The true goal of Greece and the Greek Cypriot administration is to establish their complete rule on the island, Turkish Cypriot President Ersin Tatar has said, Turkish daily Hurriyet reported.
In an interview with daily Milliyet columnist Abdullah Karakuş Tatar said,
“They’re violating international law in the Aegean. They are showing an aggressive approach. They are demonstrating militia behaviour under the name of Hellenism that would ruin the relations between the two countries”.
“We will never fall for their games and traps. They should stop following vain hopes”, Tatar added.
“If tensions rise, the Greek and the Greek Cypriot economy will collapse. Greek Cyprus and Greece will collapse completely”, Tatar claimed.
Regarding the transport of gas to Europe from the eastern Mediterranean, he said that it would not be practical or financially viable to do this without crossing Turkey.
“It cannot be done without Türkiye. Other ways are too expensive. They have no other choice. They should stop playing games”, he said.
President Tatar went on to say that Greece planned to make Cyprus its 13th island.
“To them, full Greek sovereignty means unification with Greece. They have a mentality that one day this place will be unified with Greece. We are facing such an ideology”, he said.
“Such selfishness. It is ignoring the balances in the eastern Mediterranean without taking international law into account”, he added.
Tatar said that Greece never ruled Cyprus, “It was under the Ottoman Empire’s rule for more than three centuries”, he noted.
Annan Plan
Recalling that the Turkish Cypriots had voted in favour of the Annan Plan but the Greece Cypriots voted against it, despite this, Cyprus becoming a member of the EU. Turkish Cypriots, however, still remain excluded creating an unsolvable problem.
“A great injustice and lawlessness had been committed. The Annan Plan was an international plan. And those who said no to it were accepted into the EU”, Tatar said.
“The promises made to Turkish Cyprus were not kept. On top of it, they punished us for saying yes. They continued the embargoes”, he added.
These actions had violated the founding agreements made in Cyprus.
Tatar reiterated that there are two states in Cyprus, based on sovereign equality and cannot be united.
“The reality of two separate states has been going on for 60 years. But with economic blockade, it is aimed to make the Turks migrate. We have resisted the persecution. Despite all kinds of international difficulties, we will continue to fight”, he said.
Tatar went on to say that there would be no going back and that the Turkish Cypriot had no other choice.
“Despite the embargoes, the tourism sector has reached an important place. Our universities have come to a certain point. Despite global warming, agriculture has reached a certain point with water projects”, he said.
Tatar said that Maraş was reopened after 47 years and that he is considering projects to develop the town. People from all over the world will come and visit, he said.
“Maraş is an amazing place. Its beaches and parks were opened after 47 years. Infrastructure will also be built”, he said.
“The number of visitors exceeded 500,000. Maraş, even in this state, is valuable. Its opening was a very important step. It brought a lot to Turkish Cyprus. We respect international law”, Tatar concluded.
