Erdogan in the north and Christofias 1974 speech

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan arrived in the north on Friday to attend the Turkish Cypriot anniversary celebrations of the 1974 invasion of Cyprus.

According to the Cyprus Mail, on his departure from Ankara, Erdogan, who is bringing almost his entire Cabinet with him, said developments in the Cyprus issue would be the main focus of his visit. “We will not take a step backwards,” he said. “We support the position of two equal constituent states in Cyprus.”

Erdogan said that over the past five years, the ‘TRNC’ had made big steps and achieved recognition by some international organisations, such as the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC). “Turkish Cypriots are no longer a minority,” he said, adding that he was visiting the north with an open agenda as regards the Cyprus issue.“I will have meetings with Mehmet Ali Talat, Fatma Ekenoglou and Ferdi Sabit Soyer, with whom I will discuss the last developments in the Cypriot question,” Erdogan told reporters in Ankara.

Turkish Cypriot newspapers yesterday spoke of a “mini-Cabinet” session on the Cyprus problem, since Erdogan was bringing 11 ministers with him, and staying all of today and tomorrow. The Turkish delegation also includes Deputy Prime Minister Cemil Cicek and Foreign Minister Ali Babacan.

According to Turkish television channel CNN Turk, Erdogan said Turkey would continue supporting the breakaway state’s finances, and its political and cultural existence. He said the ‘TRNC’ was beginning to be accepted internationally and used as an example the number of foreign-related visits that had happened in recent months. The Turkish press said yesterday Erdogan was expected to reiterate Turkey's firm support to the ‘TRNC’ and to urge the EU to keep its promises to the Turkish Cypriots to lift their community out of its isolation.

During a dinner in Ankara on Thursday night for Turkish ambassadors abroad, Erdogan was quoted as saying on Cyprus: “We shall continue from now on as well our constructive and pro-peace stance and we are determined on this issue. I hope that this weekend we shall be in northern Cyprus with a crowded team and there either with opening ceremonies or with celebrations we shall give the people of our race who live in northern Cyprus a very different motivation, a very different excitement.”

The visit was condemned on the Greek Cypriot side, where government and politicians said Erdogan’s visit was provocative and not helpful to the climate of the ongoing peace process. Government Spokesman Mr Stefanos Stefanou government’s position was that “this visit is illegal, made to an area that is occupied illegally since 1974, by Turkey, in violation of the principles of international law and the UN Charter.” “In that sense, this particular visit is condemned”, he added

Meanwhile in the south, thousands of people who had gathered in the gardens of the Presidential Palace at an event to mark the 1974 coup and Turkish invasion, the first time such an anniversary event was held in the Palace grounds with an open invitation to the public, the Cyprus Mail reports.
President Christofias in his speech said the venue was appropriate because the Presidential Palace was where it all began on July 15, 1974 referring to the attempt on the life of Archbishop Makarios, who managed at the time to escape the coup protagonists. He also paid tribute to all those who died during the coup and invasion and condemned the Turkish notion that 1974 was a ‘peace operation’. “Peace can never be achieved through armed violence,” he said. “We are sure that many of our Turkish Cypriot compatriots like us, envision a free and united homeland and do not approve of the celebrations being held in the occupied areas.”

He stressed that the solution of the Cyprus problem will not not be either a second Greek state in the Mediterranean, or an extension of Turkey, but a common state for Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, President Christofias said on Friday evening addressing

Christofias said the presence of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the north for the weekend was distressing, and called on him to collaborate for a solution, which he said would also benefit Turkey. “For us there is only one road, the difficult road to the lifting of the occupation and reunification of our homeland and our population,” he said. Any way other than a bicommunal, bizonal federation would only result in permanent partition, he said. Time was also working against the solution, but strict timetables were not an option.

“Once we decide to start direct negotiations, we will move forward with self-confidence and determination consistent with the principles for a settlement and with flexibility in our policy,” he said. “We have nothing to be afraid of in a new negotiating process. On the contrary, we have a lot to gain,” he said. “I want to reassure our Turkish Cypriot compatriots that we want a solution that will guarantee their rights and safety and their participation in the federal state that will be created so that we can build a happy future.”