Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) has blasted Greek Cypriot leader Nikos Christodoulidis, who recently confirmed his country's intention to join NATO.
TRNC President Ersin Tatar said Christodoulidis sought to create a new agenda to regain the domestic public support he had lost. He urged the Greek leader to “stop deceiving his people” and accept “the realities on the ground.”
Stressing that while the Greeks ignored EU accession criteria, Tatar said NATO is not like the EU, and the accession process would be different — despite Christodoulidis' daring statements.
He added that Türkiye, a crucial NATO ally with the bloc's second-largest military after the United States, would not allow arbitrary political decisions.
He characterised Christodoulidis' statements as an effort to provoke Türkiye, indicating that the Greeks envision the Greek National Guard as a strategic deterrent against Ankara.
"The Turkish Armed Forces brought peace to Cyprus on July 20, 1974. Since that happy day, despite the traditional Greek Cypriot mentality, the presence and deterrent power of the heroic Turkish soldiers have ensured the continuity of peace and tranquillity," Tatar said.
Cyprus Peace Operation
The island of Cyprus has been mired in a decades-long dispute between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, despite a series of diplomatic efforts to achieve a comprehensive settlement.
Ethnic attacks starting in the early 1960s forced Turkish Cypriots to withdraw into enclaves for their safety.
In 1974, a Greek Cypriot coup aimed at Greece’s annexation of the island led to Türkiye's military intervention as a guarantor power to protect Turkish Cypriots from persecution and violence. As a result, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus was founded in 1983.
July 20, the anniversary of the Cyprus Peace Operation of 1974, is celebrated yearly in the TRNC as Peace and Freedom Day.
The Greek Cypriot administration was admitted to the EU in 2004, and the same year Greek Cypriots thwarted a UN plan to end the longstanding dispute.
Türkiye and TRNC fully support a two-state solution on the island of Cyprus based on sovereign equality and equal international status.
➤Click here to follow our WhatsApp channel for more stories.
