President says will not engage in public confrontation games
President Nikos Christodoulides on Wednesday said he will not engage in “public confrontation games” after the Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar said Turkey stopped Cyprus union with Greece in 1974.
Speaking to Anatolu News Agency on the occasion of the black anniversary of the Turkish invasion of Cyprus, Ersin Tatar said that “if this operation had not taken place, Cyprus would have been worse than Crete.
“They would have wiped out all the Turks on the island.”
He argued that “under former President Archbishop Makarios, economic measures were taken to push the Turks off the island,” adding that “the junta that took power in Athens in 1967 tried to annex Cyprus by supporting terrorist groups that wanted to unite it with Greece, thus encircling Turkey.”
Tatar added that “they were working to completely turn Cyprus into a Greek island, disregarding the rights and laws of Turkey and Turkish Cypriots in the Eastern Mediterranean, to change the geographical advantages to their advantage.” But the “peace operation” on July 20, 1974 as Tatar described the invasion, “stopped all these plans and left them stunned”.
Asked to comment on the new provocative statements by the leader of the Turkish Cypriot community, Christodoulides said he will not going to get involved in a “game of public confrontation…with Mr Tatar”.
“The Cyprus problem will not be resolved through public negotiations. I am here with determination, with seriousness, with realism and I will do everything possible to create the conditions for breaking the deadlock, for the resumption of talks and for the resolution of the Cyprus problem,” he said.
Christodoulides also referred to the expected visit of Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan in the north on Thursday, saying “we are waiting…to listen to what he says and we are here to comment on it”.
The Turkish president will inaugurate the new terminal and runway of the Tymbou airport during his visit on the occasion of the 1974 invasion anniversary.
He is also expected to share some “happy news”, according to T/C media reports.
Erdogan will have a meeting with the TC leader and discuss Turkey-Pseudo-state relations “in all aspects, as well as the latest developments in the Eastern Mediterranean and exchange views on the Cyprus issue.”
The traditional parade in occupied Nicosia will take place for the first time in the afternoon, at 6pm, while Erdogan is also expected to address a special anniversary session of the plenary session of the “parliament”.