Greece wants to make Cyprus its 13th island: Tatar

NICOSIA

The real intention of Greece and the Greek Cypriot administration is to establish their complete rule on the island, Turkish Cypriot President Ersin Tatar has said.

“They’re violating international law in the Aegean. They are showing an aggressive approach. They are demonstrating militia behavior under the name of Hellenism, that would ruin the relations between the two countries,” Tatar said in an interview with daily Milliyet columnist Abdullah Karakuş.

“We will never fall for their games and traps. They should stop following vain hopes,” Tatar added.

Noting that the Turkish side wants peace on the island and the Aegean, Tatar emphasized that problems should be resolved via a dialogue.

“If the tensions rise, Greek and the Greek Cypriot economy will collapse. Greek Cyprus and Greece will collapse completely,” Tatar said.

He stated that gas cannot reach Europe without Türkiye.

“It cannot be done without Türkiye. Other ways are too expensive. They have no other choice. They should stop playing games,” he said.

“The real intention of Greece is to make Cyprus its 13th island,” Tatar said.

According to Tatar, Greek Cyprus wants full Greek sovereignty in Cyprus.
“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 conveyed that Cyprus has never been under Greek sovereignty.

“It was under the Ottoman Empire’s rule for more than three centuries,” he added.

He mentioned that despite the Greek side’s vetoing of the Annan Plan, the exclusion of the Turkish part in Greek Cyprus and its inclusion in the EU has turned the problem into a blind knot.

“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,” he explained.

“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.

Tatar explained that they made a violating move that is against the founding agreements of Cyprus.

He conveyed that the two states are based on sovereign equality and cannot be combined in Cyprus.

“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.

“There is no going back. Pressure will not be tolerated. We have no other choice,” he added.

“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,” Tatar stated.

Tatar explained that Maraş can be a museum city and that he is considering projects.

“Maraş is an amazing place. Its beaches and parks were opened after 47 years. Infrastructure will also be built,” he said.

He said that in addition to Turkish Cypriots, Greek Cypriots and people around the world come to visit.

“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 said.