Northern Cyprus' participation in Turkic summit crucial to its recognition: Azerbaijani president

By Ruslan Rehimov

BAKU, Azerbaijan (AA) - Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev stressed Saturday the importance of Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) President Ersin Tatar's participation in an informal summit of the OTS as a crucial step to the recognition of the country.

Tatar attended a two-day informal summit -- in early July of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) heads of state in Shusha -- Azerbaijan's recently liberated Karabakh region.

Aliyev, speaking at the Unmasking False Narratives: Confronting Disinformation forum in Shusha, congratulated Tatar on the 50th anniversary of the Cyprus Peace Operation and noted his participation in the summit under the TRNC flag as a significant milestone.

He said Tatar's presence is an important step toward its recognition, in response to Anadolu board member Yusuf Ozkir's question about the TRNC and OTS.

Expressing Azerbaijan's support for Turkish Cypriots, Aliyev shared his optimism about the future of the OTS, foreseeing it as a global power center established through joint efforts.

The TRNC holds observer status in the OTS -- an intergovernmental body formed in 2009 to foster collaboration among Turkic nations.

Azerbaijan regained control of most of the Armenian-occupied Karabakh region during a 44-day war in the fall of 2020, which concluded with a Russian-brokered peace deal that paved the way for normalization and border delineation.

Last September, Azerbaijan established complete sovereignty over Karabakh when separatist forces in the region surrendered.

*Writing by Yasin Gungor in Istanbul