Politicians express support for Armenia

Politicians on opposite sides of the divide in Cyprus on Wednesday found themselves on either side of the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh, with Greek Cypriots expressing their support for Armenia, and Turkish Cypriots expressing theirs for Azerbaijan.

While a ceasefire in the region was reached on Wednesday, Cypriot leaders have left no doubt as to their views on the ongoing conflict.

The House of representatives as a whole said it “strongly condemns the large-scale military offensive launched by Azerbaijan in Nagorno-Karabakh.”

It described Azerbaijan’s actions in no uncertain terms as “an escalation against the Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh, which it has unlawfully cut off from the world for many months, violating [people’s] fundamental human rights and cutting off their access to basic necessities.”

It also called for an “immediate end to Azerbaijan’s unprovoked and illegal aggression.”

Political party Disy described Azerbaijan’s actions as “a flagrantly illegal operation aimed at expelling the Armenians” of the region, and expressed its “full support to Armenia and the Armenian people.”

Expressions of support for Armenia also came in from Diko, the Green party, and Armenian Cypriot Dipa leader Marios Garoyian.

On the other side of the argument were Turkish Cypriot politicians, including Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar.

He said he “supports the anti-terrorist operation launched with re-establishing the constitutional structure of the Republic of Azerbaijan and targeting exclusively military elements.”

He said Azerbaijan must “prevent large-scale provocations in [Karabakh] and disarm and remove Armenian armed elements from Azerbaijan’s territory.”

He added that “Karabakh is an inseparable part of Azerbaijan” and said he “supports the rightful struggle of our brothers in Azerbaijan.”

The north’s ‘prime minister’ Unal Ustel said he supports “the justified fight of our brother nation Azerbaijan”, adding that “it should be known that Karabakh is Azerbaijan and the Turkish Cypriot people are with Azerbaijan unconditionally.”