AA Analysis: What does TDT’s Budapest declaration mean for TRNC? – Cyprus Newspaper

President of USKAM and Bandırma Onyedi Eylül University Faculty Member. Dr. İsmail Şahin, the TDT Gayriresmi Summit held in Budapest yesterday and the declaration published at the summit in terms of the diplomatic and political importance of the TRNC for the analysis of the AA.

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Turkey, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Hungary participated at the level of presidents of the Turkish States Organization (TDT) Gentleman Summit, hosted by Hungary on May 21, 2025 in Budapest « East and West’s meeting point » theme. At the summit, the contributions of Turkish states to the world civilization throughout history, including the permanent heritage of the Turkish peoples in the cultural and political formations of Europe and Asia, as well as the roles of Turkish states in contemporary political, economic and social developments, as well as their contributions to regional and global peace.

The Organization of Turkish States, which aims to strengthen the common Turkish identity that reflects the culture, traditions, language and history of the Turkish peoples, aims to develop cooperation and coordination among member countries and to promote economic integration in the Turkish world. In this respect, the most remarkable and meaningful aspect of TDT’s summit in Budapest was that the meeting was held for the first time at the level of heads of state at the level of the observer. This event shows that the role of the observer members in TDT is strengthened, while revealing the inclusive and open structure of TDT. As a matter of fact, the Budapest Declaration, which was announced after the summit, stated that the valuable contributions made by TDT to the work of TDT as an inseparable part of the Turkish world of the Turkish Republic of Hungary, Turkmenistan and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) were welcomed. This confirms that the location of the observer members in TDT is strengthened and that they are encouraged to play more effective roles in the fields of corporate cooperation.

IMPORTANT DETAILS

When the Budapest declaration is examined carefully, it can be said that TDT exhibits strong will to establish institutionalized and multidimensional cooperation mechanism between member states and observer countries. Because 5 of the declaration of 71 articles in total are directly divided into this issue. In this context, Article 38 of the Proceedings, “TDT members and observers in order to facilitate trade, transit transition and economic cooperation, strengthening regional connection, improvement of transport infrastructure, transmission of integrated digitalization throughout the trans-Cashar International Eastern-West Digitalization and modernized logistics and modernized logistics and modernized logistics. Stability to encourage ”is clearly emphasized.

This holistic perspective also manifests itself in Article 43 of the Proceedings. In this article, the importance of strengthening agricultural cooperation through expanded trade, investment and innovation -based agricultural practices is highlighted. In this respect, Article 43 mentions that the relevant authorities have been instructed to encourage coordinated efforts to comply with health and plant health standards in order to facilitate the circulation of agricultural products among TDT members and observers. This shows that the inclusion of observer members not only in political, but also at the economic, technical and sectoral levels is adopted with institutional determination.

In addition, Article 62 states that the high level of achievements obtained in the field of exchange programs in the field of youth and sports in TDT are appreciated and TDT observers are encouraged to host such activities in order to reinforce unity and solidarity. This emphasis indicates that the identity of the Turkish world is tried to be built with a multi -layered and inclusive approach by including the observer members in the social and cultural fields of social and cultural fields.

Finally, Article 68 is another example that emphasizes the dimension of cultural diplomacy. At the initiative of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, it was decided to commemorate and celebrate Nevruz’s deep richness of Turkish culture and the common values ​​of Turkish peoples to future generations. In this context, it was stated that the Secretariat was given the necessary instructions to organize celebration activities in coordination with member states, observer countries and Turkish cooperation organizations. This article is remarkable in terms of reflecting a multilateral and integral approach that allows the active participation of observer members at the cultural level.

The functional role of the TRNC may strengthen

In the Budapest Declaration, items to increase institutional cooperation with the observer members clearly reflect the potential to expand the effectiveness of the TRNC under the TDT roof. The invitation of observer countries to undertake more active roles in areas such as transportation, trade, agriculture, youth, culture and digitalization allows the TRNC to be more strongly involved in the multidimensional integration process. As a matter of fact, this will allow the TRNC to increase its international visibility as well as strengthen its functional role in TDT.

However, Article 6 is negotiated on the basis of the existing facts on the island, and the need to lead a mutually acceptable and applicable solution is recorded. In addition, it has been clearly noted that the Turkish Cypriot people, who are an integral part of the Turkish world, are in solidarity in their desire to secure their rights from equal essence. In Article 7 of the Declaration, the diplomatic and organizational capacity of the TRNC was appreciated by betting from the successful execution of the 17th Meeting of the Aksakallar Council held in Kyrenia on 1-2 May 2025.

All these developments show that the position of the TRNC in TDT is not only symbolic, but will be strengthened at the actual and institutional level over time. The name of the TRNC at the TDT Summit at the level of heads of state carries the country to the agenda of the international community and contributes to the actual recognition process. This phenomenon positions the TRNC as a certain level of legitimacy, not ignored, and provides concrete support for its efforts to take part in multilateral diplomacy.

(Prof. Dr. İsmail Şahin is the President of the International Crisis Research Center (USKAM) and Bandırma Onyedi Eylül University faculty member.)