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TRNC–the dilemma of “ be” or “not to be”
Hasibe Sahoglu

Building Bridges
Pakistan Observer Exclusive

Turkish Cypriot people express their gratitude to the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and its brotherly people for the unwavering support that they have been extending to the Turkish Cypriot people on the Cyprus conflict.
The excellent relations between the Republic of Turkey and the Islamic Republic of Pakistan reflect to the relations between the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus and Pakistan. The consecutive governments of Pakistan have extended full support to the just cause of the Turkish Cypriots and raised the unjust isolation imposed on the Turkish Cypriots at every platform. As is known, the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) has adopted numerous resolutions as to lifting of the isolation imposed on the Turkish Cypriots and it calls upon the member States to establish mutual relations with the Turkish Cypriot side, particularly in the fields of trade, culture and education. Pakistan has considered all these resolutions positively and put them into action. As is recalled the TRNC President HE Mr Mehmet Ali Talat has formally visited Pakistan last year and discussed the matters of mutual interest with President Parvez Musharraf and with other dignitaries.
In the field of trade, a delegation of the ‘Cyprus Turkish Chamber of Industry‘ (CTCI) visited Pakistan between 7-13 August 2006, and discussed about one-to-one trade, and emphasized TRNC exports products during their visit. The delegation exchanged ideas on making common investments in both countries mainly on industry as well as tourism and agriculture. On the other hand, Pakistan Minister of Industry expressed his will to make common investment to convert agricultural products to industrial products and to share the experiences and knowledge of TRNC on training staff for tourism. In the field of tourism common training programmes can be arranged in both TRNC and Pakistan. Furthermore, a cooperation protocol has been signed between CTCI and Chamber of Trade and Industry in Islamabad and both Chambers decided to work together in order to improve economic and commercial relations. According to the Protocol, members of both Chambers will deliver information to each other about their markets, publications, foreign investment, commercial procedures, laws and regulations based on the benefit of their members. Also, both Chambers will give information about national, international and special fairs to each other. It is believed that this Protocol will help a lot to develop relations in terms of trade between the two brotherly countries.
In the TRNC there are six universities which give high standard education in English. Apart from the qualified education, the tuition fees of our universities in comparison with many other countries are rather low. Therefore, today, there are more than two thousand Pakistani students studying in the TRNC universities. Every year, delegations from each University attend to the Pakistan’s Education Exhibition which takes place in different cities of Pakistan.
The people of the TRNC fully shared Pakistan‘s grief when the disasterous earthquake struck in the year 2005. The then Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Mr Serdar Denktaº came to Pakistan by a special flight immediately after the earthquake. The TRNC has sent a 17-member rescue team from the TRNC Civil Defence Authorities and a medical team. This shows that we can always support each other on this kind of humanitarian issues.
To sum up, it can be said the bilateral ties between the TRNC and Pakistan can be improved by doing the followings:
The visit of a parliamentary delegation from TRNC to Pakistan and vice versa would be a positive step to exchange of ideas of the parliamentarians of our respective countries.
To ensure high level political representation of Pakistan in the celebrations of 20 July and 15 November with the participation of Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Trade and/or Industry.
It would be very much appreciated if the Government of Pakistan decides to establish an office in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus to deal with the consular affairs of the increasing number of Pakistanis in the TRNC.
Cooperation in the tourism and education fields would benefit the peoples of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus and the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus is ready to provide all necessary expertise and experience in these two fields to Pakistan.
The establishment of an economic advisory committee composed the experts of the ministries concerned of the two countries to identify the fields of cooperation and to encourage the businessmen to engage in joint ventures in these fields.
I hope and believe that the stance of Pakistan vis-à-vis the Turkish Cypriot people and the Cyprus question will set an example for the other brotherly countries in the Islamic Ummah to take favoorable steps within the framework of the OIC resolutions relevant to Cyprus.
Hasibe Sahoglu is the representative of Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus in Pakistan.