A violent protest targeting Ersin Tatar, president of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), drew the ire of Ankara. Turkish officials on Wednesday offered their support to Tatar after Greek Cypriot protesters attempted to block his vehicle in London.
Vice President Fuat Oktay spoke to Tatar, conveying a message of support "on behalf of our President (Recep Tayyip Erdoğan), our nation and myself." Oktay condemned the incident and said Türkiye would always stand by the president of the TRNC in every respect.
Earlier, a group of about 50 protesters attempted to prevent Tatar's entry into King's College, where he was to attend a conference on the Cyprus issue, according to the TRNC Presidency. The protesters were carrying Greek flags and banners against Tatar and Turkish Cypriots. British and Turkish security guards in front of the university building dispersed the crowd, enabling Tatar's passage. The president later left the university after the event.
In a television appearance on Turkish media after the incident, Tatar said the protesters would have attacked him had no police been present at the university's entryway. "They can't tolerate it," he said, underlining that the reason behind the protest was the media coverage of his contact with journalists and lawmakers in the U.K., as well as his speeches. "They don't even want to let our voices be heard. Because when our voice is heard, they see that it will be accepted, they see that it will become stronger," he said.
Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu tweeted that he talked to Tatar and expressed his support. "Greek Cypriots, who cannot tolerate increasing visibility of TRNC, including its admission to the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) as an observer member, are getting more aggressive. We always support TRNC," he tweeted. Parliamentary Speaker Mustafa Şentop also expressed support for Tatar, condemning the incident. "This and similar provocative actions cannot hinder Turkish Cypriot people's struggle for their cause. We will remain in solidarity with Turkish Cypriots in this national cause," he wrote in a social media post.
The TRNC and the Greek Cypriot administration have been at odds for a long time as the island has been mired in a decadeslong dispute between two communities. A series of diplomatic efforts by the U.N. to achieve a comprehensive settlement so far failed. Ethnic attacks starting in the early 1960s forced Turkish Cypriots to withdraw into enclaves for their safety. In 1974, a Greek Cypriot coup aimed at Greece's annexation led to Türkiye's military intervention as a guarantor power to protect Turkish Cypriots from persecution and violence. As a result, the TRNC was founded in 1983. It has seen an on-and-off peace process in recent years, including a failed 2017 initiative in Switzerland under the auspices of guarantor countries Türkiye, Greece and the United Kingdom. The Greek Cypriot administration entered the European Union in 2004, the same year Greek Cypriots thwarted the U.N. Annan Plan to end the longstanding dispute. Today, Turkish Cyprus supports a solution based on the equal sovereignty of the two states on the island. On the other hand, the Greek side wants a federal solution based on the hegemony of the Greeks.
