The Ottoman Empire ruled the island of Cyprus, which it had taken from the Venetians in 1570-1571 with 70,000 martyrs, for 307 years, and during this period the people of the island experienced the most prosperous period of their lives. In 1878, the British Empire demanded that the island of Cyprus be given to it in return for a commitment to protect the Ottoman Empire against the Russian threat, and threatened to occupy the island by force if it could not take Cyprus through diplomacy. Thus, the island was left to British rule.
When Russia returned Kars, Ardahan and Batum to the Ottoman Empire, England, which was obliged to return Cyprus to the Ottoman Empire, did not fulfill this obligation and annexed the island in 1914. After the Greeks revolted against the British colonial rule, instead of transferring the island to Türkiye, the real owner and heir of the Ottoman Empire, England preferred to share it between the Turks and the Greeks. While doing this, it did not neglect to allocate two military bases for itself on the island, which has a strategic importance due to its position dominating the Middle East and the Eastern Mediterranean, and to register their lands as British territory in the Cyprus Constitution. Thus, after the Zurich and London Agreements, a partnership state was established in 1960, but the Greeks and the Greeks soon turned to the mass extermination of the Turks on the island. During this period, as a result of the Greek attacks, the Turks in 103 villages left their lands and gathered in 3 villages, and the Greeks massacred more than 500 Turkish civilians. The suffering of the Turkish Cypriots continued until 1974.
The Greek Junta seized power in Cyprus by carrying out a military coup on July 15, 1974. In order to prevent the island from being annexed to Greece and to ensure the safety of the Turks, Türkiye intervened in Cyprus using its right to be a guarantor, and after long years of captivity, the Turkish Cypriot people regained their homeland and freedom. Makarios, who escaped the coup and fled to England, declared to the world in his speech at the UN General Assembly that “the party that destroyed the State of Cyprus was the Greek Junta.”
DEVELOPMENTS AFTER THE PEACE OPERATION
Following the pro-Greek/Greek decision of the UN dated May 13, 1983, which considered the Greeks who destroyed the partnership state on the island as the legitimate representatives of the island and requested the withdrawal of Turkish troops from the island, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) was declared on November 15, 1983.
In the process following the declaration of the TRNC, the USA, the EU and Western countries, as well as Greece and the Greek Cypriot Administration of Southern Cyprus (GCASC) accelerated their efforts to establish a joint federation with the Turks and to connect the Turks to the Greeks as a minority. In 2004, the Greek Cypriot Administration of Southern Cyprus was made a member of the EU, contrary to both the Zurich and London Agreements, the Cyprus Constitution and the EU's own law. In the following process, Türkiye and the TRNC were forced into a federation with the Greeks through the imposition of the Annan Plan, but the acceptance of the Annan Plan, which envisaged the Turks being connected to the Greeks as a minority, was prevented thanks to the Greeks' no vote in the referendum.
THE SITUATION 50 YEARS AFTER THE OPERATION
50 years have passed since the Cyprus Peace Operation. During this period, many successes were achieved in Cyprus. However, those who want to make Cyprus Greek territory and connect the Turkish Cypriots to the Greeks as a minority continue to pressure the administrators of the Republic of Türkiye and the TRNC to make decisions that are against the national interests of their countries.
During Ersin Tatar's presidency, the bad times were left behind with policies that were in line with the national interests of Türkiye and the TRNC. It is imperative that the people of Turkey and the TRNC always be careful about the leaders they elect and the policies they pursue.
WHAT WE HAVE ACHIEVED IN CYPRUS
The leaders and people of both the Republic of Türkiye and the TRNC have finally understood that the aim of imposing the unification of the Greeks and Turks under the same federation roof in Cyprus is to bind the Turkish Cypriot people to the Greeks as a minority and gradually destroy them. Therefore, since there is no longer an issue to negotiate with the Greeks, it has now been adopted as state policy that the two-state solution is the only way out. The most important gain on the Cyprus issue is that this fact has been understood.
Another fact that has been understood in the Cyprus issue is that Türkiye leaving the TRNC to its own fate will make the Turkish Cypriots vulnerable to attacks by the Greek Cypriot Administration and Greece. It has now been understood that the Republic of Türkiye and the TRNC must act together and that this is the only way to deal with Greece, the Greek Cypriot Administration, the EU and the USA, who are trying to swallow the TRNC.
By establishing bases in Cyprus for the defense of the TRNC, Türkiye has gained the opportunity to intervene urgently in the event of a conflict in Cyprus and to come to the aid of the Turkish Cypriot people in a short time. Türkiye has made a significant contribution to the agriculture and welfare of the Turkish Cypriot people by transferring water from the Alaköprü Dam to the Geçitköy Dam of the TRNC. With the completion of the electricity transfer from Turkey to the TRNC, the Turkish Cypriot people will be relieved of their dependence on the Greeks. The TRNC has been accepted as an observer member of the Organization of Turkish States.
WHAT WE COULD NOT ACHIEVE IN CYPRUS
The efforts of the US and the EU to connect the Turks to the Greeks are still ongoing. Türkiye and the TRNC should officially declare that the UN's efforts to reconcile the TRNC and the Greek Cypriot Administration are unnecessary and that Türkiye and the TRNC will no longer participate in these activities, and they should also demand that the UN Peace Force, which is no longer needed, leave Cyprus.
The recognition of the TRNC by countries other than Türkiye has not been achieved. The honor of being the first country to recognize the TRNC after the Republic of Türkiye should belong to our sister country, Azerbaijan. It is possible to solve the problem of recognition in a short time if other Turkic Republics and friendly countries follow Azerbaijan. In this context, the TRNC becoming an observer member of the Organization of Turkic States is an important step, but it is not enough.
On the other hand, while the Turks have removed negative statements about the Greeks from their textbooks, the Greek and Greek Cypriot administration textbooks are still full of derogatory statements and insults about the Turks. The massacres and attacks carried out by the Greeks and Greeks against the Turkish Cypriot people should be rewritten in the TRNC textbooks and the new Turkish youth should be taught their true history.
TURKISH-GREEK RELATIONS IN THE AEGEAN AND MEDITERRANEAN - STEPS TÜRKİYE SHOULD TAKE
It is not possible to consider Cyprus separately from Turkish-Greek relations. Unfortunately, however, Türkiye remains silent and does not show the necessary reaction to Greece's violations of Turkish territorial waters and airspace, its granting of military bases to the US on the Greek mainland, in the Aegean and the Mediterranean, its deployment of troops to non-military islands and its arming of the islands, and even its occupation of 20 Turkish islands and 2 reefs. This attitude increases Greece's aggression and does not hesitate to enter Turkish territorial waters and attack Turkish fishing boats. It is clear that if Türkiye continues its current attitude, it will add new islands to those occupied by Greece and continue its aggressive attitude. The Republic of Türkiye should shake off as soon as possible and give the necessary reaction to Greece's practices contrary to international law.
STEPS THAT THE TRNC SHOULD TAKE
Traffic in the TRNC still flows in the opposite direction, as it did during the British colonial rule. This erroneous practice, which gives the image that the TRNC has not been able to escape colonialism, should be stopped.
There are reports that construction companies owned by Israeli citizens in the TRNC are building large housing estates and selling them to Israeli, Russian, Ukrainian and European Jews. If Israeli citizens are not prevented from purchasing land from the TRNC, part of the TRNC lands will fall into Israeli hands and Turkish Cypriots may become refugees in their own homeland like Palestinians in the future. In this context, a law restricting foreigners from purchasing property has been passed by the TRNC Parliament. However, there are reports that Israeli citizens continue to purchase land through TRNC citizens. These activities should be carefully monitored and land purchases should be kept under control.
On the other hand, there are reports in the press that many house churches, Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox churches have been opened in the TRNC and that missionary activities are increasing. The fact that these pose a great threat to the youth, who are the future of the TRNC, should not be ignored and missionary activities should be banned.
The EU and the US have been trying to manipulate the youth organizations in the TRNC for many years by transferring resources to civil society organizations and to get them used to the idea of a federation with the Greeks. The adoption of a law that limits the receipt of aid from abroad for both Türkiye and the TRNC will prevent some traitors from engaging in activities that will harm their country in return for benefits.
The NATO and the US have plans to make the Greek Cypriot Administration of Southern Cyprus a member of NATO after Finland, Sweden and Ukraine and to move the NATO headquarters to the Greek Cypriot Administration of Southern Cyprus. If Türkiye does not stand firm on this issue and steps back, the TRNC will face the danger of melting and disappearing in the Greek and Greek melting pot. If there are officials who are considering signing the decisions to recognize the Greek Cypriot Administration of Southern Cyprus as a state and to include it in NATO, they should be aware that signing will result in them being recorded as traitors in Turkish history and should abandon these ideas. I would like to conclude my article by reminding you of Atatürk’s warnings regarding Cyprus:
“Gentlemen, as long as Cyprus remains in enemy hands, the supply routes to this region are blocked. Be careful about Cyprus. This island is very important to us.”