Declaration of Independence of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus

Declaration of Independence of Northern Cyprus
1983 copy of the original UDI of NC
Created	05 November 1983
Ratified	15 November 1983
Location	TRNC
Author(s)	Prof. Dr. Turan Fevzioğlu, Osman Ertuğ, Necati Münir Ertakun, Tugay Uluçevik[1]
Signatories	40 Turkish-Cypriot parliament members
Purpose	Emphasizing independence, freedom, and sovereignty of Turkish Cypriots, and realizing self-determination of the nation

The declaration of Independence of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus was a unilateral declaration of independence from the Republic of Cyprus by the Turkish Cypriot parliament on 15 November 1983.

Eight years after the Turkish Federative State of North Cyprus was proclaimed (in 1975), the declaration of North Cyprus was presented to the Turkish Cypriot parliament in North Nicosia by Turkish Cypriot Leader/Northern Cypriot State President Rauf Denktash on November 15, 1983. Containing text espousing human rights and a desire to live side-by-side with the Greek Cypriot population, it ended with a declaration that Northern Cyprus was an independent and sovereign state, naming the entity the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. The Turkish Cypriot Parliament passed a unanimous resolution later that day ratifying the declaration.

The declaration

Reactions

The United Nations Security Council issued two resolutions (541 and 550) proclaiming that the Turkish Cypriot UDI was legally invalid and requesting that no other sovereign state should recognize the declaration and asked for its withdrawal.

International Court of Justice: "International law contains no prohibition on declarations of independence"

In 22 July 2010, United Nations' International Court of Justice (ICJ) stated that "International law contains no prohibition on declarations of independence". ICJ also stated in 2010 that "Since the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) considered DOI of TRNC was, or would have been connected with the unlawful use of force, the UNSC in an exceptional character attached illegality to the DOI of TRNC" and "general international law contains no applicable prohibition of declarations of independence".^[2]

Recognition

UN Countries and the Others

Turkey formally recognized Northern Cyprus on the day its UDI declared. The parliament of the Nakhichevan Autonomous Republic, which is a self-governing exclave of Azerbaijan, has issued a resolution recognizing the TRNC as a sovereign nation, but this recognition is not shared by Azerbaijan's central government.

References

1. Star KibrisPolitics 19.11.2011
2. "Accordance with International Law of the Unilateral Declaration of Independence in Respect of Kosovo, Paragraph 81" (PDF). International Court of Justice. 22 July 2010. Retrieved 11 February 2016.