Nicosia, Cyprus. Turkish Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz said Turkey’s 1974 intervention in Cyprus brought peace not only to Turkish Cypriots but also to Greek Cypriots and the island as a whole.
Speaking at a military parade in north Nicosia marking the 52nd anniversary of the intervention, Yilmaz said the period of persecution and hardship endured by Turkish Cypriots between 1963 and 1974 had ended.
Peace and security claims
Yilmaz said the intervention created conditions for Turkish Cypriots to live in peace and security in their homeland.
He said the past 52 years had demonstrated, in his view, the justification for Turkey’s intervention and the importance of its guarantor role for peace in Cyprus. He added that the presence of the Turkish armed forces on the island had provided a basis for peace and stability for more than half a century.
Criticism of regional alliances
Yilmaz criticised what he described as the “Greek Cypriot lobby”, accusing it of exploiting European institutions and saying Turkey regarded such actions as null and void.
Referring to the Greek Cypriot side’s closer ties with Israel, he said those seeking through Eastern Mediterranean alliances and disinformation to achieve aims they had not achieved through military force were mistaken.
He said involving Cyprus in regional disputes would not provide security for either side and could endanger the stability maintained on the island for years.
Cyprus settlement position
Yilmaz said no initiative that excluded Turkey or ignored the rights of Turkish Cypriots and Turkey’s interests in the Eastern Mediterranean would succeed.
He said previous negotiations had failed because, according to him, the Greek Cypriot side had not accepted sharing governance and resources or recognising Turkish Cypriots as equal partners.
Yilmaz said proposals that treated Turkish Cypriots as a minority and left their future to the Greek Cypriot side would not produce a solution. He said a permanent and sustainable settlement required acceptance of the sovereign equality and equal international status of two states.