Politics
Türkiye, TRNC mark anniversary of key op amid Greek Cypriot tensions
Türkiye’s Peace Operation in 1974 brought immense relief to oppressed Turkish Cypriots in divided Cyprus and paved the way for the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC). As Türkiye and the TRNC prepare to mark its anniversary, the future still remains uncertain for Turkish Cypriots, except for the unwavering support in all venues by the guarantor state, Türkiye.
Little progress has been made since the 1974 operation to end the uncertainty over the status of Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots on the Mediterranean island. The TRNC remains widely unrecognized by the international community while Türkiye is steadfast in protecting them amid a lingering threat from Greek Cypriots, who managed to secure recognition as the so-called Republic of Cyprus that excludes Turkish Cypriots.
Turkish Cypriots’ equal sovereign rights remain an unresolved issue in ongoing talks between the two sides on the island, while Greek Cypriots expand their partnerships, especially with rivals of Türkiye in the Mediterranean.
Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz is expected to represent Türkiye at the events in Lefkoşa (Nicosia) in the TRNC to mark the anniversary, along with a large delegation from the country, including Minister of National Defense Yaşar Güler and the military brass. Yılmaz already visited the TRNC on July 10 and attended the signing of a memorandum of understanding between Türkiye and the TRNC for the delivery of natural gas through an undersea pipeline. The Turkish navy will also dispatch a submarine and two vessels to the TRNC for port visits, and they will open to public visits on Monday. Around the same time, a center jointly established by the Turkish Cypriot and Turkish governments to monitor shipping traffic in the eastern Mediterranean will be inaugurated in Gazimağusa (Famagusta).
Ahead of the events, the Turkish Ministry of National Defense announced that Turkish fighter jets carried out a training flight south of the island in international airspace, in an apparent message to the Greek Cypriot administration, which often contests international waters and airspace around the island.
On Saturday, a group of Greek Cypriots converged near the Metehan border crossing for a provocative protest against Türkiye and Turkish Cypriots. The group chanted slogans calling for Türkiye’s expulsion from the island, referring to the Turkish military deployed on the northern side. The group also voiced opposition to the idea of a federation with Turkish Cypriots. The same group also announced that it would hold a parade at the Ledra Palace border crossing on Monday. According to media reports, Greek Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides will also visit the Dherynia border crossing on Aug. 8 for an event to commemorate Tassos Isaac and Solomos Solomou, who died in riots in August 1996 near the border crossing. Isaac died during a confrontation between Greek and Turkish Cypriot protesters. His cousin, Solomou, died a few days later when Turkish troops shot him as he attempted to take down a Turkish flag in the buffer zone.
In the second half of the 20th century, Cyprus was the scene of Greek efforts to erase the Turkish Cypriot existence on the island. Fearing a Greek Cypriot plot to unite with Greece, which would ultimately put Turkish Cypriots under Greek Cypriot dominance, Türkiye launched the Cyprus Peace Operation in the summer of 1974. The operation led to a cease-fire two days later, but ongoing hostilities prompted Türkiye to launch the second stage of the operation on Aug. 14, 1974. The operations cost the lives of 498 Turkish soldiers and 786 Turkish Cypriot “mücahits,” members of paramilitary groups resisting Greek Cypriot attacks. The operation ensured a cessation of attacks by Greek Cypriots, and one year later, Turkish Cypriots declared the Turkish Federated State of Cyprus under the leadership of Rauf Denktaş. The state was renamed the TRNC in 1983.
The TRNC, however, faced major setbacks as it was not recognized globally and faced economic and political embargoes. It also sought to reconcile with Greek Cypriots, and the two sides agreed upon a series of talks in the early 2000s. Yet, after the Greek Cypriot administration was admitted to the European Union in 2004, efforts collapsed. The last round of concrete talks to end the division failed in 2017.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will travel to Cyprus later this month to discuss the future of talks between the two sides. He will meet with representatives of both sides, U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said last Thursday, to underline a “strong demonstrated commitment to the Cyprus issue.”
On the anniversary of the operation, Ankara is expected to deliver stern messages regarding moves by Greek Cypriots and their backers to escalate tensions on the island, especially Greek Cypriots’ increasing military cooperation with Europe. France signaled earlier that it would boost its military presence on the island, while Greek Cypriots strengthened their alliance with Israel in defense and security, laying bare a new threat to Türkiye, which is concerned about Israel’s expansionist policies in the region. Türkiye was also angered by a recent report approved by the European Parliament that accused Turkish soldiers participating in the 1974 operation of sexual crimes against Greek Cypriots.
Speaking ahead of the anniversary, Turkish Cypriot Foreign Minister Tahsin Ertuğruloğlu said they would never give up Türkiye’s right to intervene in Cyprus.
Drawing attention to the failure of negotiations on the Cyprus issue over the past 60 years, Ertuğruloğlu told Anadolu Agency (AA): “As our founding President Rauf Denktaş also stated, the Cyprus issue is a question of status. While the Greek Cypriot side is viewed as the ruler and sole owner of a Hellenic island, the Turkish Cypriot side seeks to be reduced to minority status. If you sit at the negotiating table without equality, you will leave without equality. The 60-year negotiation process has failed because of this approach.” Ertuğruloğlu pointed out that the United Nations’ granting the Greek Cypriot side the status of the “Republic of Cyprus” was what created the Cyprus issue, and recalled that the European Union made a similar mistake in 2004. “The U.N. made this mistake, and in 2004 the EU repeated the same mistake. Now they expect us to legalize their mistakes. You can wait a very long time,” Ertuğruloğlu said, stressing that the EU could not be impartial on the Cyprus issue.
Emphasizing that the EU would remain detached from reality as long as it approached the Cyprus issue as though there were a Turkish occupation on the island, Ertuğruloğlu said there could be no solution unless Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots were granted equal status in Cyprus.
Sovereign and equal
Ertuğruloğlu explained that the foreign policy of the TRNC would not abandon its policy of two sovereign and equal states with equal international status, saying: “We have our own state, we have our motherland, and we have our army. Let no one come here hoping to deceive us.”
Minister Ertuğruloğlu also addressed the issue of the “guarantor powers” in Cyprus, saying: “Britain and Greece have not fulfilled their responsibilities as guarantors throughout history. The only country that has fulfilled its responsibility as a guarantor is the Republic of Türkiye.”
Underlining that the Cyprus issue stemmed from Greek Cypriot aggression that began in 1963 and the denial of the political equality of the two partners, Ertuğruloğlu said: “We will not give up Türkiye’s right to intervene in Cyprus. Türkiye’s right of unilateral intervention is indispensable for Turkish Cypriots. We will never give that up either.”
Ertuğruloğlu said the Cyprus issue began in 1963 and that approaches portraying Türkiye as having intervened in Cyprus on July 20, 1974, “for no reason,” without acknowledging this fact, were entirely incompatible with historical realities. “The Cyprus Peace Operation was not the beginning of the problem; in a sense, it was the solution,” he said.
Recalling that the intervention of the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) in Cyprus on July 20, 1974, saved the Turkish people on the island from genocide and enabled them to rebuild their lives, Ertuğruloğlu said that 52 years ago, the island was prevented from becoming a Hellenic island through the shoulder-to-shoulder struggle of Turkish soldiers and Turkish Cypriot fighters.
Pointing out that the Turkish army was a deterrent, rather than an aggressive force, Ertuğruloğlu stressed that Türkiye’s strength was evident in every field.
Ertuğruloğlu concluded by saying that they commemorated with mercy those who were martyred and with gratitude those who became veterans during the Cyprus Peace Operation, adding that as long as Türkiye exists, the Turkish Cypriot people will never again experience the painful days of the past.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan congratulated Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on becoming the longest-serving prime minister of the Italian Republic, expressing confidence that cooperation between Türkiye and Italy will continue to grow.
Erdoğan said he “wholeheartedly” congratulated Meloni on the milestone and voiced confidence in further strengthening bilateral ties.
“I sincerely believe that we will further strengthen cooperation and solidarity between our countries with each passing day,” Erdoğan said.
Meloni’s government reached 1,413 consecutive days in office, overtaking the previous record held by the second government of late Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, which lasted 1,412 days between 2001 and 2005.
Meloni, who took office in October 2022 as Italy’s first female prime minister, has developed close working relations with Erdoğan, with the two leaders maintaining regular dialogue on bilateral and regional issues.
Their governments have sought to expand cooperation in areas including trade, investment, defense, energy and migration, while coordinating on regional issues such as Libya and Ukraine. Erdoğan and Meloni co-chaired the fourth Türkiye-Italy Intergovernmental Summit in Rome in April 2025, where the two countries signed a series of agreements aimed at broadening their strategic and economic partnership.
The two leaders most recently met on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Ankara in July, reaffirming their commitment to boosting trade and mutual investment and expanding cooperation in the defense industry and other strategic sectors.
Turkish security forces detained 10 suspects on Friday for allegedly providing financial support to a former military officer accused of taking part in a FETÖ assassination team that targeted President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan during the failed July 15, 2016 coup attempt.
The suspects were identified as part of an investigation by the Terror Crimes Bureau of the Muğla Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office into people allegedly linked to former army Capt. Burkay Karatepe, according to judicial sources.
Authorities said the suspects provided financial assistance to Karatepe while he was a fugitive.
Five suspects were identified in Istanbul and five others in the northwestern province of Eskişehir. All 10 were detained in simultaneous operations in the two provinces.
Security forces also seized a large amount of digital material during searches of the suspects’ residences.
The detainees are expected to be transferred to Muğla for further questioning and legal proceedings.
Karatepe, who had been wanted for nearly a decade, was captured in the western province of Afyonkarahisar on Aug. 1 and formally arrested in Muğla on Aug. 5.
Turkish authorities accuse Karatepe of being part of a military team assigned to assassinate Erdoğan during the July 15 coup attempt.
The group targeted a hotel in the southwestern resort town of Marmaris where Erdoğan had been staying before he departed shortly ahead of the attack.
Türkiye accuses the FETÖ terrorist group and its U.S.-based leadership of orchestrating the 2016 coup attempt, which killed more than 250 people and wounded thousands.
In a separate operation Friday, police in the northwestern province of Bursa captured a fugitive convicted of membership in FETÖ, local authorities said.
The individual, identified by the initials D.Ö., had been sentenced to six years and three months in prison for membership in an armed terrorist organization.
Police detained the fugitive in Bursa’s Orhangazi district as part of operations targeting wanted individuals, according to the provincial police department.
Following police procedures, the convict was transferred to Women’s Closed Prison to serve the sentence.
New Party Chair Özgür Özel on Thursday dismissed speculation of a political reconciliation with Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, saying their recent handshakes were merely acts of courtesy and that there was “not even a pinhead-sized place” left for Kılıçdaroğlu in his heart.
Özel, speaking in an interview with Sözcü TV, said the encounters were a matter of courtesy and that his political differences with Kılıçdaroğlu remained unchanged.
The two politicians were seen shaking hands twice within a week, first at the funeral ceremony for former CHP senior official and lawmaker Cevdet Selvi at Parliament in Ankara on Aug. 31 and later at a ceremony marking the opening of the 2026-2027 judicial year.
The encounters drew attention because relations between the two have remained strained since Özel and his supporters left the CHP and established the New Party following a court ruling that reinstated Kılıçdaroğlu and the party’s previous leadership.
Özel said refusing to shake Kılıçdaroğlu’s hand at a funeral would have been disrespectful to the family.
“Reflecting a political tension onto a funeral would be disrespectful to the funeral and the bereaved family,” Özel noted. “If someone extends his hand, leaving it hanging is something I could never accept.”
He gave a similar explanation for their second encounter at the judicial year ceremony, saying Kılıçdaroğlu approached him and extended his hand in front of other senior officials.
“Not returning a greeting or leaving an extended hand unanswered is simply not in my nature,” Özel said.
But he rejected suggestions that the exchanges indicated an easing of their political dispute.
“There is not even a pinhead-sized place left for Kemal Bey in my heart,” Özel said, accusing Kılıçdaroğlu of dividing and damaging the CHP after returning to its leadership.
“You came and ruined the party. You divided it, expelled our colleagues and removed provincial chairs,” Özel said.
A court ruling in a case concerning alleged irregularities at the CHP’s November 2023 convention declared the congress null and void and reinstated Kılıçdaroğlu and the previous party administration.
Özel and his supporters initially rejected the ruling and said they would remain in the CHP. Following escalating tensions within the party, Özel and 91 lawmakers resigned and established the New Party.
Özel also addressed Türkiye’s ongoing “terror-free Türkiye” initiative, saying the process must succeed while avoiding steps that could offend the families of fallen soldiers or veterans.
“Everyone needs to do more than their part,” he said, calling for greater tolerance and an easing of social tensions surrounding the process.
On the other hand, according to a report by the Sabah newspaper, the CHP has accused members of the New Party of taking party property, damaging vehicles and transferring leases on local offices following the split in the main opposition party, with local CHP organizations filing criminal complaints over the allegations.
The accusations follow earlier disputes over control of the CHP’s social media accounts and funds belonging to its parliamentary group after a group of lawmakers and officials left the party to establish the New Party.
According to the CHP, furniture, computers, sound systems, air conditioners and other equipment belonging to its provincial and district organizations remain unaccounted for. Party officials allege that property worth millions of Turkish liras was removed from CHP offices and transferred to newly established New Party provincial and district headquarters.
The CHP has also raised allegations concerning hundreds of party-owned vehicles that had been allocated to local organizations across Türkiye.
Some of the vehicles were allegedly deliberately damaged before being returned or transferred following the party split. The CHP claims sugar was poured into the engines of some vehicles, while others had their undercarriages damaged or electrical cables cut. Batteries were also allegedly removed from several vehicles.
According to the party, individuals who later joined the New Party reached agreements with some property owners to change rental contracts without informing the CHP leadership, effectively transferring control of the premises to the New Party.
Local CHP representatives have filed criminal complaints with prosecutors across Türkiye over the alleged removal and damage of party property, according to party officials.
Türkiye’s Defense Ministry on Thursday criticized Israel for its military activities in the region, accusing the Israeli government of pursuing “expansionist and aggressive” policies that threaten regional and global stability.
The ministry’s weekly press briefing was held at Baykar’s Özdemir Bayraktar National Technology Center in Istanbul, highlighting Türkiye’s growing defense and aerospace capabilities alongside developments in counterterrorism, border security and international military cooperation. Defense Ministry spokesperson Zeki Aktürk made the remarks during the ministry’s weekly press briefing.
Aktürk said the Israeli government was continuing what he described as an effort to turn the entire Middle East into an area of conflict.
He accused Israel of violating the territorial integrity of Syria and Lebanon through its military activities while encouraging what he called “illegal settler terrorism” in Palestine.
The ministry also criticized Israel over what he described as provocative actions in Jerusalem that violate the historical and legal status of Muslim holy sites.
“Israel’s actions, which harm not only regional stability and security but also global stability and security, are increasingly undermining the region’s faith in international law,” Aktürk said.
He said Türkiye would continue its efforts to promote peace and stability in the region and press the international community to take action.
“We will continue to remind the international community that it has a shared responsibility to take concrete and effective measures against Israel’s expansionist and genocidal approach,” Aktürk stressed.
Meanwhile, an analysis published by Israel’s Channel 12 (N12) highlighted Türkiye’s growing influence in the Middle East and internationally, warning that treating Ankara as a military threat could amount to a “serious strategic mistake” for Israel.
The analysis, citing assessments by former Israeli Military Intelligence chief TamirHayman, examined Türkiye’s expanding military and political influence across the Middle East and Africa.
It said Türkiye currently maintains a military presence in at least 13 countries, operates more than 100 military facilities across the Middle East and is also active in the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf.
According to Hayman, Israel risks making a mistake by viewing Türkiye’s growing power primarily through the lens of a direct military threat or hostility.
He warned that applying Israel’s security doctrine, which places military power at the center of foreign policy, to its approach toward Türkiye could have potentially dangerous consequences.
Hayman argued that Türkiye should not be incorporated into Israel’s threat assessment or effectively turned into an enemy state.
Doing so, he said, would constitute a “serious strategic mistake” for Israel.
YPG claims denied
On Syria, the Defense Ministry said it is closely following the dissolution of the YPG terrorist group as part of efforts to preserve Syria’s territorial integrity and strengthen the principle of “one state, one army.”
It specifically rejected reports claiming that foreign elements affiliated with the YPG would leave Syria and that some would travel to Türkiye, calling the allegations untrue and urging the public to rely only on official statements concerning the process.
“Claims that foreign members of the YPG will leave Syria and that some of them will come to Türkiye do not reflect the truth,” the ministry underlined.
Mecca Defense Alliance
The ministry also provided details on the Mecca Defense Alliance established between Türkiye, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, saying the three countries are moving to give the cooperation a more institutional structure.
Defense and foreign ministers, as well as chiefs of general staff from the three countries, met in Istanbul on Aug. 31 under the alliance framework. During the meeting, the parties discussed steps to institutionalize cooperation and agreed to establish a secretariat in Saudi Arabia under a secretary general.
The secretary-general position will rotate among the three countries, with Pakistan set to provide the first secretary-general for a three-year term, according to the ministry.
The agreement aims to increase interoperability through joint military planning, training and exercises, while strengthening cooperation in the defense industry through joint production, technology development and the sharing of expertise.
The ministry stated that the mechanisms are expected to strengthen the alliance’s defense capacity and deterrence while also contributing to regional peace and stability.
Türkiye on Thursday strongly condemned a recommendation by the European Parliament’s Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality to allocate funds in the 2027 EU budget for a monument planned by the Greek Cypriot administration aimed at defaming the Turkish Armed Forces.
The proposed funding, embedded in the committee’s budget opinion, backs a project designed to target Turkish forces who intervened on the island more than five decades ago to stop the systematic persecution of Turkish Cypriots.
“The Turkish Armed Forces prevented the destruction of the Turkish Cypriot people through the 1974 Cyprus Peace Operation and brought peace to the entire island, which has endured for over half a century,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement, emphasizing that Greek Cypriot claims distort historical facts and weaponize memory for political gain.
Ankara cautioned European leadership against acting as an instrument for factions intent on alienating Türkiye from the bloc, warning that taking sides undermines stability in the region.
“Instead of contributing to a resolution on the Cyprus issue, EU institutions are compromising principles of neutrality and fairness by turning into tools for Greek Cypriot propaganda, which further damages trust between the two communities,” the statement added.
Türkiye has long maintained that a durable settlement on the divided island can only be built on the basis of political equality and the acknowledgment of two distinct sovereign states.
The Sivas Congress was the path to the liberation of a nation, according to Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, founder of the Republic of Türkiye. Some 107 years later, the convention is remembered as one of the key events leading to the foundation of the republic.
The central Turkish city that lent its name to the congress has hosted several events since Aug. 31 and was scheduled to host more on Thursday to mark the 1919 congress, which was part of the National Struggle led by Atatürk and embraced by the nation seeking to repel invaders in post-World War I Türkiye. Atatürk’s arrival in the city more than a century ago was re-enacted on Wednesday, while the courtyard of the building where the congress was held hosted a fashion event showcasing traditional dresses dating from the Seljuk period to the Republican era.
The Sivas Congress was among a chain of events initiated by Atatürk, who secretly left occupied Istanbul in 1919 under the guise of inspecting Ottoman troops in Anatolia. Planning to mobilize the country to expel the Allied forces, Atatürk, then known as Ottoman commander Mustafa Kemal, advanced this goal with the Sivas Congress, the first public gathering that served as a kind of precursor to the republic’s Parliament by giving the people of Anatolia a say in the future of a country that was in tatters as the Ottoman Empire was collapsing. A Council of Representatives was elected at the congress and served as the top body overseeing the struggle for liberation. It gave legitimacy to the national anti-occupation movement, which would later be based in present-day capital Ankara, where the republic was declared four years later.
Atatürk first arrived in Sivas on June 27, 1919, to organize mobilization for the National Struggle before leaving for the eastern city of Erzurum. He returned on Sept. 2, 1919, and stayed in Sivas, which he described as one of the “safe cities” during the occupation, until Dec. 18, 1919. The congress officially began in a building that now serves as a museum on Sept. 4, 1919. The congress lasted seven days, during which Atatürk, fellow soldiers, and public figures discussed various pressing issues in an effort to realize the goal of liberating the country. It hosted heated debates, including over a proposal that the nation should accept a foreign mandate or protectorate under the control of the occupying powers.
Ultimately, participants rejected any notion of a mandate or protectorate. On Sept. 12, 1919, Atatürk, or Mustafa Kemal Pasha as he was known at the time, announced the decisions made at the congress. The most important among them was the rejection of a mandate.
This was perhaps best embodied in an exchange between Atatürk and a medical student identified only as “Hikmet” in official records. During the Sept. 8 session of the congress, Hikmet told Atatürk that they should not accept a mandate.
“My fellow students sent me here to represent their efforts for our cause of independence. If anyone here accepts a mandate, we will strictly oppose them. Even if it is you, Mr. Pasha, we will reject and condemn you,” he said.
The words moved Mustafa Kemal, who told the congress to pay attention to the example set by the youth.
“This is the expression of the Turkish nation’s noble blood. So, rest assured. I am proud of the youth, and I want them to know that we will not accept a mandate even if we are to remain in the minority. Our goal will not change: it is either independence or death,” Atatürk said.
Serap Bozpolat Ayan, a lecturer at the Department of Atatürk’s Principles and History of the Turkish Revolution at Sivas Cumhuriyet University, told Anadolu Agency (AA) that books would not be enough to fully describe the Sivas Congress.
Emphasizing that the Sivas Congress was where the Turkish nation declared, “I will not surrender,” Ayan said: “At the Sivas Congress, the only concrete option before us appeared to be a mandate or a protectorate. But a Turk cannot live as a captive; a mandate or colonial rule could never be an option for us. Therefore, the Sivas Congress offered a choice between independence and death. In other words, a mandate or protectorate would have been worse than death for us and was not an option. The survival of the Turkish people could only be possible through independence.”
Recalling that Atatürk emphasized that freedom and independence were inherent to the character of the Turkish people, Ayan said: “We were under occupation. Our flag, territorial integrity and independence were under threat, and we were virtually left without a state. We were under serious intervention by the victorious powers. We had entered a period in which they sought to determine our fate. In such an environment, it seemed as though there was a road ahead of us, but it was pitch dark, and we were going through a period in which we could not see our way. Mustafa Kemal’s role was essentially to illuminate that path. The Sivas Congress was one of the most important steps in this process and, in a sense, its beginning.”
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