The State Riddle

Abstract

During an interview with Rauf Denktas, the former Turkish Cypriot leader, I introduced my subject of research, mentioning the expression ‘unrecognized states’ (Interview, 2005k). He pointed out that this term is irrelevant in relation to Northern Cyprus since it is recognized by Turkey. Indeed. Another expression that came to mind with reference to Northern Cyprus was ‘self-proclaimed state’. In response Mr Denktas insisted that there was nothing peculiar about self-proclaimed states, because, as he stated, every state is self-proclaimed. Indeed. A further search for a suitable expression appeared futile, since the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), also known as the Occupied Areas of Republic of Cyprus, is a state which is not a state. As a politically ambiguous space, the TRNC does not fit into the picture of a world of states as we currently know it. The conversation with Denktas also highlights the two issues that this chapter will deal with, namely the historicity and intersubjectivity of state sovereignty. The chapter thus aims to explore and to question the manifest link between state, sovereignty, and territory. The dominance of state sovereignty and its underlying geographic and ahistorical assumptions in the understanding influenced by a realist paradigm have received significant attention in theories of international relations (Ashley, 1988; Walker, 1993; Ruggie, 1993; Agnew, 1994; Biersteker and Weber, 1996; Migdal and Schlichte, 2005). This work follows critical perspective and their suggestions to shift our attention from stateness to statecraft, that is, to move from the conceptualization of the state as it is toward a question of how state and state sovereignty are produced.