ISTANBUL – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has dismissed the EU’s statement regarding north Cyprus being given the observer member status in the Organization of Turkic States.
Erdogan said: “What the European Union says, how the European Union looks at it, none of this concerns us.”
“How we look at it is important,” he added, during a press conference before leaving for the G20.
Earlier, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said the EU’s attempts “to hinder the Turkish Cypriot people to become a respectable member of the international community, are incompatible with goodwill, and they also once again clearly reveal the hypocrisy of the Union.”
The OTS, formerly called the Turkic Council or the Cooperation Council of Turkic Speaking States, is an international organization comprising prominent independent Turkic countries: Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkey and Uzbekistan. It is an intergovernmental organization whose overarching aim is promoting comprehensive cooperation among Turkic-speaking states.
The north of Cyprus – or ‘TRNC’ – is recognized only by Turkey and does not enjoy international recognition.
