ANKARA UNDERMINES PLANS FOR DIALOGUE
eKathimerini - September 12, 2020:
Ankara undermining hopes of
dialogue
·
A day after the MED7 summit
of southern European countries pledged its full support to Greece and Cyprus,
to Turkey’s intense dismay, Ankara responded by essentially dashing any hopes
of a dialogue to de-escalate tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean by setting a
raft of preconditions which Athens deems unacceptable.
In a fresh indication that
the chasm between the two countries doesn’t appear to be getting bridged any
time soon, the representative of the Turkish Foreign Ministry, Hami Aksoy, said
that in order for a de-escalation to take place it is imperative that Greece
withdraws all its military vessels that it has deployed near the Oruc Reis
seismic research vessel, supports NATO’s conflict prevention initiative, halts
the militarization of the islands of the East Aegean and Kastellorizo, and
stops increasing pressure on the “Turkish” minority in Western Thrace.
He also decried the MED7
joint declaration on the Eastern Mediterranean and the Cyprus issue as “devoid
of any legal basis, biased and unrealistic,” and denounced the European Union
for its solidarity with Athens and Nicosia.
“Solidarity must be given
to those who are right, if they are right. Solidarity should not be offered to
those who are wrong. No solidarity should be offered to those who do not have a
just position,” Aksoy said.
Notwithstanding some variations, the statements on Thursday of the MED7
leaders, not least those of French President Emmanuel Macron, made clear their
full support for Greece.
Meanwhile, US Secretary of
State Mike Pompeo will be traveling to Cyprus on Saturday in a bid to broker a “peaceful” solution to
tension in the Eastern Mediterranean, while calling on Turkey to withdraw its
ships, the State Department has reported.
The Germans “have done a good job” trying to get Greece and Turkey to “begin
their conversations,” said Pompeo, adding that the US hopes that “the military
assets that are there will be withdrawn so these conversations can take place.”
Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou will pay a two-day visit to
Kastellorizo starting Saturday in order to attend the celebration of the 77th
anniversary of the island’s liberation. The latest navtex issued by Turkey for
research in the region expires on Saturday, and a new one is expected for
research further north, closer to Kastellorizo.
The European Union and the United States are continuing the British policy of abandoning the state and people of Northern Cyprus. This is a disgrace. Turkey is prospecting for oil and/or petrol in waters in the North-East Mediterranean, as these waters should under international law belong to the unrecognised state of Northern Cyprus, which is owned and lived in by the remaining Turkish-Cypriots who have not been murdered or hounded out of their homes by the Greek-Cypriots.
ReplyDeleteIt is generally forgotten that Greece tried to annex Cyprus soon after the island became independent of the United Kingdom. Of the three countries that were treaty-bound to guarantee Cyprus' independence, only Turkey honoured its obligations by coming to the aid of Cyprus and preventing the Greek-Cypriots, supported by the then Greek Government, of chucking all Turkish-Cypriots out of their homes and businesses. The other two guarantor powers, Greece and the United Kingdom, totally failed in their obligation to defend Cyprus' independence - Greece of course because it was supporting ENOSIS, the proposed Union with Greece, and the UK because it could not be bothered with Cyprus. In protecting the Turkish-Cypriots, Turkish soldiers undeniably threw some Greek-Cypriots out of their homes in the Northern part of the island, in the same way that Greek Cypriots deprived Turkish Cypriots of their homes in the Southern part of the island.
But the way that the international community pretends that the Turkish-Cypriot part of Cyprus does not exist and does not have rights to what is in and under its sovereign waters is a shame on the European Union, USA and all countries that wish to deprive the Turkish-Cypriots of the right to live and to exist.
The only fair solution would be to get the Turkish-Cypriot and the Greek-Cypriot communities to get together and live as one nation again.