The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) on Thursday criticized the EU for its decades-long isolation of the Turkish Cypriots.
References made by the European Commission in a letter on the lifting of the unjust isolation imposed on the Turkish Cypriot side are completely inconsistent with the realities on the island, the TRNC Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
"The letter in question has gone on record as the clearest evidence that the EU will not take any positive steps for the Turkish Cypriot people in the future either," the ministry added.
The statement underlined that the references made by the European Commission in its letter do not in any way reflect the realities on the island, adding that this "once again demonstrates that the EU will not change its biased and insincere stance on the Cyprus issue."
It underscored that the Turkish Cypriot people for years have been forced to live under inhumane isolation and embargoes in violation of international law and human rights.
The restrictions imposed in areas ranging from education and sports to culture and economic life violate the fundamental human rights of the Turkish Cypriot people, it said.
It also said the EU's position is a clear indication of its desire to preserve the unjust status quo on the island and of a structure that has yielded to vetoes by the Greek Cypriot side.
"There is an obvious reality: the people of the TRNC are still being subjected to inhumane isolation before the eyes of the EU and the international community," the statement said.
The TRNC statement described the European Commission's references to 2004 European Council decisions aimed at ending the isolation of Turkish Cypriots, as well as its claims about "building bridges" and "enhancing dialogue," as "nothing more than an attempt to create a false impression."
"The EU has taken no concrete steps, and has demonstrated no sincere approach, political will or vision, to eliminate the unjust restrictions imposed on the Turkish Cypriot people and the inhumane obstacles created by the Greek Cypriot side.
"The EU, which supports the Greek Cypriot leadership that even prevents our young people and athletes from establishing ties with the world, is the biggest protector of the status quo on the island," it added.
"We cannot take seriously the European Union and its so-called representative, (European Commission Vice President and EU Special Representative for Cyprus) Raffaele Fitto, which disregard the will, sovereign equality, and equal international status of the Turkish Cypriot people and distort the realities on the island through biased reports, letters and statements."
The statement said the Turkish Cypriot people and the TRNC will continue their struggle under their own state structure, with the strong support of the Republic of Türkiye, and will remain determined to defend their rights on the basis of sovereign equality despite all embargoes and attempts at obstruction.
"The TRNC will not accept these empty, delaying tactics and approaches aimed at concealing the existing injustice on the island. There is one fundamental truth that the international community must understand: unless these outdated embargoes imposed on the Turkish Cypriot people are completely lifted, and our sovereign equality and equal international status are recognized, the EU's declarations of 'goodwill' will have no validity in our eyes.
"At the same time, it is impossible to understand the portrayal in the press and public of a false impression that positive developments are taking place within the EU regarding the isolation. Far from taking steps to lift the isolation of Turkish Cypriots, the EU will show no willingness even to ease it."
Cyprus has been mired in a decades-long dispute between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, despite diplomatic efforts by the UN to achieve a comprehensive settlement.
Ethnic attacks starting in the early 1960s forced Turkish Cypriots to withdraw into enclaves for their safety.
In 1974, a Greek Cypriot coup aimed at Greece's annexation of the island led to Türkiye's military intervention as a guarantor power to protect Turkish Cypriots from persecution and violence. As a result, the TRNC was founded in 1983.
It has seen an on-and-off peace process in recent years, including a failed 2017 initiative in Switzerland under the auspices of guarantor countries Türkiye, Greece, and the UK.
The Greek Cypriot Administration entered the EU in 2004, the same year Greek Cypriots single-handedly blocked a UN plan to end the longstanding dispute.
