Rahvancıoğlu: “Our Island Is Not Divided in Two, but in Three”

Speaking on the programme Haftaya Yansıyanlar on Kıbrıs Ne Haber, Rahvancıoğlu pointed to the presence of the sovereign British Bases on the island, describing them as a separate division from which aircraft take off to bomb the Middle East.

Stressing that the Cyprus issue is not solely a problem between Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots but a matter of global significance, Rahvancıoğlu said the focus should now shift from the root causes to the solution. For Turkish Cypriots, he explained, the issue centres on political equality and reunification. “Only by securing both can we take a meaningful step toward a resolution,” he said.

Rahvancıoğlu argued that for any people to have a say in their geography, they must first achieve internal unity. He added that neither community on the island possesses the demographic, military, or economic strength to assert full control in global terms. A divided Cyprus, he warned, cannot be shaped into a true homeland and also poses a threat to neighbouring regions.

He reiterated that both Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots stand to benefit from reunification, underlining the necessity of political equality for Turkish Cypriots.

Highlighting the existence of the British Bases as a third zone on the island, Rahvancıoğlu claimed the division was designed to prevent any challenge to these sovereign areas. “We must overcome not only the division in two, but also the division in three,” he said.

Rahvancıoğlu also addressed internal social divisions, pointing to economic disparities between the ultra-wealthy and the poor, political divisions between two-state supporters and federalists, and a faction advocating for rejoining the Republic of Cyprus even as a minority.

He described a federal solution as both feasible and the only constructive alternative, stressing that achieving this requires organised labour. While welcoming the international community’s calls to resume negotiations, he warned against passivity and emphasised the need for domestic pressure to drive change.

Rahvancıoğlu urged people in the north to focus on pressing issues such as education, healthcare, transportation, union rights, child and women’s rights, housing, energy, and population. These issues, he said, must be addressed through collective organisation and struggle.

He rejected the long-standing view that all attention should be focused solely on the Cyprus issue. “A people who cannot resolve problems in education, healthcare, or transport,” he concluded, “cannot solve the Cyprus problem either.”