The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) President Ersin Tatar on Sunday lamented the “double standards” of the United Nations in its treatment of Turkish and Greek Cypriots on the divided island amid controversy over the construction of a road.
Since mid-August, Turkish Cyprus and its guarantor Türkiye have been at odds with the world body and the Greek Cypriot administration over a project to expand the road connecting Pile, a village inside the U.N.-controlled buffer zone, to Yiğitler (Asos) village in the island’s north.
Pile itself is home to Greek and Turkish Cypriots and falls in territory surrounded by a patchwork of jurisdictions, from the U.N. buffer zone to British sovereign bases and areas controlled by opposing communities.
At present, people from the area wanting to travel to Turkish Cyprus have to cross a checkpoint in the British bases, then another checkpoint controlled by Turkish Cypriot authorities. The Turkish Cypriot demand for a road to facilitate travel from Pile to the nearby community of Yiğitler has been longstanding.
On Aug. 18, after a confrontation with U.N. peacekeeping forces who tried to intervene, Turkish Cypriots scaled back the construction work but vowed to continue it.
Last week, the U.N. Security Council condemned what it called an “attack on peacekeepers” and “unauthorized construction” of the road, which drew the ire of Ankara and TRNC.
The Turkish side accused the council of “distorting facts” and stressed the road was a humanitarian project aiming to facilitate direct access of TRNC citizens in Pile to their own homeland.
The notification for the roadwork was made in advance and it was the U.N. forces’ intervention that caused the tension, a statement from the Turkish Foreign Ministry said while Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan accused the U.N. of “losing neutrality” on the issue.
Similarly, as he received Türkiye’s Chief of General Staff Metin Gürak on Sunday, Tatar cried out at the U.N.’s persistent attitude, saying, “Where was the United Nations when Greek Cypriots were massacring Turks in villages?”
Greek Cypriots have constructed roads, houses and universities in Pile but when the Turkish side wants to build a road, their reaction is outrageous, Tatar said, stressing that it was a “double standard” against the island’s northern inhabitants.
“What the other side is aiming for is reducing the Turkish population in Pile and turning it into an entirely Greek village,” he said.
The TRNC president also thanked Türkiye for its contributions to the Turkish Cypriot struggle.
After ethnic attacks in the early 1960s and a Greek Cypriot coup aimed at Greece’s annexation in 1974, Türkiye launched a military intervention, dubbed Cyprus Peace Operation, to protect Turkish Cypriots from persecution and violence, eventually leading to the foundation of the TRNC in 1983.
Tatar said the operation was a turning point for Northern Cyprus, which, now as a Turkish state in the Eastern Mediterranean, has seen its regional status elevated with oil, natural gas and other security issues.
“If there is an agreement in Cyprus, TRNC will be a part of it,” he stressed. “We’re in contact with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan as we determine the course of new politics in Cyprus.”
The TRNC is still committed to demanding a two-state solution that would ensure international and equal sovereignty and status, the president added.
“In harmony with Türkiye, we’ll negotiate only if our terms for equal status and sovereignty are accepted,” he said.
For his part, Gen. Gürak too emphasized the importance of the Cyprus issue as a “national struggle” for Türkiye and assured Ankara would “always stand by Turkish Cypriots.”
He also denounced the U.N.’s attitude in the Pile road dispute as “unacceptable,” and highlighted the arson attack on a mosque in the Greek Cypriot city of Limassol.
Meanwhile, warships from Türkiye will be visiting two ports in the TRNC this week to mark Ankara's Victory Day, which commemorates the resounding defeat of Greek forces at the hands of the Turks at the Battle of Dumlupinar in 1922.
The corvettes TCG Bandirma and TCG Bartın will visit the cities of Gazimagusa and Girne, respectively, on the occasion of Aug. 30 Victory Day and Turkish Armed Forces Day, the TRNC's Security Forces Command (GKK) said in a statement on Sunday.
"On Aug. 30, 2023, between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. (7 a.m. GMT and 2 p.m. GMT), the TCG Bandırma (F-502) corvette will be open to the public at Gazimagusa Port, while the TCG Bartın (F-504) corvette will be open for Girne Port's offshore visit," it said.
Victory Day marks the final battle in western Anatolia against Greek forces in 1922, and is dedicated to Türkiye's armed forces.
From Aug. 26 to Aug. 30, 1922, Turkish forces fought the Battle of Dumlupınar in what is now Türkiye's western Kütahya province, where the invading Greek army was decisively defeated.
By the end of 1922, all foreign forces had been expelled from the territories that collectively became the Republic of Türkiye a year later.
