Are Erdoğan and Özgür Özel aware of who they are pinning their hopes on?

Continuity in the state is essential. Especially in national matters.

After all that had been experienced regarding Cyprus, the point reached by the government under the late Prime Minister Ecevit in 2002 was the recognition of the TRNC or ensuring its integration with Turkey.

The EU was preparing to make the Greek Cypriot side a member. The then-Minister of State Şükrü Sina Gürel issued this ultimatum:

“If the EU takes its final wrong decision on the Cyprus issue and makes the division permanent, Turkey and the TRNC will take the necessary steps regarding integration.”

Only 5 months after these words by Gürel, the AKP came to power. Although Erdoğan could not sit in the Prime Minister's chair because he was politically banned, he made his first visit as AKP Chairman to Greece.

There was not a shred of difference between the views of Prime Minister Kostas Simitis and today's Prime Minister Mitsotakis. But the Erdoğan-Simitis meeting must have gone successfully (!), because Foreign Minister George Papandreou said exactly this:

“A meeting of historical importance... For the first time in years, we did not meet with Attila...”

The meaning of this was that Turkey was no longer playing the “hawk”!..

What followed came like a house of cards.

The AKP government did not stand in the way of the Greek Cypriot side's EU membership... “No solution is not a solution. We will not be the side running away from the table. We will get rid of the shackles on our feet,” they said, and had the TRNC accept the Annan Plan, another version of ENOSIS; in return for the promise that the isolation imposed on the TRNC would be lifted.

Of course, they did not even keep these promises.

A whole 22 years have passed. While the TRNC has been marking time;

The USA - EU - Greece - Greek Cypriot side never gave up on the dream of Enosis...

The USA lifted the arms embargo on the Greek Cypriot side... Greece signed a defense agreement with the Greek Cypriot side... Just last week, it was decided to establish a naval base with the capacity to accommodate warships at Mari Port, which France and Israel are also interested in...

After Israel's attack on Gaza; the arrival of German soldiers in the Greek Cypriot part of Cyprus, the fact that aid to Israel is being sent from British bases there, and, in the words of TRNC President Ersin Tatar, the fact that this place is being made a logistics base for Israel and some other countries, thereby making the entire Island a target, is just the icing on the cake...

Now what is Erdoğan saying?

“Extremely irresponsible steps are being taken that risk threatening the security of the entire island in the face of the ongoing conflicts in the region. You cannot bathe in the same water twice,” he says, explaining that they are “continuing their efforts for a two-state solution.”

Wouldn't one ask; what did you do or not do that you discovered the reality of 22 years ago?!

Azerbaijan and Qatar are “friendly-brotherly” countries; but even they could not be persuaded to recognize the TRNC.

They say they are working for the TRNC to take its rightful place in the Organization of Islamic Cooperation... It has been invited to the Organization of Turkic States meetings, given observer status, etc. Is that enough?

Let's look at the statement Aliyev made on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Peace Operation. Recalling that he invited Ersin Tatar to the Informal Summit of the Organization of Turkic States in Azerbaijan a few months ago, he said, “For the first time, it took its place behind the table with its own flag. Here, we fulfilled the requirement of our debt of brotherhood. Mr. Ersin Bey's participation in this meeting is an important step taken towards the recognition of the TRNC. We will always stand by our Cypriot brothers.”

Excuse me, but what is holding Azerbaijan's hand from recognizing the TRNC?!

Let's move past that; at least Aliyev could have been invited to the 50th-anniversary ceremonies in the TRNC. Was he invited and didn't come, or what?!

ÖZGÜR ÖZEL'S OPENINGS

Before we continue our criticisms of Erdoğan's Cyprus policy, let's say a few words to CHP Chairman Özgür Özel.

After explaining that Turkey and the TRNC should be EU members, even though it has become crystal clear that they will never give up on Enosis for sixty years and will never make us a member, he said, “We want a solution. The first 50 years were a period of not surrendering, negotiating, and explaining the just cause. I hope the second 50 years will be the beginning of a solution, a remedy, and a happier, more prosperous Cyprus,” he said, isn't that nice?

His reaction to Greek Defense Minister Dendias, who declared Turkey an “occupier” in Cyprus, was even more bizarre. It is exactly as stated; he said the following:

“The man comes, flies over the islands, plants flags. He is provoking, that is. If I were in Mr. Erdoğan's place, I would say to my counterparts in Greece, ‘If you are truly sincere, you need to control this man a little bit.’ Nothing he does is well-intentioned. I guess he thinks that if there is a Turkey-Greece normalization, he will be sidelined... Because he is a hawk, just like the opponents of normalization in Turkey. There are always those who feed on every tension.”

The other day, we reported on the approaches of Erdoğan and the Ministry of National Defense to the Dendias problem. It turns out there is no difference between the government and the opposition!..

WHO ARE THEY COMPLAINING TO WHOM?

What is it; Erdoğan is going to ask his counterparts in Greece to control Dendias.

Who are his counterparts? President Katerina Sakellaropoulou or Prime Minister Mitsotakis.

There is more to Mitsotakis's approach that we described the other day; but before sharing this, let's look at Sakellaropoulou. While attending the ceremony held at the Athens Cathedral on the anniversary of the Peace Operation and laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, she noted the following:

“Today, fifty years have passed since the barbaric occupation of Cyprus by Turkish troops; this is a period during which more than a third of its territory remains occupied, in violation of international law.”

Returning to Erdoğan; while coming from the TRNC to Ankara, upon a question about Dendias, he recalled the decision they made with Mitsotakis regarding the Cyprus visit at the last NATO Summit and spoke as follows:

“However, Greek Defense Minister Nikos Dendias is unfortunately in a different mood; it is clear that he was unaware of the meeting we had with Mitsotakis, and he made reckless statements. There can be no more impudent, indecent expression than him getting up and saying that the Turks are occupiers there. Therefore, Mr. Mitsotakis needs to put this minister of his in his place. We don't need to talk much more anyway. We have already talked about what we were going to talk about today. And we are continuing on our way exactly as we are.”

MITSOTAKIS GREW UP WITH 'ATTILA' MEMORIES

Since Erdoğan and Özgür Özel are pinning such hopes on Mitsotakis; then let us present a selection of his delusions at the event held in the Greek Cypriot side the other evening under the name of “50th anniversary of the Turkish occupation” for the attention of the gentlemen:

“I do not forget... We are uniting, we are insisting, we are fighting in a planned and cooperative manner until the final result,” he said...

“We are facing 50 years of invasion and occupation,” he said...

“This island on the Mediterranean coast has become a modern republic in the last half-century and has stood up against the disastrous results of ‘Attila’... However, the wound is still bleeding. The North continues to be a prisoner of occupation,” he said...

“Cyprus is now a part of Europe, its natural eastern border. Therefore, any threat to it becomes a danger to both our continent and the entire Western world,” he said...

“50 years ago, the beautiful waters of Kyrenia were polluted, the blue sky of Megalonisos [Great Hellenic island] was covered with the gray planes of the occupiers,” he said...

“We are not here today just to mourn. We are here to fight and ensure justice, to turn our anger and sadness into realistic action, to reflect the Cyprus issue as an unacceptable example of invasion and occupation,” he said...

“Hellenism will not stop fighting until Cyprus is reunited, the wounds are healed, and stability and peace are brought back to Megalonisos,” he said...

Before all these delusions, in his meeting with Greek Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides, he also emphasized this:

“You were a newborn, I was a little older; but as a 6-year-old child, one of my first memories was the memories of ‘Attila’ that were etched into my memory forever, just as they are etched into all of Hellenism.”

While all this was happening, our government's media boasted that Erdoğan's words in the TRNC “drove the Greek press crazy and upset the Greeks' balance.”

I wish these words of Sakellaropoulou and Mitsotakis, not just Dendias's, would drive them a little crazy too; so that they would stop telling fairy tales of peace and beating the saddle instead of the horse!..