Olgun: “The fundamental necessity for justice and fairness is for the Turkish Cypriot Side to have an equal say and to be given opportunity”

Mr. Olgun, who issued a written statement on Tuesday, stated that recently there have been “intensified one-sided and biased statements by representatives of European states and institutions” that are “based solely on the Greek narrative they have heard, instead of listening to both sides before reaching a conclusion”.

Stating that this situation has “shaken the confidence of the Turkish Cypriot People in European states and its institutions, casting further doubts on the impartiality of European states,” Mr. Olgun said this situation “also raises doubts about their loyalty to the European values and questions and whether they apply double standards”.

The statement continued: “In fact, justice, in the broadest sense, is the equal treatment of all Sides in a fair and just manner and to allow them equal opportunities to communicate their own case.

Unfortunately, the Turkish Cypriot Side is not being given equal opportunities to explain their case and EU member states and institutions are predominantly relying on one-sided Greek Cypriot narratives to determine their position and to make decisions.   This situation is nothing but an obstruction of justice.

“Justice, law and human rights apply to everybody.  Nobody can be exempt from the rule of law and no people or state can be privileged or prejudiced in the exercise of these rights.

Annita Demetriou, the President of the House of Representatives of the Greek Cypriot Side remarked at the meeting on July 6, 2023, where Tiny Kox, President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe also participated, where it was stated that there are serious violations of international law and human rights in Cyprus. In reality, since December 1963, it has been the Greek Cypriot Side who has violated the unamendable Articles of the Constitution protected by international treaties and the provisions in the 1960 Treaty of Guarantee, who usurped and occupied the partnership Republic of Cyprus, and then applied inhumane political, economic and social isolation to the Turkish Cypriot People.  The Greek Cypriot Side is not above the law.”

Mr. Olgun added that “the prejudiced and one-sided view of many international actors with regards to the Cyprus problem is largely the result of the intense propaganda campaigns carried out at the international level, and through the unfair exploitation of the status unjustly gained by the Greek Cypriot Side as the sole Government of the island”.

“For example, despite being totally incorrect, the Greek Cypriot Side is spreading the wrong perception that the Cyprus issue started in 1974 and that the issue is one of ‘invasion’. The truth is that the current phase of the Cyprus issue in fact started in 1963 with the occupation of the seat of the 1960 partnership Republic of Cyprus by the Greek Cypriot partner, and it was because of this that UN Peacekeeping Force has been on the island since 1964.   This misperception prevents the accurate diagnosis of the root causes of the Cyprus problem and the reaching of a solution that will address these root causes – a realistic and sustainable settlement that has to be based on the equal inherent rights of the two Sides in Cyprus.”

Mr. Olgun, in reference to the “latest incident”, pointed to the news report of Greek Cypriot journalist Haroula Alexis, that during her meeting with Greek Cypriot leader Christodoulides on July 7, 2023, apparently Mr. Tiny Kox had expressed support to the Greek Cypriot Side over their vision for a solution and emphasised that “since we talked about the Russian invasion in Ukraine, let us talk about the Turkish invasion in Cyprus”.

“Prior to these remarks, there was also an attempt by the British High Commissioner Irfan Siddiq to draw parallels between the Cyprus issue and the Russian invasion of Ukraine,  at his meeting organised by the British Residents Society on June 27, 2023,” Mr. Olgun added.

“Such discourses not only make it difficult to correctly diagnose the Cyprus problem, it also prevents the root causes from being understood as to what obliged Türkiye as a Guarantor power to undertake the Cyprus Peace Operation in 1974 that saved the Turkish Cypriot People from acts of genocide, violence, the usurpation of their inherent rights and the injustices they faced between the years of 1963 to 1974.

“On the other hand, it is worth noting that the perspective of the international community, with regards to a specific dispute, can and do vary from one another, based on the particular merits and conditions of each.   As a matter of fact, the US and its allies’ interventions and occupations in the conflicts in Afghanistan, Kosovo, Iraq and Syria were construed according to their own merits and circumstances, and in this context, no parallels were drawn with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine,” the statement of Mr. Olgun stated.

“There is no similarity between the legitimate intervention of Türkiye, who was obliged under the 1960 Treaty of Guarantee to intervene, and that of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. However, what is being done here is aimed at concealing the legitimacy of the intervention that had been undertaken by Türkiye.

“The 1960 Republic of Cyprus was a partnership state that had been established on the basis of equality between the Turkish Cypriot People and  the Greek Cypriot People.  Ukraine, on the other hand, is a unitary state.

“Whilst the Greek Cypriot Side of Cyprus, with force of arms and through violence, occupied the seat of the partnership state, subjecting the Turkish Cypriot people to persecution and injustice for decades and forcing them to accept this occupation, there was no similar situation in Ukraine.

“Likewise, whilst there exists an international treaty of guarantee mechanism/agreement in Cyprus that provided for Türkiye, Greece and Britain guarantor powers with rights to intervene unilaterally in case the state of affairs put in place by the 1960 Treaties and Constitution were violated, there exists no such guarantee mechanism or any treaty giving Russia the right of intervention in Ukraine.

“Furthermore, Türkiye undertook the intervention not only to stop the Greek military attempt to  unite the island of Cyprus with Greece, a clear violation of the 1960 Treaties and the Constitution, but also to save the Turkish Cypriots who were defenceless and scattered around the island facing attacks from heavily armed  Greek Cypriot forces, in order to create a safe space/territory for Turkish Cypriots where they will be protected from Greek Cypriot persecution, and to create the conditions that would permit both Peoples to be able to coexist in their own territory on the basis of equality as good neighbours in peace and cooperation.

“As a matter of fact, after Türkiye’s intervention, the violence on the island came to an end and today the contacts, interaction and trade between the two Sides are much more than what they were in the 1963-1974 period. Unfortunately, it was not possible to reach a political agreement based on equality and equal status between the two Sides, since the Greek Cypriot Side could not abandon the mentality of being the masters of the whole island.

“At this point, if the third parties sincerely desire a sustainable settlement in Cyprus, the most logical way is for them to contribute to the preparation of the conditions for a settlement based on the existing realities and the inherent equal rights of the two Sides, with a forward-looking view/approach, without making the vicious and biased mistakes as done by PACE President Tiny Kox and the British High Commissioner, İrfan Siddiq.

“To achieve a settlement, it is essential that they observe the equal inherent rights, including the sovereign rights and equal status of both sides, and put this into practice, as well as ending the unjust restrictions imposed on the Turkish Cypriot People which has to date still not been honoured despite promises.”