Turkish Cypriot Prime Minister Ünal Üstel commented on the informal EU leaders summit on the Greek Cypriot side of divided Cyprus earlier this week and lamented Greek Cypriots’ stance.
Üstel said in a statement on Sunday that Greek Cypriot leader Nikos Christodoulides sought to invoke Article 42.7 of the Lisbon Treaty, which calls for EU countries to provide assistance to a member facing armed aggression. The prime minister of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, which is not recognized by Europe, said this attempt was “clear in its intention.” “The Greek Cypriot administration attempts to involve Europe in their maximalist policies in the Eastern Mediterranean, to institutionalize their search for military protection and establish a political bloc against the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus and Türkiye,” he said.
“The Greek Cypriot administration insists on portraying Türkiye and the TRNC as a threat. But the truth is obvious. It is not Türkiye or Turkish Cypriots raising tensions in the region. On the contrary, it is the Greek Cypriot administration that escalated armament in recent years, signed military agreements with various countries and made the island a hub for foreign military entities. It is that administration that put the island at the heart of wars and used a threatening rhetoric against the TRNC and Türkiye,” he underlined.
Üstel stated that the Turkish Cypriot people will never relinquish their rights, sovereign equality or security, despite the aggressive stance
“The European Union must now grasp these realities. On this island, it is the Greek Cypriot administration that attacked Turkish Cypriots, burned their villages and homes, forced them to live in tents, killed them, buried them in mass graves and blocked the path to a lasting reconciliation on the island by rejecting all settlement plans. It is Türkiye that, by exercising its right of guarantorship, put a stop to this brutality and has ensured that peace has prevailed on the island for more than 50 years. Despite all this aggression, the Turkish Cypriot people will never give up their rights, sovereign equality, or security. The path to a permanent, just, and sustainable solution on the island lies in acknowledging the existing realities. As the Government of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, we will resolutely continue to defend our vision of a two-state solution based on sovereign equality and equal international status, shaped with the strong support of our motherland Türkiye. We will continue to explain this policy on every platform and strengthen it with concrete steps. No one should think that the Turkish Cypriot people will step back in the face of pressure. This struggle is a struggle for sovereignty, security, and a dignified future,” he said.
Cyprus has been split since 1974 when 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. The TRNC was founded in 1983 and is recognized only by Türkiye. The Greek Cypriot administration, widely recognized internationally, has long supported a bi-communal federation model, while the Turkish Cypriot side has increasingly emphasized full sovereignty for the TRNC. United Nations-led talks over decades have so far failed to produce a comprehensive settlement.
