Turkey, Northern Cyprus, Azerbaijan: Three states, one nation

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan recently traveled to the city of Nicosia in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) and attended a parade to mark 37th anniversary of he country at the Dr. Fazıl Küçük Boulevard. In his speech he said: “I salute my Azerbaijani brothers from our sister country Northern Cyprus. God willing, Mr. President [of TRNC] will travel to Cyprus and strengthen relations. As long as our hearts and fists are one, with the permission of God there is no adversity that we cannot conquer, no hurdle we can’t overcome. We ask God for mercy on our beloved martyrs who brought the TRNC to its current situation today; with gratitude I commemorate our veterans. I hope that we will be able to celebrate many more anniversaries together. Happy Republic Day.”

As Erdogan concluded his words with a quote from Mustafa Kemal Atatürk saying, “Azerbaijan’s troubles are our troubles, and their joy is our joy”, he added that we are living with the pride of being three states, but one nation.”

From now on, I’m guessing that Turkey, Azerbaijan and the TRNC will be spoken of as three states, one nation. It seems a done deal that the TRNC will join the Cooperation Council of Turkic-Speaking States (Turkic Council) as soon as possible.

Because, as I had written in my previous column, former President Mustafa Akıncı is a Greek lover who continuously overlooked the interests of the TRNC, forget joining the Turkic council. So much so that had he continued as president, Northern Cyprus might have had a serious national security problem. Furthermore, we would’ve had a tough time destroying the imperialist plans to besiege and invade Turkey through Cyprus.

This is why, in his speech on the 37th anniversary of the TRNC, Ersin Tatar, who was recently elected president of the country, said: “A two-state solution must be brought to the table. There are currently two nations and two states; cooperation should be conducted accordingly. Nobody should expect us to relinquish the effective and official guarantorship of Turkey, or to sever our ties. President Tatar highlighted that any attempt to ostracize turkey and the TRNC from the East Mediterranean was doomed to fail and that he wouldn’t let anyone trample over our legitimate rights. He also congratulated Azerbaijan for its success in its rightful fight for Karabakh.

It was established as a global organization in 2009 to encourage comprehensive cooperation between Turkish-speaking countries. This structure consists of the Council of Heads of State, the Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs, the Council of White Beards (made up of wise men from each country), the Senior Officials Committee and the Secretariat based in Istanbul. The Turkic Council’s founding countries are Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Turkey. At the 7th summit held in October 2019 in Baku, Uzbekistan became a fully-fledged member of the Council. Hungary on other hand gained observer status during the 6th Summit of the Turkic council held in the Kyrgyz town of Cholpon-Ata. Additionally, Ukraine has applied to the council to take part. Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Emine Dzheppar stated that the Kiev wanted to join the council as an observer to raise the topic of Russia's illegitimate annexation of Crimea. Dzheppar also noted that the Turkic Council was a platform where the subject of Crimea and Crimean Tatars could be brought up and said that they were planning on holding a conference with regards to the security problems in Crimea.

The Turkic council is on the verge of completing its establishment. The 12-year preparation has revealed that the Turkic world is present not only in this region but in Europe too. The Turkic world existed then, exists now, and will continue to exist in the future.