Cutting the Gordian Knot: Turkish Foreign Policy Towards Cyprus During AK Party Era (2002-2020)

Abstract

Cyprus Dispute is one of the fundamental foreign policy issues in Turkish foreign policy since the 1950s. Cyprus Dispute has often been perceived as an issue above petty politics in Turkey, and almost all Turkish political parties supported the Turkish State’s involvement in Cyprus since the 1960s and Cyprus Peace Operation in 1974. However, after AK Party came to power in 2002, with the main motive of preventing a secular nationalist military coup, as well as with the aim of becoming a full member of the European Union (EU), the party adopted a proactive foreign policy favoring the solution in the island. That is why Turkey and Turkish Cypriots actively supported the Annan Plan referendum in 2004. However, upon the rejection of the settlement plan by Greek Cypriots and EU’s decision to accept Greek Cypriot government as an EU member and the only representative of the Cyprus Republic, Cyprus Dispute has transformed into a problem spoiling not only Turkish-Greek and Turkish-Cypriot relations but also Turkish-EU relations. In the 2010s, the Cyprus Dispute gained a new dimension with the gas discoveries and agreements made by the Greek Cypriot administration. So far, energy politics could not be used as a leverage to promote the solution on the island, and the dispute has transformed into a more complex problem with many layers.