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Turkish Deputy PM admits: “Even if no Turks lived in Cyprus, Turkey would still have a Cyprus issue”

Jul 10, 2018 12:00 pm By Robert Spencer

Turkey has occupied northern Cyprus since 1974, ostensibly to protect the Turkish Muslims there from attacks from the Greek Orthodox Christians. Those attacks were not, of course, really happening. But now Turkey’s Deputy Prime Minister, Tuğrul Türkeş, has let the cat out of the bag: “There is this misinformation that Turkey is interested in Cyprus because there is a Turkish society there… Even if no Turks lived in Cyprus, Turkey would still have a Cyprus issue and it is impossible for Turkey to give up on that.”

Sure. Because it is part of the Turkey’s new jihadist expansionism. Cyprus was a goal of the warriors of jihad from the very beginning. As I show in my new book The History of Jihad From Muhammad to ISIS, jihadis first conquered Cyprus in 649, and the island was thereafter a point of contention between the forces of Islam and those of Christian Europe for centuries. In 1571, the Ottoman Sultan Selim the Sot ordered a new jihad conquest of Cyprus because his favorite wine was made there, and he had drunk through all his stores of it. As I show in the book, this course of action didn’t work out so well for Selim. Find out why: click here to preorder The History of Jihad From Muhammad to ISIS.

“Justice for Cyprus: The goal should be freedom from occupation,” by Uzay Bulut, HFusion Media Group, July 9, 2018:

Cyprus, a member state of the European Union, has been illegally occupied by Turkey since 1974. Turkey’s false excuse for its presence on the island is the “protection of Turkish Cypriots from Greek violence.”

However, in 2017, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Tuğrul Türkeş revealed the real reason behind Turkey’s control of Cyprus: “There is this misinformation that Turkey is interested in Cyprus because there is a Turkish society there… Even if no Turks lived in Cyprus, Turkey would still have a Cyprus issue and it is impossible for Turkey to give up on that.” Turkey has occupied and colonized the island mainly for economic and strategic reasons. And even though Cyprus is, militarily, a much weaker nation than Turkey, it has been abandoned and left to the tender mercies of Turkey by the West. Turkey, however, does not even recognize Cyprus as an authentic nation. According to the official website of the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Cyprus is “geographically an extension of the Anatolian peninsula” and “has never been a Greek island.” Actually, both Cyprus and Anatolia − whose name comes from the Greek word “Anatole,” meaning “east” or “sunrise” − are historically Greek territories. The Turkish presence in Cyprus, however, only dates back to the Ottoman occupation from 1571 to 1878. Since the beginning of recorded history, Cyprus has been a majority Greek island – demographically and culturally. Never until the Turkish invasion in 1974 did the northern part of the island have a Turkish majority. Both the north and south of the island were majority-Greek and majority-Christian until then. Nonetheless, the myth of Cyprus being a Turkish island is popular with Turks. For example, a June campaign ad for Turkey’s nationalist MHP party, which supported Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the recent presidential election, depicted Cyprus as “Turkish territory”. And the head of the party Devlet Bahçeli once again declared: “Cyprus is Turkish and will remain so.” As a result of the ethnic cleansing of Greek Cypriots in the northern part of the island, the “Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus” (TRNC) was established in 1983 but is recognized only by Turkey. The Turkish government sees the TRNC as a province or extension of Turkey, the “mother homeland” (anavatan), and calls occupied Cyprus “yavru vatan” or “baby homeland”. Turkey also supported the Kofi Annan Plan of 2004, which offered “bi-zonality” and “bi-communality” within a federal government comprised of two constituent states, namely “the Greek Cypriot state” and “the Turkish Cypriot state.” But would a bi-zonal, bi-communal federation (BBF) be a just settlement? What should the requirements be for achieving justice for Cyprus?

An end to ethnic/religious segregation:During and following the invasion, Turkey engaged in several criminal activities on the island, such as transporting Turkish fighters to Cyprus to kill Greek Cypriots, importing tens of thousands of illegal settlers from Turkey, permanently deploying around 40,000 Turkish soldiers, forcibly changing the demographics of the island, seizing the homes and other property of Greek Cypriots, and wiping out the island’s historic Hellenic and Christian identity through the destruction of its cultural heritage. Hundreds of Greek Cypriot civilians, including women and infants, were murdered, unlawfully arrested and tortured, and many Greek Cypriot children and women were raped. A BBF would legalize and normalize the illegal occupation and all of those crimes committed during and after the invasion. According to Minority Rights Group International: “The [1960 Cypriot] constitution stipulates that the Cypriot president must be Greek and the Vice President Turkish; the latter office has been vacant since the island’s division. This provision denies other minorities the opportunity to run for either of the top two executive posts. “In the unrecognized northern TRNC, Turkish Cypriots elect a parliament, which in turn chooses a prime minister. Greek and Maronite Cypriots are denied the opportunity to run for office, and there are no minorities in parliament.” Thus, the Cypriot territory illegally occupied by Turkey is run by an apartheid regime based on ethnicity and religion. A BBF system would legalize this segregation by normalizing the apartheid regime. Enabling a BBF system for Cyprus would give Turkey permanent control of half of Cyprus on a silver platter. Professor Stephanos Constantinides describes the “bi-zonality” imposed on Cyprus: “This new state structure will emerge with the dissolution of the Republic of Cyprus and will be structured on the basis of racial criteria. “This means that there will be an ethnic vote and citizens will not vote with single electoral lists but with lists based on their ethnic origins and religion. “They will also elect their representatives from a list of ethnic candidates and on the basis of ethnic quotas. Therefore, the democratic principle of one person, one vote from single electoral lists, as is happening all over the world does not apply. In practice, this means that Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots will elect their representatives separately, plus there will be political and numerical equality, even if Greek Cypriots account for 80% of the population and Turkish Cypriots for 18%. But this is something that does not exist anywhere else in any modern state, federation or single state. “How, however, will such a unification process be applied in a country divided by occupation? Above all, there will be frontiers between the two states that will make up the confederal structure and preserve their ethnic population’s purity! For example, only 20% of refugees will have the right to return to their homes, precisely to preserve the ethnic purity of the Turkish Cypriot state. “No federation in the world is ever discussed on a territorial and, above all, property issue on the basis of race criteria. In Cyprus this issue arose because of the Turkish invasion and ethnic cleansing imposed by Turkey on the violent movement of the populations.”

A unitary Cyprus for all Cypriots: The focus and goal of the solution should be freedom from occupation and not just “reunification.” The end of the illegal occupation of Cyprus by the Turkish army will also help reunify the legal citizens of Cyprus in a just system. The term “reunification,” minus any reference to an end to the occupation, plays into the BBF agenda of “us” and “them.” When it comes to minority rights, Cyprus has always been a much more democratic and progressive country than Turkey. Unlike Turkey, the governments of Cyprus – since its independence in 1960 – have always recognized the existence and rights of minorities. Hence, a just solution for the problem of occupation would be to establish a single, unitary Cypriot state that respects the rights of Cypriots of all ethnic backgrounds.

Human rights for all Cypriots: Turkish Cypriots are not the only minority in Cyprus. There are Maronites, Armenians and Latins (Roman Catholics), among others. Following the 1974 Turkish invasion of the island, the Greek Cypriot population of the northern part of Cyprus – some 200,000 people – became refugees in their own homeland. The rights of all refugees and internally displaced people of all ethnic backgrounds need to be recognized. And the human, cultural and property rights of all Cypriots should be respected by the unitary Cypriot state that encompasses the entire island.

Read the rest here.

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Filed Under: Cyprus, Featured, Turkey Tagged With: Tuğrul Türkeş


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Comments

  1. Indiana Tom says

    Jul 10, 2018 at 12:03 pm

    Even if no Turks lived in Cyprus, Turkey would still have a Cyprus issue.
    Catch-22.

  2. Malcolm (South Afric) says

    Jul 10, 2018 at 12:57 pm

    Why does the World, UN, tolerate the occupation of Cyprus by a foreign force?

    • Stacy Girl says

      Jul 10, 2018 at 4:25 pm

      Gaza, Paterson NJ, Malmo Sweden, Paris France…sigh. Every place they occupy becomes a filthy hole. Just think what (Saudi) Arabia would be without them.

    • Ibrahim itace muhammed says

      Jul 10, 2018 at 7:52 pm

      Malcolm, you have never asked a question why does the apartheid evil United States tolerate the illegal occupation of Palestinian territory by fascist evil Zionist State of Israel despite numerous UN Resolutions requiring the wicked evil state to withdraw?Because Zionists are your masters as children of your satan god (Holy Spirit) in yahweh and his wife Ashera hero gods?

      • gravenimage says

        Jul 10, 2018 at 8:51 pm

        Note that Ibrahim itace muhammed has *no* problem with Muslims invading and conquering Infidel lands.

        He also wants to see the destruction of civilized Israel, and has said how much he looks forward to taking part in the genocide of the Jews. *Ugh*.

      • Koosemo says

        Jul 10, 2018 at 11:52 pm

        Yahwe??!! (choke with laughter)
        And his wife Ashera??!! (certainly a non deity)
        You evil occupier of Egypt, Iraq, Persia, Judea, India….. And now busy with evil satanic invasion of the whole planet.

        • gravenimage says

          Jul 11, 2018 at 10:51 pm

          He has made the ludicrous claim many times before the Jews and Christians worship an ancient near eastern goddess. Of course, this makes no sense.

      • Malcolm (South Afric) says

        Jul 11, 2018 at 1:08 am

        Simply put Ibrahim, God loves the Jewish people, why do Muslims argue the point, with evil.

      • J D S says

        Jul 11, 2018 at 10:55 am

        Ibrahim…please quit referring to Palestine as a nation.
        Palestine belongs to the Jews , given go them by God as part of the promised land to the great Jew, Abraham..Those Bedouin tent dwellers living in Palestine should be thankful to Israel that they allow them to be there. As much trouble as they are causing Israel would be perfectly within their rights to kick them out to wander in the desert..There are no such people as Palestinians other than Jews..Anyone with any knowledge st all should know this historically.

        And as to Cypress….That nation belongs to the Greeks and Muslims should only be allowed there at the pleasure of the Greeks.

        • Ibrahim itace muhammed says

          Jul 11, 2018 at 6:11 pm

          J D S, before Abraham who was the ancestor of Israelites came to the land palestinian ancestors were there. The myths in the evil jewish and mithraist christian scriptures that the satan god in yahweh and his wife Ashera hero gods seized the land from the original inhabitants and donated it to evil Jews cannot be the basis of exclusive ownership of the land by evil Jews under international Law. I submit that palestinians own the land

        • gravenimage says

          Jul 11, 2018 at 11:46 pm

          The ignorant Ibrahim itace muhammed wrote:

          J D S, before Abraham who was the ancestor of Israelites came to the land palestinian ancestors were there.
          ………………………

          Muslims claim that Abraham and all the Jewish prophets were actually Muslim. This is, in fact, the orthodox Islamic claim–never mind that it has no factual basis.

          More:

          The myths in the evil jewish and mithraist christian scriptures that the satan god in yahweh and his wife Ashera hero gods seized the land from the original inhabitants and donated it to evil Jews cannot be the basis of exclusive ownership of the land by evil Jews under international Law.
          ………………………

          Of course, there is nothing about this ancient pagan goddess in either the Torah or the Gospels. But Ibrahim itace muhammed has made such bizarre claims before.

          More:

          I submit that palestinians own the land
          ………………………

          He has said before that Muslims own all the “soils” of the world, and hence have the right to invade, conquer, enslave, and mass slaughter Infidels.

      • gravenimage says

        Jul 11, 2018 at 11:04 pm

        Yep.

  3. Guy Forester says

    Jul 10, 2018 at 1:44 pm

    Now that Israel and Cyprus are looking at jointly exploiting gas and petroleum deposits in the Mediterranean basin, look for turkey to find a reason to send in more troops to take the whole place over.

    When that happens, the west had better act quickly and decisively, but they won’t.

  4. Gene says

    Jul 10, 2018 at 2:42 pm

    It is long past time to forcibly expel Turkey from Cypress and other places that were Greek or Armenian before the Turks ethnically cleansed the areas. (This would solve the NATO problem too, by getting rid of them.)

    • Stacy Girl says

      Jul 10, 2018 at 4:27 pm

      The Turks don’t ethnically cleanse; they islamically pollute.

      • Gene says

        Jul 10, 2018 at 7:48 pm

        That give pollution a bad name.

  5. brane pilot says

    Jul 10, 2018 at 3:01 pm

    While the EU obsesses over ‘Islamophobia’ an Islamic Hitler rises in Turkey, ready to issue commands to a Muslim 5th Column that has been streaming into Europe for a generation. Europe is sleepwalking into chaos just as it did preceding August 1914.

  6. Chatillon says

    Jul 10, 2018 at 3:12 pm

    The Turks have a homeland: Turkmenistan. I think it should hold all of them.

  7. G179 says

    Jul 10, 2018 at 8:02 pm

    The unbelievable hypocrisy of Turkey, other Muslim countries and sadly many western countries, denouncing Israel’s “occupation” of its homeland while turning a blind eye to the actual crimes of Turkey and many other totalitarian regimes.

  8. gravenimage says

    Jul 10, 2018 at 8:44 pm

    Turkish Deputy PM admits: “Even if no Turks lived in Cyprus, Turkey would still have a Cyprus issue”
    ………………….

    In other words, Muslims just invaded and conquered the northern part of Cyprus in another naked Islamic power grab.

    This is what they intend to do to the whole world if they can.

  9. Matthieu Baudin says

    Jul 10, 2018 at 11:36 pm

    Turkey’s (seemingly permanent) occupation of Northern Cyrus was an Islamic land grab, and there was much self congratulation following the annexation. In 1974 the notion of Islamic Jihad Conquest was not on the radar for the vast majority of non Muslims and so the military intervention was regularly interpreted as an expression of traditional rocky relations between the Greek and Turkish States. The mistaken notion of Moral Equivalence won the day and the small nation of Cyrus was needlessly partitioned.

  10. infidel says

    Jul 10, 2018 at 11:52 pm

    Can we all see here as to how the UN is now being COMPLETELY CONTROLLED by Islamic countries. Jeez, it is supposed to be a body with no bias … but as Muslims do in countries, Muslim countries do in the UN… They have managed to split this body into US AND THEM just like they do to infidel society when they immigrate….

  11. warren raymond says

    Jul 11, 2018 at 10:22 am

    Cyprus is the Mohammedan modus operandi in a nutshell.

    The Turks got away with it. Islam will take all of Europe and no one will defend it.

  12. Ibrahim itace muhammed says

    Jul 11, 2018 at 6:06 pm

    J D S, palestian ancestors had been there before Abraham who was the ancestor of Israelites came to the land. The myths in evil Jews and mithraist christian scriptures that the satan god in yahweh and his wife Ashera hero gods seized the land from the original inhabitants and donated it to evil Jews cannot be the basis of exclusive ownership of the land under international Law . I submit that palestinians own the land.

    • gravenimage says

      Jul 12, 2018 at 12:20 am

      More spam…

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