Ruling parties of Türkiye, TRNC, Azerbaijan meet in Turkish Cyprus

The ruling parties of Türkiye, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) and Azerbaijan are coming together on December 19 in the TRNC.

Hosted by the TRNC's National Unity Party (UBP), the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) and the New Azerbaijan Party are scheduled for a meeting on further cooperation, Daily Sabah reports.

Within the scope of the summit to be held in Lefkoşa (Nicosia), a joint press conference will be held with the Turkish delegation under the chair of AK Party Deputy Chair Numan Kurtulmuş, the Azerbaijan delegation headed by New Azerbaijan Party Deputy Chair Tahir Bodaqov, and the board of the TRNC under the UBP's chairperson, Prime Minister Ünal Üstel.

TRNC President Ersin Tatar will receive the delegations and give a dinner in their honor.

The official recognition of the TRNC by Azerbaijan would be a crucial step, senior officials from both Türkiye and the TRNC have stated many times.

The TRNC recently became a non-member observer state to the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) last month.

The Organization of Turkic States is an interstate bloc, established to expand cooperation between Turkic-speaking countries in politics, economics, science, education, transport and tourism.

Its members are Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Türkiye and Uzbekistan. Hungary and Turkmenistan also have observer status.

This is the first time the TRNC is represented in an international organization with its constitutional name.

The TRNC is also an observer member in the Economic Cooperation Organization, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and the International Organization of Turkic Culture (TÜRKSOY). The country is represented in 18 countries with 25 representations, including Germany, the United States, and Pakistan.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, during his speech at the United Nations in September, called on the international community to "recognize the TRNC."

The island of Cyprus has been mired in a decadeslong struggle between the Turkish and Greek Cypriots, despite a series of diplomatic efforts by the UN to achieve a comprehensive settlement. The island has been divided since 1964, when ethnic attacks forced the Turkish Cypriots to withdraw into enclaves for their safety. In 1974, a Greek Cypriot coup aiming at Greece's annexation led to Türkiye's military intervention as a guarantor power. The TRNC was founded in 1983 and currently, Türkiye is the only country that officially recognizes it as a separate and independent state.

The island has seen an on-and-off peace process recently, including a failed 2017 initiative in Switzerland under the auspices of guarantor countries Türkiye, Greece, and the United Kingdom.

While Greece and the Greek Cypriot administration support a federation on the island of Cyprus, Türkiye and the TRNC insist on a two-state solution reflecting the realities on the island.