN’s longstanding methods had failed to deliver the desired outcome.

“Rather than repeating the same methods and expecting different results, the Turkish Cypriot side must now reassess its diplomatic approach,” he wrote.

Kanlı concluded: “I believe the path to success on Cyprus lies in persistence, resilience and consistency. Either we stand together with motherland Türkiye on this position, or we continue to play the role assigned to us in a game devised by others.”