{"id":1910,"date":"2020-10-04T10:01:00","date_gmt":"2020-10-04T10:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kaancenkadasoy.com\/?p=1910"},"modified":"2024-10-02T10:02:32","modified_gmt":"2024-10-02T10:02:32","slug":"ersin-tatars-victory-and-its-impact-on-turkish-geopolitics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kaancenkadasoy.com\/en\/ersin-tatars-victory-and-its-impact-on-turkish-geopolitics\/","title":{"rendered":"Ersin Tatar\u2019s victory and its impact on Turkish geopolitics"},"content":{"rendered":"

On Oct. 18, (also Azerbaijan’s Independence Day), Ersin Tatar won the presidential elections<\/a> in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC). Unsurprisingly, the international press immediately had something to say, and that was to express their discontent with the result.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tatar won the second round of the elections with 51.74% of the votes against his rival, still incumbent President Mustafa Ak\u0131nc\u0131 and became the fifth president of the TRNC. Among some German media circles, the victory was described as belonging to President Recep Tayyip Erdo\u011fan given that Tatar was openly supported by Ankara during the election process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although Ak\u0131nc\u0131 ran as an independent candidate, he was supported by the West, so any success he achieved depended on the West. Throughout his time as the president of the TRNC, Ak\u0131nc\u0131 was a controversial president, perhaps the second most controversial one after Mehmet Ali Talat, the second TRNC president, who had pursued a rigid anti-Turkey policy during his time in office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On many occasions, Talat attempted to halt Turkey\u2019s negotiation efforts for the Cyprus issue. He even tried to replace 40,000 Turkish soldiers who had been stationed in the TRNC during Turkey\u2019s 1974 peace operation to stop the genocide of Turks on the island.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of Ak\u0131nc\u0131\u2019s most controversial acts was when he presented an illegal map to the United Nations showing the TRNC\u2019s important areas to be ceded to the Greek Cypriot administration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The areas that Ak\u0131nc\u0131 proposed to be handed over to Greek Cyprus are vital to the Turkish community on the island in terms of agriculture and economy. The touristic hot spot Varosha (Mara\u015f), which was recently reopened to the public, the agriculturally rich G\u00fczelyurt (Morphou) and geopolitical significant Dipkarpaz (Rizokarpaso) are among the areas he had proposed, echoing the Annan Plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By taking such a step, Ak\u0131nc\u0131 tried to weaken Turkey\u2019s guarantorship by preventing it from having a say in the island’s affairs and to diminish the Turkish community\u2019s economic, political and military power, despite the international law recognizing Turkey\u2019s freedom to act in the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why Ak\u0131nc\u0131 acts that way<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1974, Turkey saved the lives of Turkish Cypriots from genocide, and today, it continues its efforts to protect the rights of the Turkish Cypriot people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Notwithstanding Turkey\u2019s military and economic efforts to support the Turkish Cypriot people, Ak\u0131nc\u0131 sought to diminish Turkey\u2019s influence on the TRNC by seeking reunification with the Greek part of the island and the northern part of the island to join the European Union and thus, putting an end to Turkey\u2019s military power on the island.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although it is deemed illegal under international law and contradicts the Copenhagen Acquis Communautaire criterion and the constitution of Greek Cyprus, the EU hypocritically accepted a de facto divided island in 2004. That happened due to Greece\u2019s pressure at the Helsinki Summit in 1999.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is noteworthy to mention that during a referendum the same year that asked them whether to reunite with the Turkish side, Greek Cypriots voted against reunification, which brought more advantages for them than for the Turks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In contrast, 65% of the Turkish side voted \u201cYes\u201d in the referendum, even though the Annan Plan would have driven the TRNC to ruins in the long run.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The reason for this is that in the new state system, the assimilation of the Turks was particularly simplified so that in the medium term, the integral Republic of Cyprus would have been wholly \u201cHellenized.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even today, the Hellenization idea of Cyprus exists and has a fundamental core presence in the society of Greek Cyprus. The Hellenization idea was the reason behind Turkey\u2019s 1974 operation (which was legally recognized by the European Council\u2019s Resolution 573\/1974<\/a>) that followed an attempted military coup in Lefko\u015fa in the same year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Greek Cypriot administration attempted to implement the Enosis (the annexation of Cyprus to Greece), which was a campaign the EOKA terrorist group sought to achieve for years by systematically eliminating the Turks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How do we know that the idea is still deeply rooted today in Greek Cyprus? The answer is simple. Turkish flags are set on fire, slogans such as \u201cYou will leave the island dying\u201d are chanted, and mass protesters march to the TRNC border to burn everything down in almost every demonstration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To make matters worse, some Greek Cypriot politicians claim that they do not even want to share a hospital with the island’s Turks, some of whom still live in the south of the island.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Logic of reunification<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Greek Cypriot administration recently granted the United States and France the right to establish a military base on the island, which threatens more destabilization in the entire region. Together with the EU, according to the controversial Sevilla map, it is trying to corner Turkey \u2013 a country which has the longest coastline in the Eastern Mediterranean. As a center-oriented politician, Tatar\u2019s election victory sent shockwaves across the EU and the Greek Cypriot administration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When taking into consideration these facts, the question arises as to what extent a reunification makes sense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Apparently, the Greek Cypriots and the EU are pursuing double standards regarding the Cyprus question. The EU knows very well that the TRNC is an independent state with a functioning bureaucracy and democratic institutions, whose only internationally recognized representative is the president himself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A negotiation initiative in Beirut in 1968 faced the Greek side\u2019s maximalist demands that aim to expose Turks to 50 years of unnecessary settlement discussions and only offered a federal-state solution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This solution is in favor of the interests of the Greek side, bringing the demise of the Turks, weakening Turkey and serving the interests of the Western imperial agenda in the Eastern Mediterranean.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tatar\u2019s victory will therefore open a new chapter for the Cyprus issue and undoubtedly strengthen the Turkish side\u2019s hand in pleading for a two-state solution, instead of settling for a federal state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

EU\u2019s role in the crisis<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The EU has not yet made a significant contribution to the Cyprus conflict, even if the U.K. and Greece, together with Turkey, have guarantor power status over Cyprus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the one hand, however, the EU has offered the Turks the prospect of EU membership after reunification. On the other hand, under pressure from Greece, it has lifted the preliminary conditions of the island’s reunification for full membership at the Helsinki Summit in 1999.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The EU only pursued ideological and religious values upon accession. The Turks have so far remained internationally isolated despite their approval of the Annan solution, which would have harmed them in the long run.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In contrast to the Annan Plan, Turkey can no longer, especially amid the ongoing gas dispute, lose its influence in the TRNC within a federal solution framework.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since the Greek Cypriot administration has allowed the U.S. and France to deploy military troops and two British bases continue to exist there, Turkey can and must guarantee its security by establishing a navy and an air force base in the north. The developments in the Ge\u00e7itkale drone airport \u2013 which was opposed by Ak\u0131nc\u0131, was linked to Turkey\u2019s guarantor strategy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The federal solution allows missiles to be stationed on the Be\u015fparmak Mountains, from which Turkey would easily become a target since it is only 70 kilometers (43.5 miles) from the northern part of the island. This is one of the reasons why former British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli in the 19th century called the island the key to the Middle East and endorsed the annexation of Cyprus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Neither Turkey nor the Turkish Cypriots have any more time or lives to lose today. The unification of Turkey and the TRNC is the only solution that would increase the well-being of both.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Otherwise, there is a risk that leaders like Ak\u0131nc\u0131 will take power and once again pursue anti-Turkish policies. Such an identity policy is not uncommon in Cyprus and indeed has a long tradition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since the island’s annexation by the British monarchy in the late 19th century, the ideological and cultural distance of the Cypriot Turks from Turkey has been systematically implemented first by Great Britain and then by the Greek Cypriots. Tatar\u2019s victory is therefore significant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Turkey can now continue to carry out natural gas research in the waters shared with the TRNC under the \u201cBlue Homeland\u201d doctrine and further expand its influence in the Eastern Mediterranean.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this context, the Turkey-Libya agreement, which no longer allows Turkey to be excluded from gas developments such as the EastMed pipeline or reserves in the Levant Basin, can be seen as the first step. The deal with Libya also invalidated the Sevilla map and ended its existence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With a new naval base, a chattering line for combat ships, and the foundation of a new independent “Turkish Republic of Cyprus,” Turkey will be even more robust and more proactive in shaping regional politics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Daily Sabah<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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