3.Analytical core – what the DW narrative shows and what it omits
By the time the DW article turns to the daily experiences of Turkish Cypriots, the historical and legal background of bi‑communal partnership and subsequent exclusion has largely receded into the background of the narrative. Instead, the piece foregrounds concrete obstacles such as crossing‑point procedures, access to consular services, and the fragmented application of EU law, and it relies heavily on the language of frustration, disappointment, and marginalization at the level of individual citizens. Within its own limits, this emphasis captures an important dimension of how Turkish Cypriots encounter the European Union in practice.[4]
Yet precisely because the focus rests on mobility, bureaucracy, and personal grievances, the DW account says relatively little about the collective political status of Turkish Cypriots as a constituent community endowed with treaty‑based equality. The question of who is recognized as a co‑founding partner in the state whose EU membership frames these everyday experiences remains largely implicit, if it appears at all. Framing Turkish Cypriots mainly as “invisible” Europeans in a socio‑economic sense therefore risks obscuring a deeper issue: who is seen, in Brussels and other European fora, as legitimately speaking for Cyprus, and on what legal and historical basis. Since the 2004 accession of the Republic of Cyprus, EU practice has, in effect, consolidated the position of the Greek Cypriot administration as the sole interlocutor, even while the Union’s own documents continue to acknowledge the “special situation” of the Turkish Cypriot community and the unresolved nature of the island’s constitutional question.[5]
[4] “Turkish Cypriots: The EU’s Invisible Europeans,” AVİM Bulletin, Center for Eurasian Studies (AVİM), January 14, 2026, https://avim.org.tr/en/Bulten/TURKISH-CYPRIOTS-THE-EU-S-INVISIBLE-EUROPEANS ; Sean Patrick Smyth , “Is an Alternative for Turkish Cypriots on the Cards?,” AVİM Blog, Center for Eurasian Studies (AVİM), November 5, 2017, https://avim.org.tr/Blog/IS-AN-ALTERNATIVE-FOR-TURKISH-CYPRIOTS-ON-THE-CARDS
[5] AVİM Bulletin, Center for Eurasian Studies (AVİM), March 17, 2025, https://avim.org.tr/en/Bulten/ORGANIZATION-OF-TURKIC-STATES-PLEDGES-OBSERVER-STATUS-FOR-TURKISH-CYPRUS