Mogadishu (AX) — Somalia has moved to reaffirm its longstanding position on Cyprus after a message from House of the People Speaker Abdulkadir Mohamed Nur thanked his counterpart in Northern Cyprus for congratulating him on his election.
The message was briefly posted on the House of the People’s social media account before being removed. It remains available on Nur’s personal X account.
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“I extend my sincere thanks to H.E. Dr. Ziya Öztürkler, Speaker of the Assembly of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, for his kind congratulations on my election as Speaker of the House of the People of the Federal Parliament of Somalia,” Nur wrote.
Somalia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs later issued a statement stressing that the exchange did not signal any shift in the country’s foreign policy.
“The Federal Republic of Somalia wishes to clarify, following recent references in public discussion, that its position on the Cyprus issue remains unchanged and continues to be guided by the Charter of the United Nations and the relevant resolutions of the United Nations Security Council,” the ministry said.
The ministry reiterated Somalia’s respect for the sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity of the Republic of Cyprus, referring specifically to UN Security Council resolutions 541 (1983) and 550 (1984).
It said the speaker’s personal message “does not reflect, and shall not be interpreted as, any change” in Somalia’s foreign policy.
The ministry further emphasized that the communication did not amount to recognition of a separate entity in Northern Cyprus and said the federal government had made no decision to revise its established position.
Somalia also reaffirmed its support for a peaceful, negotiated resolution to the Cyprus dispute under UN auspices and in line with international law and applicable Security Council resolutions.
The clarification follows the message at a time when Somalia maintains diplomatic ties with Turkey, a strong supporter of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, while the Republic of Cyprus remains broadly recognized internationally as the island’s sovereign state.
The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) is a self-declared state occupying the northern third of Cyprus. It was established in 1983, almost 10 years after a Turkish military intervention in 1974 divided the island. Turkey remains the only country to recognize the TRNC as an independent state.
