President Ersin Tatar on Tuesday reacted to the statements made by the leader of the Greek Cypriot administration Nikos Christodoulides on the 69th anniversary of the start of armed actions by the EOKA terrorist organization on April 1, 1955.
Responding to Christodoulides’ praises for the EOKA terrorist organization, Tatar reminded that EOKA was founded with the aim of annihilating the Turkish Cypriot people and turning Cyprus into a Greek island, which in the process turned Cyprus into a bloodbath and initiated a period of massacre and suffering.
He said that the speeches delivered by the Greek Cypriot leadership once again showed that the Greek-Greek Cypriot mentality had not changed and was still chasing impossible dreams.
“Had Türkiye not carried out the Peace Operation on the morning of July 20, 1974, not a single Turkish Cypriot would have been left alive in Cyprus, and a second Crete disaster would have occurred. The evidence of this is the massacres carried out in Atlılar, Muratağa, Sandallar, Taşkent, and other places. While the realities in Cyprus are clear, the statements made by the leader of the Greek Cypriot administration on the anniversary of the start of armed actions by the EOKA terrorist organization are quite astonishing.” Tatar said.
The president pointed out that Christodoulides who had not only praised EOKA in his speech but had expressed the view that the struggle of EOKA proved that any goal could be achieved revealed that the Greek-Greek Cypriot mentality has not changed and continues as it was.
Tatar slammed Christodoulides for his remarks that there could be no solution in Cyprus unless Turkish troops left Cyprus and Türkiye’s guarantees are scrapped.
He said that such statements, made particularly at a time when efforts were underway to establish new dialogue only served to raise tensions and create hostilities.
“The international community’s indifference to such statements and behaviours also constitutes the greatest obstacle to a solution [in Cyprus]. I emphasize once again that the solution to the Cyprus issue does not lie in chasing the dreams of the EOKA terrorist organization and an unattainable federal-based solution. The fair, permanent, and sustainable solution to the Cyprus issue lies in the sovereign, equal existence of the two separate states that we have proposed and advocated.”
Tatar reiterated that the acceptance of the Turkish Cypriot people’ sovereign equality and equal international status was also essential for the resumption of talks.
He said that this solution model was the only solution model, and that the Greek Cypriot leader should stop chasing impossible dreams and to respond positively to the Turkish Cypriot side’s calls for dialogue and resolution.
“Conflicts all around the world and particularly our region, such as the Ukraine-Russia war, the Israel-Gaza conflict, and the statements of the Greek Cypriot leadership, as well as ongoing armament campaign pursued by the Greek Cypriot side, demonstrate how necessary and vital Türkiye’s guarantees are for our people. It is impossible for us to give up these. Taking into account the realities of Cyprus, we will not return to the dark, painful, and massacre-filled days of the past, nor can we leave our people at the mercy of the outdated Greek-Greek Cypriot,” he concluded.