Turkey’s Policy on the Cyprus Question: Strategic Goals and Negotiating Positions towards a Solution of the Cyprus Problem

Abstract

The Cyprus question is an important and crucial issue for Turkey’s national interests and foreign policy, connected with state security, but also with its wider hegemonic claims in the region. The efforts to resolve the Cyprus problem have been ongoing for decades,
leading Turkey to design political and negotiating positions, integrated into a strategic plan, which, in case of a final solution, will secure its national interests in Cyprus. The analysis of Turkey’s positions in the negotiations for resolving the Cyprus problem, as
well as the identification of shaping factors and causal links, aim to determine the degree of connection with Turkey’s wider strategic aspirations, not only in Cyprus, but also in the Eastern Mediterranean. Determining the strength of this connection between
Turkey’s political and negotiating positions and its wider strategic pursuits leads to conclusions regarding a possible resolution of the Cyprus problem.