Turkey: Occupies Northern Cyprus, Goes for the Rest
by Uzay Bulut • March 11, 2022 at 5:00 am
"The air and sea invasion yesterday devastated the resort strip of tourist hotels on the north coast of Cyprus. Greek Cypriots and foreigners huddled under mattresses in the cellars of ruined buildings." — The New York Times, July 22, 1974.
"But back in Ankara today, the newspapers were full of photos of smiling Turkish troops clustered in front of tanks draped with the star and crescent flag, holding their weapons high, and of Greek Cypriot hostages being given water by Turkish soldiers." — The New York Times, July 28, 1974.
Currently, Turkey appears to be targeting the rest of the Republic of Cyprus, a member of the European Union. The government of Cyprus is now dealing with an "illegal immigration crisis" which it says Turkey is orchestrating. Government authorities state that the majority of migrants entering the free part of Cyprus are being smuggled illegally through the Turkish-occupied northern Cyprus.
Meanwhile, according to Turkish media, Turkey is planning to construct a military naval base in the Karpasia Peninsula in the Turkish-occupied north.
Despite the uncountable war crimes Turkey has committed in Cyprus, the Turkish government has condemned the UN for having its "peacekeeping forces" there.
The West, however, remains silent -- not merely empowering Turkey to commit further atrocities but rewarding it. The US recently killed, at Turkey's request, the EastMed natural gas pipeline project, which would have transported gas from US allies Israel and Cyprus, via Greece, to Western Europe. The EastMed pipeline would have been particularly important in light of Russia's ability, with the Nord Stream and other pipelines, to blackmail the continent in winter by cutting off much of its gas supplies.
Turkey will now be able to continue its crimes against the Yazidis in Iraq, the Kurds in Syria and the Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh with no repercussions.
"Turkey's occupation of Cyprus has now become the first modern Islamist fundamentalist attempt to capture Western world territory and resources." — Philip Christopher, president of the International Coordinating Committee - Justice for Cyprus, Ekathimerini, May 20, 2018.
Aggression by Turkey's military appears to be on the rise in Cyprus -- in areas it does not yet occupy. According to the Cypriot media, on February 8, Turkish soldiers approached Greek Cypriot farmers working in fields near the village of Denia in the United Nations "Buffer Zone," and threatened to kill them if they did not leave.
The Turkish soldiers threatened the Greek Cypriot farmers about ten days after Turkey "slammed" the UN for extending its Cyprus peacekeeping mandate.
When the UN Security Council approved a six-month extension of the UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) on January 27, 2022, the government of Turkey was not pleased. They condemned the UN decision on the grounds that the UN had not received "the consent of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC)", an illegal entity recognized only by Turkey.
