Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis is scheduled to address a remembrance event on Saturday in Nicosia commemorating the dour 50th anniversary of the Turkish invasion of Cyprus, whose tragic results are plainly evident to this day with the occupation of one-third of the island republic.
The event will take place at the presidential mansion in Nicosia, hosted by Cyprus President Nikos Christodoulides, and will essentially coincide with a militaristic “fiesta” in the occupied part of the large island by Turkish forces and the leadership of the Turkish Cypriot pseudo-state, all in the presence of Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Mitsotakis’ presence at such an event marks the first time a serving Greek prime minister has been in attendance for the bleak July 20 anniversary on Cyprus.
Turkey, a perennial EU candidate-state with strained relations with many of its neighbors, is expected to muster some 50 warships off the east Mediterranean island republic and engage in flyovers of occupied territory with military aircraft.
Turkish defense ministry: I may come suddenly one night…
In Ankara, meanwhile, Turkey’s defense ministry issued its more-or-less annual chauvinist, belligerent and jingoist proclamation on the occasion of the invasion anniversary, taking to X to declare:
“Don’t call me so heartily, I may come suddenly one night…
On the 50th anniversary of the Happy Peace Operation, we commemorate with mercy, gratitude and respect the heroic martyrs and veterans of our heroic army, who put an end to the oppression of our Turkish compatriots in Cyprus. We are waiting for all our Cypriot brothers and sisters to the parade, which will take place tomorrow with 50 vessels (warships).”
The post by the NATO member-state’s defense ministry is accompanied by a video showing an armada of warships and helicopters approaching a coast, and concludes with a painting showing Ottoman sultan Mehmet II entering a fallen Constantinople in 1953.
Bu kadar yürekten çağırma beni,
Bir gece ansızın gelebilirim… 🇹🇷Mutlu Barış Harekâtı’nın 50’nci yılında, Kıbrıs’taki Türk soydaşlarımızın yaşadığı zulme son veren kahraman ordumuzun kahraman şehit ve gazilerini rahmet, minnet ve saygıyla anıyoruz.
Yarın 50 gemiyle… pic.twitter.com/8Uj3bmamEi
— T.C. Millî Savunma Bakanlığı (@tcsavunma) July 19, 2024
The belligerent phrase is reminiscent of an unprecedented and belligerent threat by Erdogan and a handful of his top ministers roughly two years ago during a dramatic low-point in Greek-Turkish relations, punctuated by the failure of thousands of migrants to break-through a land border in Thrace province from Turkey into Greece, and toothless saber-rattling in the Aegean and east Mediterranean to pressure Athens to scale back its emphasis on defending Greek maritime, airspace, EEZ and island sovereignty.
Turkey’s assembly calls for a ‘two-state’ solution
Meanwhile, on its part, Turkey’s grand assembly issued a resolution calling for a two-state solution for Cyprus, something that the internationally recognized Cyprus government, the Greek Cypriot community and UN resolutions reject.
“The two-state solution policy is the only way to ensure stability and lasting peace in the Mediterranean region. The existence of two separate peoples and two separate states on the island should no longer be ignored. Any efforts to resolve the Cyprus issue must be built on this reality,” the resolution states, while first bemoaning the fact that “…While the Greek Cypriots were rewarded with EU membership, the Turkish Cypriots have been subjected to unjust and inhumane isolation, restrictions, and embargoes. The Turkish Cypriots neither deserve nor accept this situation. They also have no patience for being stalled and for proposals that do not foresee political equality and equal sharing of the island’s natural resources.”
The resolution also demands that the pseudo-state be internationally recognized.
Mitsotakis’ statement, in English, begins at 07.04:
