Foreign ministry condemns Erdogan’s ‘provocations’

Cyprus’ foreign ministry on Wednesday strongly condemned the “provocative statements” by Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdogan, describing them as evidence of an ongoing threat to the Republic.

With this year marking 50 years of the occupation, Erdogan’s statements “are an insult to the victims of Turkish atrocities” the ministry said in a statement.

Earlier this week, Erdogan defended the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974 and argued that if Turkish forces had moved further south, then “Cyprus might be all Turkish today.”

The foreign ministry said such statements “constitute evidence of the ongoing threat to the territorial integrity and security of the Republic of Cyprus, and echo the ongoing violations on the ground and the consolidation of the Turkish military presence in occupied Cyprus”.

It added that public rhetoric based on “threats, aggression and cynical expansionism” is at complete odds with the principles and values of the EU, UN charter and international law.

The ministry highlighted these statements remind the international community of Turkey’s “real intentions”.

It described it as part of Turkey’s methods aimed at “undermining efforts to restart negotiations”.

“However, they will in no way succeed in distracting us from our goal of resolving the Cyprus problem, ending the Turkish occupation and abolishing the anachronistic guarantor powers.”

The ministry specified it had informed all international bodies of the incident, including the UN and EU.