Pakistan PM declares ‘support for the TRNC’

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif declared his country’s “support for the people of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus” during a joint press conference with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday.

Sharif had travelled to meet Erdogan in Ankara and spoke of how Erdogan’s “bold and courageous stance on issues of profound importance resonates not only with the people of Turkey but with the Muslim world and beyond”.

He said he had discussed a range of international issues with Erdogan prior to the press conference, including “the rapidly evolving and worrying situation in the Middle East”.

On this matter, he said, “we stressed upon the need for unity among the ranks of the Muslim Ummah, expressing our deep concern over the situation in Gaza”.

“We strongly condemn the brutal killings of over 50,000 innocent Palestinians, including women and children. We have called for an immediate ceasefire and the unhindered flow of humanitarian assistance for the Palestinian people.”

He added that he and Erdogan had “renewed our call for a viable, independent, and contiguous Palestinian state with pre-1967 borders and [Jerusalem] as its capital”.

This, he said, “would be the only just, comprehensive, fair, and lasting solution to the Palestinian question, in accordance with the United Nations’ and Organisation of Islamic Cooperation’s resolutions”.

“I expressed my sincerest gratitude to my dear brother President Erdogan for Turkey’s unwavering support on the Kashmir issue and reiterated our support to the people of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus,” he said.

Sharif and Erdogan in Ankara

The press conference in Ankara is the second time in a little over two months that Sharif has made reference to Cyprus.

In February, he said Pakistan “fully supports the cause of northern Cyprus and fully stands by Turkey on this cause in an unwavering fashion” when Erdogan visited Pakistan’s capital Islamabad as part of a tour of Asia.

Erdogan at the time thanked Sharif for his support for the north, saying, “Pakistan’s support for the just cause of the Turkish Cypriots is extremely meaningful to us.”

Sharif’s comments are the latest episode in Pakistan’s flirtation with recognising the north, with the north’s ‘parliament speaker’ Zorlu Tore having said last year that the country was showing “very close interest and concern”.

He then added that “our future is definitely bright” on the matter.

In 2023, Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar had met Sharif’s predecessor Anwaar ul Haq Kakar in Uzbekistan.

Tatar said “around ten thousand citizens of the brotherly nation of Pakistan live in the TRNC,” and added that he wants “to increase close relations and cooperation” with the country.

He added that the Turkish Cypriots and Pakistan have “historical ties of culture and brotherhood” with one another.

Pakistan, alongside Bangladesh, initially recognised the north when it declared independence in 1983, but both countries withdrew their recognition just three days after the declaration after the passage of the United Nations Security Council’s resolution 541.

Resolution 541 declared the north’s independence to be “legally invalid”, while also reaffirming resolution 367, passed in 1975, which called upon all UN member states to “respect the sovereignty, territorial integrity, and non-alignment of the Republic of Cyprus.”

Pakistan was one of the UN Security Council’s ten non-permanent members in 1983 and voted against resolution 541 but withdrew its recognition after it passed. Jordan abstained from voting, while the other 13 members all voted in favour.