Cyprus as history and geography

Last week, on November 15, we celebrated the 41st anniversary of the founding of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. The Kemalist Cyprus Magazine, published by the Atatürkist Thought Society of the METU Northern Cyprus Campus, released its November 2024 issue with the theme The 50th Year of Peace and Freedom.

They had asked me to contribute an article as a guest writer. I tried to make an assessment through the lens of economic history, a bit through maritime affairs, and a bit through today's economic conditions and geopolitics. Since it was a magazine article, it was a bit long. I will summarize and present it here.

If we are to try to understand Cyprus within a general framework in a short article, we will necessarily jump from topic to topic. Let's take a look at Ottoman economic history, a bit at the principles and Enlightenment Revolutions of Gazi Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, a bit at the present day, and a bit at world and Eastern Mediterranean geopolitics, and recall some headings. And of course, if we are talking about peace and freedom, let's try to touch upon these concepts as well.

HOW THE OTTOMANS GAVE UP CYPRUS

Let's briefly look at the details of the decline of the Ottoman navy. The main source that feeds maritime power is science, primarily geography, astronomy, and mathematics. In 1583, the religious scholars (ulema) in the Ottoman Empire blamed the Tophane Observatory for the plague epidemic and earthquake that occurred that year. With a fatwa from the Sheikh ul-Islam, the Tophane Observatory, which was the driving force of the navy and science, was destroyed by being shelled by the navy itself. After that date, the Ottoman navy never recovered. Although large investments were made in the navy during the reigns of Abdülmecid and Abdülaziz, that navy could not, of course, be successful due to the lack of trained manpower in a country that had abandoned science and missed the industrial revolution. Ships could not be maintained, and they were lost at sea due to the simplest navigation errors. Even though Ottoman sailors were less educated than those of rival countries, they were still more creative than the land-based pashas within the Ottoman Empire. At least they knew that the world was not flat like a tray on the head of an ox, that it was round, and they knew astronomy, latitude, and longitude. They were seen as a threat by the land-based commanders and even by the Sultan. Fearing that the sailors would stage a coup, Abdülhamid left the Navy to rot in the Golden Horn. The Ottoman Empire entered the 20th century at the end of the 19th century without a navy. Let us also note the fear of sailors held by Political Islam, the hitman of imperialism, with the Balyoz (Sledgehammer) case, a conspiracy staged in 2010.

Let us recall that among the reasons for the outbreak of the First World War was Germany's involvement in overseas imperialism and its implementation of the project to build the world's second-largest navy after England in 1895.

While building naval power and a navy is important enough to be a cause of war between states, the abandonment of the Ottoman Navy to rot in the Golden Horn during the reign of the second Abdülhamid should be counted among the reasons for many defeats, from the ceding of Cyprus in 1878 to the loss of the Aegean islands in 1912 and the loss of territories in the Middle East, Egypt, and Libya.

During the reign of Abdülhamid, after the Ottoman-Russian War of 1877-1878, known as the 93 War, Russia had gained great superiority in the Balkans, and the Russian Army had reached Yeşilköy, then known as Ayastefanos. With the Treaty of San Stefano on March 3, 1878, to save the capital Istanbul, the Ottomans faced very harsh conditions. The Principality of Bulgaria was established in the Balkans, and territorial losses were experienced in both the Balkans and Eastern Anatolia (Kars, Ardahan, Artvin, Batum). On top of that, the Ottomans were to pay 300 million Rubles in war reparations in cash.

These harsh conditions meant the swallowing of the Ottoman State by the Russians. The swallowing of the Ottoman Empire by the Russians alone would have brought with it the Russians' descent into the warm seas, the Mediterranean. All of this posed a threat to overseas British Imperialism.

First, Jewish bankers stepped in. They said that the war reparations would be paid to the Russians in exchange for the sale of Palestinian lands. Abdülhamid did not give up Palestine. The British stepped in; with a secret agreement made in Berlin on June 5, 1878, the British would pressure Russia and support the Ottomans. In return, Ottoman sovereignty would ostensibly continue, but Cyprus would be leased to the British. The British would govern the island on behalf of the Ottoman Sultan. Based on this agreement, the British occupied Cyprus about a month later, on July 12, 1878.

With British pressure, the 300 million ruble war indemnity was reduced to 50 million rubles, but the Ottoman Empire was in a debt trap. The Ottomans could not pay their debts to European bankers and countries. As a result, a moratorium was declared in 1875, and in 1881, tax collection in the Ottoman Empire and Ottoman Finance were left to the Public Debt Administration (Duyun-u Umumiye) established by European countries.

ON PEACE AND FREEDOM

We said at the beginning of the article that we would jump from topic to topic. After the perspective of economic history and maritime affairs, let's look at the concepts of Peace and Freedom on the 50th anniversary of the Cyprus Peace Operation. Peace and freedom are very valuable concepts. However, unfortunately, the value of these two concepts can only be understood through wars, captivity, and the great pain experienced between the merciless gears of a brutal exploitation system.

And maintaining peace is possible not only with good intentions, but with a strong economy that can protect independence, a strong and moral army that has not been politicized, and a diplomacy that has these two powers behind it, does not shy away from fighting when necessary, but prioritizes peace.

A country whose economic independence has been damaged and is stuck in a foreign debt trap;

An army that has been demoralized and politicized;

Degenerated diplomatic cadres;

And of course, the political power that directs them moves away from protecting the country's interests, and the interests of imperialism come to the fore.

On top of these, imagine a country that has lost its environment of freedom, culture of democracy, judicial independence, and democratic oversight mechanisms, and is experiencing a multiple decay and collapse in the state and social structure.

Now, let's briefly look at the topics regarding the geopolitics of Cyprus within the framework of these risks.

THE GEOPOLITICS OF CYPRUS

When looking at the map of the Mediterranean and the geopolitics of the Eastern Mediterranean, the importance of Cyprus emerges by itself. I do not feel the need to explain the geopolitical importance of Cyprus at length here. There are very valuable studies on this subject, especially by our naval officers and experts.

For the survival of both Turkey and Cyprus and for the Turkish presence, Cyprus is in a position that can never be compromised. Turkey and Cyprus are targets of the Greater Middle East Project (BOP). Turkey is surrounded from west to south by the armed Aegean Islands starting from Alexandroupoli on the Greek border in the West and finally by US bases in Southern Cyprus.

For imperialist countries, Cyprus is worth a massive, cost-free aircraft carrier fleet. Turkey has an urgent necessity to establish a military base in Cyprus that hosts large-scale naval, air, and land forces. If no country, including those we consider friends, recognizes Cyprus after 50 years, I believe that Cyprus should be annexed to Turkey and become a part of Turkey, depending on the preference of the Turkish Cypriot people. I do not think the current government will do this.

Let us conclude the article with a short excerpt from the assessment made by retired Rear Admiral Cem Gürdeniz to Prof. Dr. Barış Doster in the Cumhuriyet newspaper.

“What is essential is geopolitics; the energy struggle is in the background. Because the area we are in concerns energy geopolitics, rimland geopolitics, and Israel's security geopolitics. The Eastern Mediterranean and the Mediterranean in general are the main artery of 21st-century Turkish geopolitics. It is unthinkable for us to be isolated from this sea. However, Turkey is facing a great chain of challenges against its indispensable interests in the Eastern Mediterranean. The encirclement of Turkey from the south and the usurpation of the 150 thousand square kilometer area, which we call the 'Blue Homeland' and which Turkey has a right to in its continental shelf and Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in the Eastern Mediterranean, and its being given to the Greek Cypriot Administration (GCA) and Greece.”