Just before the simultaneous presence Kyriakou Mitsotaki and Tayyip Erdogan at the NATO Summit in Madrid, the Turkey throws more and more oil on the fire of challenges.

One with bulk shipments irregular migrants in the Aegean and Evros and one with inflammatory statements officials and Erdogan himself, the Turkish media have entered the dance for good.

This is the last “case” of his propaganda TRT Worldwhich stands at Cyprus and accuses Greece of responsible for its non-solution, he even claims that Athens (along with Nicosia) “is convenient»With the current situation and is the one that does not want the solution!

https://t.co/62mmsyXNuW @Readingavenue

– Muhammet İkbal Arslan (@mikbalarslan) June 27, 2022

So Murat Sofouoglu writes:

Athens has long had ambitions to make Cyprus part of Greek territory, like Crete and other islands in the Aegean Sea, causing obstacles to resolving old territorial issues with Ankara, according to experts.

After the Turkish military intervention in 1974 prevented the occupation of Cyprus by Greece through a military coup, the Turkish and Greek populations of the Mediterranean island have been divided, ruling their territories.

In the last four decades, despite the fact that both Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots have participated in many negotiations, the two sides have not been able to find common ground for resolving the dispute.

Greece often resorts to mud and accuses Turkey of the Cyprus issue. But with a closer look, regional experts see Athens as the main culprit.

Ismail Bozkurt, who chaired the assembly of the Turkish Cypriot community between 1973 and 1975, a crucial period in the disputed island’s history, believes that Greece and the Greek Cypriots keep the conflict unresolved and work together to exert political pressure on Turkey and Turkish Cypriot.

“Although they know that Turkey and the Turkish Cypriots will not give in to Greek Cypriot and Greek Cypriot pressure, they continue to do so, hoping to coexist with world public opinion behind their political maneuvers,” Bozkurt told TRT World.

Another obstacle is how Greek leaders falsify both the issue of the Aegean islands and the conflict in Cyprus when they interact with global powers such as the United States. “They want to create an anti-Turkish perception in the western world by using the Cyprus dispute and the tensions in the Aegean islands,” Bozkurt said.

“As long as the Cyprus issue remains unresolved, the EU Member States, Greece and the Greek Cypriot administration are taking advantage of the issue against Turkey,” said Mustafa Lakadamyali, Turkish Cypriot Ambassador, representing the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) in Washington.

After the failure to deal with the Cyprus issue after the Turkish military intervention in 1974, the Turkish Cypriots in the north declared their own state, the TRNC, in 1983, which was recognized only by Ankara. The Greek Cypriot Administration (GCA) is another political entity in the south led by Greek Cypriots.

Since then, the dispute between the western states, mainly Greece, which opposes Turkish intervention and military presence on the island, and Turkey, which defends its presence on the island to protect Turkish Cypriots from Greek aggression, has created a stalemate. known as the Cyprus issue.

“The Greek Cypriot side aims to impose the terms of the solution by gathering support from EU member states. “Greece also has the issue as a means to put pressure on Turkey,” Lakadamyali told TRT World.

Because the Greeks keep the issue locked

The Greek side also prefers the current status-quo, which does not remain unresolved. While the Greek Cypriots and Greece claim to continue to support the model of a bi-zonal bi-communal union, also called the Republic of Cyprus founded in 1960 under the auspices of Ankara, Athens and London, they continue to support the old policy of marginalizing the Turkish Cypriots. and seizing their rights, according to Lakadamyali.

“Greek Cypriots feel comfortable with the current status quo on the island. “The current status quo provides international recognition to Greek Cypriots who are taking advantage of this illegal and unjust regime against the Turkish Cypriots,” Lakadamyali said.

Therefore, Greek Cypriots prefer the status quo to a comprehensive settlement where they can no longer be represented and hired to act on behalf of the entire island, according to Lakadamyali.

This Greek political agenda has long been the primary reason why negotiations between Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots have failed from time to time. Most recently, in 2017, in Crans-Montana, Switzerland, the negotiations on the Cyprus issue failed due to the lack of will policies in the Greek Cypriot leadership, notes Lakadamyali.

“All attempts to resolve the Cyprus issue on the basis of the bi-zonal bi-communal federation failed during the 50 years of negotiations, due to the reluctance of the Greek Cypriot side to share power and wealth on the island with the Turkish Cypriots,” said the Turkish diplomat.

The coordinated efforts of Greece and Greek Cypriots to prevent a comprehensive agreement have also increased calls for a two-state solution in both Nicosia (Nicosia) and Ankara.

As a result, in April 2021, the Turkish Cypriot side proposed a two-state solution to Cyprus during the informal debate on Cyprus in Geneva, which was attended by both sides of the island, the guarantor countries and the UN, according to the Lakadamiali.

Towards a two-state solution?

After decades of failed negotiations on the Cyprus issue, both the Turkish Cypriots and Turkey have developed their patience in the face of the uncompromising political nature of Greece and the Greek Cypriots. But also, regional tensions between Turkey and Greece from the Aegean islands to the Eastern Mediterranean make the conflict more complicated.

“The conflict in Cyprus has its own peculiar parameters and complications for resolving the conflict. “On the one hand, it is also very much related to the general Greek-Turkish tensions and the balance of power in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Aegean Sea,” said Zeliha Khashman, a professor of international relations at the University of the Near East at the TRNC.

Both Greece and the Greek Cypriot administration in southern Cyprus have excessive maritime claims in both the Aegean and the Mediterranean Sea. “Unilateral activities in the region in complete violation of the rights of Turkey and the TRNC obviously increase tensions,” said Lakadamialis, who called on Athens and its Cypriot ally to “stop illegal unilateral actions” in the region.

As tensions escalate, Turkey and the Turkish Cypriots increasingly believe that a two-state solution could be the only way to resolve the long-running conflict.

“The two-state solution is now well settled in Ankara,” said Bozkurt, a prominent Turkish Cypriot politician. Bozkurt also draws attention to the fact that the recent parliamentary and presidential elections in the TRNC favored the political parties that support the two-state solution.

“When you look at the recent election results, it is clear that this new policy has been adopted in the Turkish Cypriot community as well,” Bozkurt said. “I do not think that after this point there could be a return to the state solution. “I also believe that there should be no return to this,” Bozkurt added, referring to the new Turkish Cypriot two-state solution.

Bozkurt, who was also once a member of the TRNC Presidential Advisory Council in charge of negotiations with the GCA, sees no real chance that Greek Cypriots will accept the same status as Turkish Cypriots in a one-state solution.

“They do not want an equal status with the Turkish Cypriots. “But they want to show themselves to the world public as the right pretenders that they want equality.” With this false attitude, they are trying to present Turkey and the Turkish Cypriots as unjust parties, who do not want to accept a settlement of the dispute, according to Bozkurt.

As, under these circumstances, the agreement with the Greeks for the solution of a state is “impossible”, says Bozkurt. While a one-state solution is increasingly becoming an unworkable offer, Lakadamyali, a Turkish Cypriot diplomat, firmly believes that the TRNC is not alone.

“Turkey has always supported the Turkish Cypriot position and this applies to the current Turkish Cypriot position of the two-state solution,” he said.

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