The Turkologist spoke about Turkey's disinterest in the international recognition of Northern Cyprus

Alina Sbitneva, a researcher at the Department of the Middle and Post-Soviet East of the INION RAS, noted in an interview with Izvestia that the history of the Turkish Republic and northern Cyprus began a long time ago. In 1974, Turkey sent its troops there.

A scimitar in the back: The Organization of Turkic States has conceived exercises against Russia

They are planned to be held next year in Azerbaijan.

"In fact, she invaded the territory of the northern part of the island and has been actively supporting the Turkish Cypriots who inhabit it ever since. Now it is important to distinguish between what Turkey vocalizes publicly in the international arena and what really correlates with its national interests," the political scientist stressed.

According to the expert, in the international arena, Turkey declares the need for international recognition of Northern Cyprus. However, this is practically not in line with its national interests, because Turkey itself does not need international recognition of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.

"I would say that Ankara even proceeds from the opposite, because if, for example, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus is recognized, Turkey will have competitors there, new investors will enter there, because now it actually has a monopoly on this island," the Turkologist explained.

The analyst does not see much point in the annexation of Northern Cyprus to Turkey.

"Because this will inevitably lead to an international scandal, which Turkey absolutely does not need right now. She has a lot of other areas that need to be resolved," Sbitneva believes.

Presidential elections were held in Northern Cyprus on October 19. A total of seven candidates participated in the voting, but the main struggle unfolded between the current president Ersin Tatar, who has held office since 2020, and the leader of the main opposition Republican Turkish Party, Tufan Erhurman. The first received 35.81% of the votes, the second — 62.76% of the votes.

Against this background, the chairman of the Nationalist Movement party, Devlet Bahceli, called for declaring the election results and the return to federation unacceptable and making a decision on the annexation of Northern Cyprus to the Republic of Turkey.

Read more about the election results in the unrecognized Northern Cyprus in the Izvestia article:

To spite the Sultan: the opposition candidate won in Northern Cyprus

All important news is on the Izvestia channel in the MAX messenger.