A recent article written by Shay Gal in the Israel Hayom newspaper, entitled “Northern Cyprus is also an Israeli problem,” caused a significant reaction from both the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) and Türkiye. Gal, who previously served as vice president of external relations at Israel Aerospace Industries and held senior advisory roles for Israeli government ministers, tried to appraise Netanyahu’s government policies in the region and on the island of Cyprus.
In this article, I will not touch upon the absurd claims of Gal that do not even deserve a response, such as that Türkiye “invaded” Cyprus, “NATO will not use Article 5 protection against Türkiye” in the attack of Israel, Greece and the Greek Cypriot administration will remove Turkish forces in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) and Russia is abandoning the Akkuyu nuclear plant, etc.
Rather, I want to focus on deliberately fabricated claims about the TRNC and what lies beneath these baseless claims. In the column, the TRNC is represented as a “no man’s land” in the sense that it is anarchic, uncontrolled, a passerby’s inn, a villain base, enabling Türkiye and “terrorist groups” like Hamas and Iran's Quds Force to have unrestricted operational freedom.”
Furthermore, it is also claimed that hotels, universities and ports have “reportedly” become “hubs for espionage, blackmail and intelligence operations coordinated by Turkish security forces and organized crime networks.” According to these fabricated “secret” reports of “Guardian of the Walls” and “Iron Swords,” which no one ever heard, apart from the ones who wrote them, Hamas and Iranian Quds Force also “plan” to establish an operational branch in the TRNC for “carrying out attacks against Israelis in Europe.”
Since Cyprus plays a significant role in Israel's regional ambitions, all these baseless claims naturally raised questions about what Israel is aiming for on the island.
Cyprus is situated in a strategically critical region due to its geographical location, its potential as a transit route for energy resources to international markets, and its impact on regional security. In this respect, the island is also important for Israel, which desires to be a regional hegemon. Initiatives such as the EastMed Pipeline Project and the Eastern Mediterranean Gas Forum are indicators of Israel’s strategy to deliver energy resources to European markets and shape the regional energy equation in line with its interests. These initiatives aim to exclude Türkiye and the TRNC from the energy equilibrium, which stands as the biggest obstacle to Israel's regional ambitions.
On the other hand, the Greek Cypriot administration, as a small and weak country, is an easy target for Israel. The socio-economic problems, weak political leadership, along with overdosed admiration and dependency of Greek Cypriot leader Nikos Christodoulides on Israel and the U.S., make the country the "weakest link" in the region. Moreover, Greek Cypriots’ state policy of hostility toward Turks and the “enemy of my enemy is my friend” mentality have created an "unholy" Greek-Jewish alliance.
The exclusive economic zone (EEZ) agreement in 2010 increased defense and security cooperation, joint military exercises, intelligence sharing, mutual official visits at the highest levels, the lifting of the U.S. arms embargo on the Greek side, and the Greek adminstration's efforts to procure advanced air defense systems like the Iron Dome from Israel have further strengthened this alliance.
In February, relations between the two sides took a further turn when the Greek Cypriot administration handed over security for Larnaca and Paphos airports to Israeli intelligence. Following these developments, the Greek Cypriot press harshly criticized Christodoulides and blamed him for “transferring the country’s sovereignty to Israel.” The Greek side's dependence on Israel was further exacerbated by the use of British bases on the Greek side for Israel’s logistical and operational purposes in Palestine and the broader Middle East.
One other main objective of the Israel-Greek Cypriot alliance is to deny the recognition and visibility of the TRNC, thereby ignoring the rights of the Turkish Cypriot people to the island's natural resources. To this end, Israel supports the Greek Cypriot arguments on various international platforms and tries to prevent any attempts to recognize the TRNC.
In this respect, Israel’s expansion into various strategic areas in the TRNC through construction sites and marinas has created significant unrest in the country. Consequently, new property restrictions were imposed on foreigners in the TRNC in 2023, curbing this trend.
After this development, the Greek side became a new point of attraction for Israeli citizens. As such, around 15.000 Israeli citizens left Israel and moved to southern Cyprus after Tel Aviv expanded the war in the Middle East to Iran. In response, the Greek Cypriot newspapers put headlines like, “Israelis are using Cyprus as a backyard” and “It's like a promised land. Why are Jews buying land in Cyprus?” Furthermore, the Progressive Working People’s Party (AKEL), which is the second-largest party in the Greek Cypriot administration, highlighted Israelis' planned and systematic purchases of property in strategic and security-risk locations, claiming, “Our country is being lost, Israel is occupying us.” Party Secretary-General Stefanos Stefanou even asked what Greek Cypriot leader Nikos Christodoulides owes to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, given his unwavering support for Israel, a position that even the U.K., a traditional ally, has begun to question.
This alliance, which was founded based on Israel's regional ambitions and the Greek Cypriot side’s “enemy of my enemy is my friend” approach, also has limits. The Greek Cypriot administration is just one of many "temporary" allies that Israel has established and exploited throughout its history to serve its interests. For instance, the Aphrodite field, located in the unilaterally declared 12th Block of the Greek Cypriot administration, which is believed to contain significant natural gas reserves, is claimed by Israel to have overflowed into its EEZ. Consequently, Israel has exerted subsequent pressure on the Greek Cypriot administration, which led to a compromise by the latter. This is just one proof among many others that Tel Aviv recognizes no "friend" when it clashes with its interests. At this point, it’s worth remembering that numerous violent conflicts have occurred between these two communities throughout history, and that the largest massacre in the history of Cyprus was perpetrated by Jews against Greek Cypriots in the historic city of Salamis in A.D. 117, resulting in the killings of over 200,000 people.
In conclusion, arguably, the Greek Cypriot administration's dependency on Israel has become evident by Christodoulides' unconditional support for Israel's genocidal policies, buying Israeli weaponry, giving the control of the airports to Israeli forces and turning a blind eye to intensified Israeli settlement over critical locations in southern Cyprus.
On the other hand, to conceal this dependency, Israel should also provide some support to the Greek Cypriot administration, primarily in rhetoric, including this column's praise for “Poseidon’s Wrath,” named after the Greek god of the sea. In this way, Israel also tries to conceal its aggressive polices and genocide measures in Palestine and the fact that Netanyahu is not only a threat to regional but also international security.
As a last word, it's worth reminding that those who think they can achieve anything by intimidating Turkish Cypriot people are gravely mistaken. The Turkish Cypriot people are not alone and strong enough to defend their rights and state until the end. More importantly, the TRNC fulfills all the conditions of the Montevideo Convention on the Rights and Duties of States, which is the most widely accepted formulation of the criteria and the traditional indicia that are recognized by customary international law for statehood.
Moreover, the TRNC is a fully democratic and secure country that boasts the largest and best airport on the entire island, as well as four universities that have made their mark in the top 1,000 worldwide. Therefore, as the observatory of the Organization of the Turkic States, the Economic Cooperation Organization, and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), the full international recognition of the TRNC is just a matter of time. Sooner or later, the factual realities of the island will be recognized, which will also contribute to the regional security, stability and prosperity where we need it most in this already volatile region.
