Samenvatting

Northern Cyprus is a de facto state in the eyes of the international community. Its independence has
been deemed illegitimate by the United Nations as it is seen as an occupied territory by Turkey.
Therefore, Turkey is the only country in the world that recognizes the so-called Turkish Republic of
Northern Cyprus. The purpose of this research is to comprehend how Northern Cyprus has sustained its
de facto statehood for forty years. In order to do so, qualitative research was conducted and both primary
and secondary data were used. Secondary data was collected for the purpose of providing a basic
framework of data for this research. Primary data was collected in the form of an interview. The research
revealed that, de facto states are able to survive for a relatively long time due to the support from their
patron states. It is clear that, de facto states generally have weak economies, weak state structures, and
lack international recognition; as a result, the help of their patron states is needed. As patron states have
helped de facto states to break away from their parent states, they now, support them with political,
military and economic assistance. Moreover, the research showed that, the support of a patron state,
contradicts the claim of independence of de facto states because they are heavily dependent on another
state; therefore, it weakens their claims of independence. In the case of Northern Cyprus, they are
heavily dependent on military and financial support provided by Turkey. Military support is provided
for the safety of Turkish Cypriots. Financial aid is provided to support the Northern Cypriot economy
as the state is isolated from the world and an international embargo is currently in place. Therefore,
Turkey is their main trading partner in goods and services. Furthermore, a policy was created to
facilitate and encourage Turkish nationals from Turkey to Northern Cyprus, in order to increase the
population and to create an economy without Greek Cypriots. This led to the conclusion that Northern
Cyprus is able to sustain its de facto statehood with the support from Turkey. Without Turkey’s support,
Northern Cyprus would not be able to survive its isolation and develop into the de facto state it is now.
However, if Turkish Cypriots wish to engage more in the world and enjoy the rights de jure states have,
it is necessary for them to push the negotiation process towards a settlement with Greek Cypriots. A
reunification of the island would be the best option. To do so, the format of negotiation talks need to be
changed by adopting a bottom-up approach to engage all interested parties in a settlement. Also,
incentives need to be created so to make both communities need each other. This could be possible with
material objects that both communities are reliant on. Such objects can be common electricity cables
that go across the entire island, joint universities, joint airports, and joint ports where ships from both
sides can enter. Thus, it is necessary to build an interdependent relationship between Greek Cypriots
and Turkish Cypriots.