• Why Jihad Watch?
  • About Robert Spencer and Staff Writers
  • FAQ
  • Books
  • Muhammad
  • Islam 101
  • Privacy

Jihad Watch

Exposing the role that Islamic jihad theology and ideology play in the modern global conflicts

Turkey’s occupation of Cyprus

Sep 18, 2020 8:00 am By Uzay Bulut 26 Comments

Turkey is more and more in the international news these days because of its violations of the exclusive economic zones (EEZ) of Cyprus and Greece. These violations in the Eastern Mediterranean threaten the stability and security of the wider region.

A maritime deal signed on 6 August set out the sea boundaries between Egypt and Greece and appears to have further escalated Turkey’s regional aggression. Since 2018 at least, Turkey has openly threatened the Greek islands in the Aegean Sea with invasion. Turkey has also illegally occupied the northern part of Cyprus since 1974.

Moreover, the Turkish government does not recognise the Republic of Cyprus as an independent state and claims 44 per cent of the Cypriot EEZ as its own. Another sizable section of that zone is claimed by the so-called “Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus,” an internationally unrecognised entity. 

Cyprus gained its independence from the United Kingdom in 1960 following a four-year struggle against colonialism. On 20 July 1974, Turkish armed forces launched a full-scale invasion. Turkey’s excuse in invading the island country was the coup engineered by the Greek military, which toppled the democratically elected Cypriot president, Archbishop Makarios III. A few days later, the coup collapsed and democratic rule in Cyprus was re-established. Yet Turkey had other plans.

On 14 August of that same year, Turkey launched a second and even more devastating invasion of the island. Many crimes were committed, including ethnic cleansing throughout the northern part. Turkey named its second offensive after Attila the Hun (ruled 434-453 CE), the leader of an ancient nomadic people and the ruler of the Hunnic Empire. 

Atilla’s name, writes US historian Joshua J Mark, “was synonymous with terror among his enemies and the general populace of the territories that his armies swept through.” Furthermore, “the reputation of the Huns for brutality and indiscriminate slaughter was well known and sent the people of the land fleeing for their lives with whatever they could carry.” This is exactly what Turkey did to the north of Cyprus in 1974.

Before Turkey invaded the island, the borders of Cyprus were internationally recognised. The document granting Cyprus’s independence was signed by three “guarantor” states: the United Kingdom, Greece and Turkey. These three states declared that they would “recognise and guarantee the independence, territorial integrity and security” of the Republic of Cyprus. The Turkish invasion, as declared by numerous UN resolutions since, was a clear violation of Turkey’s commitments.

The crimes committed in the north of Cyprus by Turkey include, but are not limited to, the following: indiscriminate bombings, the killings of civilians including children and pregnant women, the forcible eviction and deportation of Greek Cypriots, the systematic looting, pillage and seizures of homes, churches and other properties, torture, rape and forced prostitution, assault and battery, illegal detention and forced labour, among others. These violations were directed at Greek, Maronite and Armenian Cypriots because of their ethnicity, language and religion.

The ethnic cleansing of the north of Cyprus by Turkey resulted in the displacement of more than 170,000 Greek Cypriots, about 40 per cent of the then Greek population of the island. Turkey’s occupation forces have not allowed them to return home. According to the Committee on Missing Persons in Cyprus (CMP), established in 1981, 1,508 Greek Cypriots are still officially reported as missing.

These atrocities have been documented by many sources, including through eyewitness accounts, investigations by international organisations and NGOs, the European Commission of Human Rights, the European Court of Human Rights and many international media outlets and scholars.

Professor Van Coufoudakis, rector emeritus of the University of Nicosia in Cyprus and dean and professor emeritus at Indiana University-Purdue University in the US, notes in his 2008 report “Human Rights Violations in Cyprus by Turkey”, for instance, that “the Turkish army, during and in the aftermath of the invasion, committed large numbers of documented cases of the rape of Greek Cypriot women and children from the ages of 12 to 71. It was part of the tactic to humiliate, intimidate and terrorise the Greek Cypriot civilians in occupied Cyprus.”

“Rape and dishonouring women is a particularly heinous crime in a conservative and close-knit society such as that of Cyprus. The evidence of rape came from the testimonies of victims, witnesses, medical personnel and even from Turkish military personnel. Some of the instances of rape involved pregnant women, while others occurred in the presence of family members. Rape was carried out by Turkish soldiers and their officers. There is no evidence of any disciplinary action having been taken by the military for these actions.”

NORTHERN CYPRUS: The northern part of Cyprus, like the rest of the island, was predominately Greek prior to the Turkish invasion.

But through its atrocities, Turkey altered the demographic character of the north of Cyprus and turned it into a Turkish colony recognised by Turkey alone. As of today, over 36 per cent of the territory of the Republic of Cyprus remains under Turkish occupation. Turkey claims that by invading the island it was protecting Turkish Cypriots from Greek Cypriot violence. But even Turkish officials have confessed that the violence was mostly instigated by Turks to escalate the conflict and pave the way for a military intervention.

General Sabri Yirmibeşoğlu, a Turkish army officer, for example, said in 2010 that Turkey had burned a ‎mosque during the Cyprus conflict “in order to foster civil resistance” against Greek Cypriots. He also said that “the Turkish special warfare department has a rule to engage in acts of sabotage against the respected values [of the Turks], made to look as if they ‎were carried out by the enemy.”

There are also strategic reasons for Turkey’s occupation and colonisation of Cyprus, which can be seen in a statement made by previous Turkish deputy prime minister Tuğrul Türkeş in 2017. “There is misinformation that Turkey is interested in Cyprus because there is a Turkish society there,” Türkeş said. “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’s two invasions and continued occupation of Cyprus have breached the UN Charter, the Geneva Conventions, the European Convention on Human Rights and many other post-1945 international treaties. However, Turkey remains unapologetic. Its “legacy” in Cyprus would most likely make Atilla the Hun proud. As the US historian Michael Lee Lanning notes, “Attila and his brother valued agreements little and peace even less.”

It is also important to acknowledge that the Republic of Cyprus has a massive strategic importance for Egypt. Its geographical location alone could play a pivotal role against Turkey’s expansionist policy in the Mediterranean. But Turkey’s policies by default eliminate other countries’ interests regarding the Mediterranean Sea, including Egypt’s. Turkey aims to achieve its neo-Ottoman expansionism particularly through the doctrine of the “Blue Homeland” that envisages the Turkish domination of the Aegean, of most of the Mediterranean, and of the Black Sea.

This threat has also been recognised by France’s President Emmanuel Macron, who advocates a “Pax Mediterranea” in the region. Such a pact would not only aim to block Turkish aspirations in the region, but would also become a catalyst for both commercial and geostrategic opportunities. Macron invited Egypt to join the Middle East Mediterranean (MEM) Summer Summit in 2020.

This “Pax Mediterranea” could very well incorporate the Eastern Mediterranean (EastMed) Pipeline Project that aims to exploit the region’s gas. Not only could both projects, the political and the commercial, add to already cordial Cyprus-Egypt relations, but the EastMed Pipeline could very well act as a major deterrent to Turkey’s destabilising activities in the region.

It should be noted that Turkey already has about 40,000 well-equipped troops stationed in Northern Cyprus and plans, as announced, to soon build a naval base there. Until Turkey’s occupation of Northern Cyprus ends, and until its violations of the rule of law and gunboat diplomacy are neutralised, Turkey will not be able to be seen as a trustworthy and civilised strategic partner of Egypt, Cyprus, the East or the West.

The writer is a Turkish journalist and political analyst formerly based in Ankara.

Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • More
  • Click to share on Skype (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Telegram (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)

Follow me on Facebook

Filed Under: Cyprus, Turkey


Learn more about RevenueStripe...

Comments

  1. Michael Copeland says

    Sep 18, 2020 at 8:10 am

    “the Turkish army …. committed large numbers of documented cases of the rape of Greek Cypriot women and children from the ages of 12 to 71. It was part of the tactic to humiliate, intimidate and terrorise the Greek Cypriot civilians in occupied Cyprus.”

    As Lt-Col. Allen West explains, “This is not a perversion. They are doing EXACTLY what this book says.”

    Reply
    • mortimer says

      Sep 18, 2020 at 9:33 am

      Indeed, not a perversion … the theft and massive rape against Christians was normative jihad. Cyprus was the first step in the re-conquest of the Turkish Ottoman Empire.

      Nevertheless, most of the Turkish Muslims of Turkey recently asked to be re-integrated into the Christian part of Cyprus because of the economic misery of the Turk-occupied part. The Christians are still wary of the Muslims and didn’t want them back. What is the solution?

      The island languishes in poverty and stagnation. Those Christians who own property in the north, can’t use it for the economic benefit of the island.

      The fabulous Riviera-like resort of Varosha (in pic above) remains surrounded by barbed wire, having no one to manage and direct this potential money-earner.

      Reply
      • SAFI says

        Sep 18, 2020 at 1:46 pm

        The RoCyprus does not “languish in poverty.” They’ve been performing better than most European countries by most economic measures, despite having lost over 2 thirds of its arable land and most of its coastline also to the invasion. The “TRNC” is a different case, the only thing that grows there nowadays is new mosques and religious schools. They’re entirely dependent on turkish subsidies and as a result they would have to do whatever Turkey orders them to do even if there weren’t 40,000 turkish troops among them. They’re also constantly being pressured to naturalize the hundreds of thousands of Anatolian immigrants that have moved there since the 80s and at this point they’re probably outnumbering the actual “turkish-cypriots” who don’t like this development either (not that I feel sorry for these traitors who helped “Attila” conquer Cyprus and are themselves guilty of horrible crimes against G-C civilians)

        Reply
        • Boycott Turkey says

          Sep 19, 2020 at 7:18 am

          True Safi the illegal Turkish settlers will outnumber the Turkish Cypriots soon and there won’t be any Turkish Cypriots left it’s like a bloodless Genocide also lots of Turkish Cypriots work in the ROC and go for health treatment there but still complain about the Greek Cypriots. I remember years ago when my dad was alive we visited Cyprus he took me to visit the illegal TRNC to show me his home and A Famous monastery Apostolos Andreas he had worked at in his youth where they still allow GC to worship there and visit but the settlers there set up a market place outside the monastery as lots of GCs visit there also I noticed at that time in the north it’s just ruins now my parents homes where they where forced from as kids my mums was turned to a barn and my dads is occupied by illegal settlers from Turkey.

        • SAFI says

          Sep 20, 2020 at 5:59 pm

          @Boycott Turkey

          “lots of Turkish Cypriots work in the ROC and go for health treatment there but still complain about the Greek Cypriots”

          Rather foolish of Cyprus if you ask me… I mean trying to win the “hearts and minds” of the muslim scum who betrayed you (and never repented). If Turkey wants to continue its occupation at least let them pay themselves for the medical bills for their “brethren” in whose name the invasion took place and in whose name the apartheid TRNC was created.

  2. Chris D says

    Sep 18, 2020 at 8:15 am

    Thanks for sharing this about Cyprus. Under Erdogan – Turkey is poised to repeat their Christian Genocide.

    I was personally and intimately aware of the great Christian Genocide in Asia Minor 1914-1922. Did not realize that the Turks repeated this horrible behavior in Cyprus in 1974.

    The US News then didn’t tell us that entire story. Never knew these details until reading your article today.

    Thanks for sharing it. Erdogan desires the return of the Ottoman Empire and enslavement and murder of Christians.

    Reply
  3. Cicero says

    Sep 18, 2020 at 9:02 am

    A very well written well balanced and well researched article by a Turkish Citizen
    It made for alarming reading. Tactics the world over by Islamists however are strikingly similar .
    It mirrors the Islamic Republic of Pakistan manoeuvres in the Indian Jammu Kashmir region .

    Until and unless kaffir nations come together to contain ( hopes of elimination are unrealistic ) this threat to non Muslim civilisations then advance of the Islamic doctrine will continue unashamed from Cyprus to the Islands of Mozambique

    Reply
    • mortimer says

      Sep 18, 2020 at 9:47 am

      Civilized countries have not begun to fight Islam IDEOLOGICALLY. They are leaving it to amateurs and volunteer counter-jihadists to do this fight. If all civilized countries participated in counter-jihad ideological warfare, we could remove Islam as an ideology. No reasonable person would put faith in Islam. Islam would lose 80 to 90 % of its adherents in a few years.

      Reply
      • gravenimage says

        Sep 18, 2020 at 11:00 pm

        I wish more in the West defended their civilized values, Mortimer.

        Reply
        • john smith says

          Sep 19, 2020 at 9:58 am

          +1 I also wish they did.

  4. Michael Copeland says

    Sep 18, 2020 at 10:47 am

    Thank you for the informative article.

    Reply
  5. Boycott Turkey says

    Sep 18, 2020 at 12:25 pm

    Very good Article it’s true the Turkish Army indiscriminately targeted anybody even women and children my parents where from the illegally occupied part of Cyprus my Dad told me at the age of 14 he was illegally detained by the Turkish army for no reason he was only given bread to eat which had insects in it he told me one day the Red Cross where there and my dad pretended his stomach hurt and Pretended to scream in pain to get there attention they saw him and told the Turks if they could take him as he wasn’t well luckily they agreed and the Red Cross took him away it was also documented by the Red Cross to that he had been illegally detained. I feel my dad was lucky as lots of detained prisoners where sent to Turkey and never heard from again there’s 1000s of Greek Cypriots still missing.

    Reply
    • Mafya says

      Sep 18, 2020 at 1:15 pm

      I am glad that your dad survived. But it’s sad that your dad and other Greek Cypriots suffered from invader Turkish forces. Greek Cypriots were living in peace but an invader army came and destroyed the peaceful island. This proves how Islam hates peace and everything about peace. Sadly, Turkey could invade other Greek islands and this would let another persecution of Greeks.

      Hired-thug Turkish media is constantly trying to provoke the Turks against the Greeks by making anti-Greek news. The hired Turkish media should be banned and Europe should fire all of the Turkish media’s liar hired thugs from their countries.

      Reply
    • gravenimage says

      Sep 18, 2020 at 11:02 pm

      So glad your quick-thinking dad survived, BT.

      Reply
      • Boycott Turkey says

        Sep 19, 2020 at 7:20 am

        Thank you

        Reply
    • john smith says

      Sep 19, 2020 at 10:02 am

      Your dad was a very smart man, he saw his opportunity and he took it.

      Reply
      • Boycott Turkey says

        Sep 19, 2020 at 12:17 pm

        Thank you John Smith my dad was 14 just child when this happened to him the Turkish Army targeted anybody who was Greek Cypriot regardless of there sex age they raped and killed children to innocent civilians who where not even in the military he passed away 5 years ago I’m sad he never got justice for what happened I feel there’s no hope

        Reply
  6. Boycott Turkey says

    Sep 18, 2020 at 2:50 pm

    Thank you Mafya I’m glad my dad survived to sadly he passed away 5 years ago It’s sad he never got justice It seems so unfair Turkey seems to get away with everything genocide rape theft. Thousands of Greeks Armenians Assyrians Kurds killed over the years and nothing is done to Turkey no sanctions nothing to protect anybody and they continue to genocide the Kurds and they still threatening Greece and Cyprus and Turning our Churches to Mosque they trying to wipe out Greek Byzantium history from Turkey to say we never existed there. I agree Turkish Media like TRT is making documentary’s to deny Armenian genocide it should be banned for genocide denial and it’s also telling lies about Greece and Cyprus over the sea Dispute it’s not a dispute nothing belongs to them they are invaders and illegal occupiers in Cyprus none of the sea they are saying belongs to them does. I think if it wasn’t for France setting a red line they would have invaded Greece and Cyprus

    Reply
    • GreekEmpress says

      Sep 18, 2020 at 5:25 pm

      Totally agree with both of you. My Greek and Armenian ancestors were from Anatolia, and I still have a cousin in Limassol, who I worry about. I think every Greek/Armenian has a story of loss. The Turks have been murdering our people for centuries.

      Reply
      • Boycott Turkey says

        Sep 18, 2020 at 6:06 pm

        True GreekEmpress every Greek Armenian has a loss and worst of all no justice I also worry I wonder if Turkey will invade again and take the whole of Cyprus over but I don’t think they can as Cyprus is in the EU it’s sad your Greek Armenian Ancestors where forced out of Anatolia now that they forced out all the Greeks and Armenians from Turkey they are trying to earase Greek and Armenian history by turning Churches to Mosque or destroying them they hate the fact that the Greek Churches and Ancient Greek temples reminds them of the true inhabitants.

        Reply
      • gravenimage says

        Sep 18, 2020 at 11:03 pm

        Grimly true.

        Reply
      • john smith says

        Sep 19, 2020 at 10:34 am

        GreekEmpress, You and BT have probably been aware of these horrors since your childhood. Unfortunately there are still so many people in Europe and the US, who are still completely unaware them. Thank you both for your stories.

        Reply
    • Mafya says

      Sep 19, 2020 at 8:44 am

      I sometimes lose my hope, Boycott Turkey. As you wrote there are many Turkish atrocities but they did not apologize for their crimes yet and still threathening and killing the natives of Anatolia like Greeks, Armenians, Assyrians and Kurds. But I want to say that there are many Kurds that supporting Erdogan and voting for him and his party as Kurds are predominantly Muslims. But still Turkey doesn’t hesitate to bomb Kurdish villages in northern Iraq whose villagers’ fled Turkey because of persecution and death.

      Similarities between Nazi Germany and Turkey are frightening. We will see what will happen in 2023 when Erdogan brings ottoman caliphate back.

      Reply
      • Boycott Turkey says

        Sep 19, 2020 at 10:05 am

        I feel the same Mafya I have lost hope on my family reclaiming there stolen property and I feel eventually the North will be recognised by some countries Turkey is also still threatening Cyprus I worry i Feel Trump betrayed the Kurds who bravely fought isis and now Turkey continues to Genocide the Kurds it’s systematic Genocide like what Hitler did North Iraq is not Turkey why are the Iraqis allowing them there to Genocide the Kurds I feel some Kurds probably support Erdogan because some are probably very Islamic in ideology maybe I pray the Kurds have there own country soon and get justice

        Reply
        • Mafya says

          Sep 19, 2020 at 12:20 pm

          I agree with you, Boycott Turkey. There are many Kurds who fought ISIL and also Christian, Jewish, Yazidi, secular, irreligious, peaceful Kurds exist. It’s just Islamist Kurds who support Erdogan. Also Kurdish organizations apologized for their roles in the Armenian and Assyrian genocides but the government of Turkey is still denies the genocides.

          I think both Iraqi Government and Kurdistan Regional Government in Arbil are both cowards. KRG in Arbil even approved the Turkish Offensive into North-Eastern Syria (Western Kurdistan) in October 2019. I think too Kurds should have a country but without support of America and Israel; Turks, Arabs and Persians would destroy it.

  7. gravenimage says

    Sep 18, 2020 at 10:58 pm

    Turkey’s occupation of Cyprus
    ………..

    And few in the West even know about this. Thank you, Uzay Bulut.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

FacebookYoutubeTwitterLog in

Subscribe to the Jihad Watch Daily Digest

You will receive a daily mailing containing links to the stories posted at Jihad Watch in the last 24 hours.
Enter your email address to subscribe.

Please wait...

Thank you for signing up!
If you are forwarding to a friend, please remove the unsubscribe buttons first, as they my accidentally click it.

Subscribe to all Jihad Watch posts

You will receive immediate notification.
Enter your email address to subscribe.
Note: This may be up to 15 emails a day.

Donate to JihadWatch
FrontPage Mag

Search Site

Translate

The Team

Robert Spencer in FrontPageMag
Robert Spencer in PJ Media

Articles at Jihad Watch by
Robert Spencer
Hugh Fitzgerald
Christine Douglass-Williams
Andrew Harrod
Jamie Glazov
Daniel Greenfield

Contact Us

Terror Attacks Since 9/11

Archives

  • 2020
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2019
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2018
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2017
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2016
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2015
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2014
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2013
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2012
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2011
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2010
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2009
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2008
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2007
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2006
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2005
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2004
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2003
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • March

All Categories

You Might Like

Learn more about RevenueStripe...

Recent Comments

  • Linda McGuire on UK: Muslim stabs two women in Marks & Spencer, one in the neck, cops search for motive
  • jacksonl03 on New study reveals that Muslim religiosity strongly linked to hatred towards the West
  • Dave from San Antonio on Muslim cleric: ‘We welcomed the takeover of ISIS because they wanted to implement the Sharia’
  • janicevanguilder on New study reveals that Muslim religiosity strongly linked to hatred towards the West
  • Boycott Turkey on Greece, Cyprus, Egypt, France and UAE conduct joint military exercises amid rising Turkish threat

Popular Categories

dhimmitude Sharia Jihad in the U.S ISIS / Islamic State / ISIL Iran Free Speech

Robert Spencer FaceBook Page

Robert Spencer Twitter

Robert Spencer twitter

Robert Spencer YouTube Channel

Books by Robert Spencer

Jihad Watch® is a registered trademark of Robert Spencer in the United States and/or other countries - Site Developed and Managed by Free Speech Defense

Content copyright Jihad Watch, Jihad Watch claims no credit for any images posted on this site unless otherwise noted. Images on this blog are copyright to their respective owners. If there is an image appearing on this blog that belongs to you and you do not wish for it appear on this site, please E-mail with a link to said image and it will be promptly removed.

Our mailing address is: David Horowitz Freedom Center, P.O. Box 55089, Sherman Oaks, CA 91499-1964

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.