The Turkish Cypriot president on Friday slammed statements by U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez that said the Turkish side has been occupying the Island of Cyprus.
The admission of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) as an observer member of the Organization of Turkic States (TDT) and the visit of Gambian Vice President Badara Joof drew great attention across the world, the presidency stressed in a statement.
That is why the Greek-Greek Cypriot duo made various attempts to block the TRNC's progress toward recognition. The EU, the U.S. and some other forces also took action, it said.
Turkish Cypriot President Ersin Tatar underscored that the chairperson of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, under the guidance of the Greek-Greek Cypriot lobby, made a claim of "Turkish occupation in Cyprus" with a pro-Greek attitude.
"First of all, the chairperson of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the whole world should know very well that the occupier who exists in Cyprus is the Greek-Greek Cypriot duo who turned the Republic of Cyprus, in which the Turkish Cypriot people are equal founding partners, into a Greek state by force of arms, and this occupation still continues," Tatar said.
He noted that supporters of the duo, who could not digest the steps to recognize the TRNC, continued their attacks, expressing satisfaction that Menendez lifted the arms embargo imposed by the U.S. on the Greek Cypriot Administration of Southern Cyprus and expressed that his support for armament could not be accepted.
Menendez touched on the Cyprus issue during an online event organized for the 39th anniversary of the unilateral declaration of the independence of the Turkish Cypriots, organized by the Coordinating Committee of the Cyprus Struggle (PSEKA).
"(Turkish President Recep Tayyip) Erdoğan's continuing willingness to flex his authoritarian muscles to Cyprus and around the world means that it is more important than ever that America stands shoulder to shoulder with the Republic of Cyprus," he said. "I am proud to be a long-time supporter of the Cypriot cause and the decades of struggle for security and democracy in the Eastern Mediterranean. As you know, I am fully committed to the Republic of Cyprus's sovereignty."
"The threat of the occupied area is one that has to be taken very seriously," he said. "The US should not put any F-16 fighter jets in president Erdoğan's hands."
"I will not approve any F-16s for Türkiye until he halts his campaign of aggression across the entire region," said Menendez.
"There is so much that Cypriots, New Jerseyans and all Americans can accomplish together when we work with each other.
"Let's make sure that every last Turkish soldier leaves the island of Cyprus once and for all," he said.
Cyprus has been mired in a decades-long dispute between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, despite a series of diplomatic efforts by the UN to achieve a comprehensive settlement.
Ethnic attacks starting in the early 1960s forced Turkish Cypriots to withdraw into enclaves for their safety.
In 1974, a Greek Cypriot coup aimed at Greece's annexation of the island led to Türkiye's military intervention as a guarantor power to protect Turkish Cypriots from persecution and violence. As a result, the TRNC was founded in 1983.
It has seen an on-and-off peace process in recent years, including a failed 2017 initiative in Switzerland under the auspices of guarantor countries Türkiye, Greece and the UK.
The Greek Cypriot administration entered the European Union in 2004, the same year that Greek Cypriots thwarted a UN plan to end the longstanding dispute.
