Holding Back or Pushing Forward? Patron-Client Relations and Elite Navigations in Northern Cyprus

Abstract This paper focuses on the patron-client relationship (PCR) between Turkey and Northern Cyprus. The PCR becomes visible in asymmetrically configured reciprocal exchanges that create dependence on patron states. These exchanges may motivate de facto states to defy, dictate, or demand patronage from their patron states, depending on their ontological insecurities, which are expressed both by the public in general and by the political elite in particular. The paper investigates the elite navigations that occur when de facto authorities prioritize local political interests to compensate for the failure of self-realization stemming from non-recognition or when they seek to mitigate external dominance.