PROF ÜNAL: NEW RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TURKEY AND RUSSIA IS FLOURISHING
IMPROVING relations between Moscow and Ankara could affect the situation in Cyprus, Prof Dr Hasan Ünal said during the discussion.
“It’s not just a friendship between [Turkish President Recep Tayyip] Erdoğan and [Russian President Vladimir] Putin, but a new kind of relationship which is flourishing between Turkey and Russia,” he said, giving examples of Turkish construction companies operating in Russia and Russian tourism in Turkey.
He also argued that Azerbaijan could not have won such a quick victory over Armenia in Nagorno-Karabakh without this new Russian-Turkish relationship.
Based on this and improving Greek Cypriot ties with Natomember France, he concluded that “no one can actually predict what might happen between Russia and the Greek [Cypriots]”.
Prof Ünal argued that a two-state solution could have a stabilising impact in the eastern Mediterranean, by making it a “sea of peace”.
Sir David Amess MP said: “The European Union could be helpful if it is impartial” but criticised the EU’s admission of the “Republic of Cyprus” as “barmy” and a “terrible mistake”.
On the eastern Mediterranean tensions and the Cyprus issue he argued that “blackmailing Turkey with sanctions will serve no purpose whatsoever” other than creating “another stalemate”. He also emphasised that hydrocarbons in the region “need to be shared fairly” between all sides.
Mr Olgun, however, disagreed with Sir David, saying there was “no chance” that the EU could be impartial because of the role of Greece and South Cyprus as member states.
Sir David added that the easing of the lockdown in the UK should be used by Turkish Cypriots there as an opportunity to “connect with British politicians” and “set out the arguments”.
“Unless there is pressure, nothing is going to happen,” he said.