Today, Turkey and especially the Turks of Northern Cyprus are celebrating an important date for them — the anniversary of the «Attila» operation that began on July 20, 1974. It refers to the rapid deployment of Turkish armed forces to Cyprus, which managed to defeat the invading forces of the Greek junta in about three days, suppress their resistance within two weeks and take control of the part of the island where the Turkish community resided. Subsequently, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) was proclaimed on this territory, recognized by Turkey but not by any other state.
The fact that Turks still commemorate these events and defend the TRNC against possible encroachments allows their detractors, especially when it comes to Crimea, which Turkey recognizes as part of Ukraine, to claim: «But Northern Cyprus is Turkey’s ‘Crimea’! No, that is absolutely not the case.
First of all, Northern Cyprus was not incorporated into Turkey’s territory, as Crimea was incorporated into Russia, contrary to international law. This point should be particularly noted because in all existing precedents of successful Turkish military control over territories outside its own country, none of them was incorporated into Turkey’s territory. On the contrary, in this case, the deployment of Turkish troops in Cyprus was intended to prevent a «Crimea scenario» in relation to it, but from the Greek side, more precisely from the military and ecclesiastical circles that seized power in Greece as a result of the 1967 coup. In July 1974, pro-Greek circles, with the aim of annexing Cyprus to «Greater Greece», deposed the legitimate President of Cyprus, who, by the way, was Archbishop Makarios of the Greek Orthodox Church, thus initiating the actual seizure of the island.
However, according to the multilateral treaty of 1960, Turkey was one of the guarantors of the independence of Cyprus, led by its democratic government, along with the United Kingdom and Greece. Therefore, the deployment of Turkish troops in Cyprus was not aimed at absorbing it into Turkey, but at preventing it from being absorbed by the Greek junta.
And here we must return to the current status of the territory of Cyprus, which was under Turkish control at that time, and the prospects for resolving the related conflict.
Yes, the internationally recognized government of Cyprus demands the return of the territory and population that Turkey considers as TRNC, which is not recognized by any other country in the world. But the Turkish side does not reject the prospect of the reunification of Cyprus. The «Voice of Islam» has repeatedly written about the efforts of the Turkish side for a peaceful reunification of Cyprus (https://golosislama.com/news.php?id=28844).
In this regard, it is worth noting that it is the Greek side that has repeatedly sabotaged such attempts in recent times, including the rejection of the reunification plan for Cyprus that was barely agreed upon by politicians in 2004. It is this torpedoing of the peace process that partly explains the current escalation of the conflict between Turkey and Greece over the development of disputed waters.
Today, on the anniversary of the liberation operation, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan reiterated that the Turkish side is ready to negotiate the reunification of Cyprus. However, the Greek side must recognize the equality of the Greek and Turkish communities as a fundamental condition for the future unified Cyprus.
Therefore, there can be no comparison with Crimea and Russia. Putin’s Russia annexed this territory in violation of international law and not only refuses to discuss its return under any conditions, but also imprisons its own citizens who demand it.