‘ARMS RACE WILL START IN CYPRUS’
TURKISH President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has announced his intention to expand and reinforce Turkey’s military presence in North Cyprus in response to the United States’ lifting of its arms embargo on the Greek Cypriot Administration in South Cyprus last month.
In a televised interview with Turkish broadcaster CNN Türk, President Erdoğan described the lifting of the restrictions as “inexplicable in terms of content and timing”, and said that the United States “overlooks and even encourages the steps by the Greek Cypriot-Greek duo that threaten peace and stability in the eastern Mediterranean”.
President Erdoğan warned that the lifting of the embargo will start an “arms race on the island”, adding that “we cannot stop” these reinforcements in the face of Greek Cypriot reinforcements.
He added that “everyone must know that this latest step will not go without response and that every precaution will be taken for the security of the Turkish Cypriots”.
Furthermore, he confirmed that Turkey currently has a total of 40,000 troops stationed in North Cyprus, and that he intends to reinforce them with land, naval and aerial weapons, ammunition, and vehicles.
In addition to speaking about weaponry, President Erdoğan also passed comment about the issue of recognition of the TRNC.
He first lamented that he has seen “no action from the United Nations Security Council on this issue for a year and a half”, and that the Security Council “has not taken any steps to confirm the sovereign equality and equal international status of the Turkish Cypriot people”.
Following on from that, he suggested that “if the United Nations Security Council cannot do this, then the members of the United Nations can confirm the vested rights of the Turkish Cypriots by [individually] recognising the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus”.
Speaking about how he intends to bring about recognition of the TRNC, President Erdoğan said that “we will work with all the institutions and organisations that will stand behind our call so that the international community recognises the TRNC”.
He did, however, warn that recognition is “not something that happens immediately” and that it may take “a long time” for the TRNC to be recognised.
Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu also commented on the arms issue, telling a youth conference in the province of Pamukkale, Turkey, that “we will deploy more forces to protect Turkish Cypriots and provide anything they need in terms of arms”.
Mr Çavuşoğlu went on to criticise the United States for lifting its arms embargo on the Greek Cypriot Administration, and confirmed that he had made the United States’ Secretary of State Antony Blinken aware of his disapproval.
He went on to say that “Greek Cyprus is known for money laundering” and that he had raised this point to Mr Blinken, asking him: “Why are you giving them arms?”
This speech follows on from Mr Çavuşoğlu’s remarks in New York while attending the 77th United Nations General Assembly. There, he called on the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to support the Turkish Cypriots.
He said that “Turkish Cypriots face unfair isolation and embargo” and that therefore “we expect the OIC member states to stand together with the Turkish Cypriots”, before going on to cite the Qur’an.
Mr Çavuşoğlu told members: “My dear brothers, the Qur’an says ‘Believers are your brothers and be at peace with our brothers’.”
He explained that “we need to keep the brotherhood among Muslims above politics” because “our voice can only be heard if we act together on issues that concern the entire Ummah [community]”.
Meanwhile, retired Turkish diplomat Uluç Özülker has suggested that Turkey may be able to get a motion regarding the Cyprus issue passed at the United Nations General Assembly, after a previous motion put forward jointly by Turkey and Yemen regarding Jerusalem was overwhelmingly successful.
The motion in question concerned the then-United States President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel back in 2017, with Turkey and Yemen moving a motion to reject this recognition.
The motion passed by 128 votes to just nine despite Mr Trump threatening to cut off financial aid to any countries which voted for it, and Mr Özülker now asks “why can it not happen again?” with regards to the TRNC, according to a report by the Turkish daily Milliyet.
Mr Özülker explained that while the General Assembly cannot force the UN Security Council into passing a resolution, especially given that all five permanent members of the Security Council have the power of a veto, they can create a great amount of “moral pressure” on the world’s superpower nations.
“If you cast a serious vote of 128 for acceptance [of a motion], as with the Jerusalem resolution, then many countries may begin to think it would be okay to recognise the TRNC,” he said.
“Turkey succeeded [in 2017], why not this time?”