Turkish Cypriot Leader Rules Out Any Talks Without Equal Status

Ersin Tatar speaking to journalists in northern Nicosia in January © Birol BEBEK / AFP
Ersin Tatar speaking to journalists in northern Nicosia in January © Birol BEBEK / AFP
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Turkish Cypriot Leader Rules Out Any Talks Without Equal Status

Ersin Tatar speaking to journalists in northern Nicosia in January © Birol BEBEK / AFP
Ersin Tatar speaking to journalists in northern Nicosia in January © Birol BEBEK / AFP

Turkish Cypriots will not sit at any negotiating table unless their sovereignty and equal status is recognized, the leader of the breakaway self-declared state in northern Cyprus told AFP Sunday.

This year marks the 50th anniversary since an Athens-backed coup aimed at uniting Cyprus with Greece triggered a Turkish invasion that divided the island in 1974.

Only Ankara recognizes the statehood of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, which was proclaimed by Turkish Cypriot leaders in 1983.

Efforts to reunify the island have been at a standstill since the last round of United Nations-backed talks collapsed in 2017.

"We are saying, after all these years, and all these fatal negotiations which proved nothing, we are only able to resume or to restart negotiations if our sovereign equality and equal international status is reaffirmed or acknowledged," TRNC leader Ersin Tatar said on the margins of an annual diplomacy gathering in Türkiye's Mediterranean resort of Antalya.

"Otherwise, we are not going to sit at the negotiating table again, because there is no point," he added.

For Tatar, European Union member the Republic of Cyprus has walked away from negotiations after the collapse of every reunification attempt.

"Because in the past there have been many attempts where we sat again at the table, and at the end of the day the table collapsed -- they walked out as the Republic of Cyprus and we just stayed as a community with no gain whatsoever," he said.

"And every time we sit (at talks) we lose something. That's how we feel," he said.

"So unless we get our sovereignty right, the acknowledgement of our sovereignty, we are not going to get involved in any negotiations."

Tatar on Sunday also ruled out any prospect of reunification for the divided island.

"There is no hope for reunification. We are talking about a two-state solution. This is our new policy after many many years of unfortunately fruitless negotiations," he said.

Tatar said that despite political impediments, the TRNC was able to extend its relationship with many countries with Türkiye's support.

"Obviously we have difficulties, but we have no alternative.

"The alternative is to give up, and we will never give up because giving up sovereignty and being basically amalgamated into a pure Greek republic would mean that that would be the end of us."

After years of tension over immigration, energy rights and maritime borders, Greece and Türkiye restarted high-level talks in December when President Recep Tayyip Erdogan paid his first visit to Athens since 2017.

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis is set to visit Ankara in May.

Asked if Turkish-Greek rapprochement could have a positive impact on the island, Tatar said he hoped Greece would say to the Greek Cypriots that "enough is enough, let's wake up to the reality of Cyprus that there are two peoples and the states".

"And the best way forward after all these years is cooperation of the two states so that we can have prosperity and enjoy the resources of the eastern Mediterranean," he added.

"I think if we were to find a solution, Cyprus can be probably bigger (economically) than Dubai."

Tatar said the Turkish Cypriots could not forget about past events which triggered the Turkish military operation five decades ago.

"In 1974 Türkiye came in with troops, and now we will be celebrating the 50th year in July. So it's not easy for us to forget all this, especially with Europe now in Gaza" where Israel and Hamas are engaged in a nearly five-month war.

"Therefore, we have to be very careful."



Released Pro-Palestinian Protest Leader Sues Trump for $20 Mn

Former Columbia University student and pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil at a "Welcome Home" rally on the steps of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York, USA, 22 June 2025. (EPA)
Former Columbia University student and pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil at a "Welcome Home" rally on the steps of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York, USA, 22 June 2025. (EPA)
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Released Pro-Palestinian Protest Leader Sues Trump for $20 Mn

Former Columbia University student and pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil at a "Welcome Home" rally on the steps of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York, USA, 22 June 2025. (EPA)
Former Columbia University student and pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil at a "Welcome Home" rally on the steps of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York, USA, 22 June 2025. (EPA)

Mahmoud Khalil, one of the most prominent leaders of US pro-Palestinian campus protests, sued the Trump administration Thursday for $20 million over his arrest and detention by immigration agents.

Khalil, a legal permanent resident in the United States who is married to a US citizen and has a US-born son, had been in custody following his arrest in March.

The 30-year-old was freed from a federal immigration detention center in Louisiana last month, hours after a judge ordered his release on bail.

"The administration carried out its illegal plan to arrest, detain, and deport Mr. Khalil 'in a manner calculated to terrorize him and his family,' the claim says," according to the Center for Constitutional Rights which is backing Khalil.

Khalil suffered "severe emotional distress, economic hardship (and) damage to his reputation," the claim adds.

The Columbia University graduate was a figurehead of student protests against US ally Israel's war in Gaza, and the Trump administration labeled him a national security threat.

Khalil called the lawsuit a "first step towards accountability."

"Nothing can restore the 104 days stolen from me. The trauma, the separation from my wife, the birth of my first child that I was forced to miss," he said in the statement.

"There must be accountability for political retaliation and abuse of power."

Khalil has previously shared his "horrendous" experience in detention, where he "shared a dorm with over 70 men, absolutely no privacy, lights on all the time."

President Donald Trump's government has justified pushing for Khalil's deportation by saying his continued presence in the United States could carry "potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences."

Khalil's detention came amid Trump's campaign against top US universities in recent months, with the president facing off against Columbia, Harvard and other schools over foreign student enrollment while cutting federal grants and threatening to strip accreditation.

Beyond his legal case, Khalil's team has expressed fear he could face threats out of detention.