Russia will provide consular services to Turkish-occupied northern Cyprus - TASS

The Russian embassy in Cyprus will start providing consular services to the Turkish-occupied territories in the north, TASS news agency reported on Wednesday, citing a source.

"We will begin providing consular services in the northern part of the city of Nicosia in the near future. We will be working regularly," the source said.

According to the diplomat, this is about the Russian government fulfilling its obligations to its citizens residing in northern Cyprus.

He noted that several countries, including the US, the UK, Germany, Italy and France, have had diplomatic missions dealing with consular issues in northern Cyprus for many years.

According to some estimates, over 50,000 Russians reside in the island’s north.

The so-called “Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus” is only recognised by Turkey but following the outbreak of war in Ukraine, there has been speculation in Athens and Nicosia that Moscow may have changed its position on the issue.

The issue was recently raised when Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavroy did not use the prefix “so-called” before the “Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus” in a speech on two occasions in early 2022.

The Russian embassy in Brussels made it clear that Moscow had not changed its position.

“One should not look for the black cat in a dark room, especially if it isn’t there,” the embassy said.

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