Greece wants to make Cyprus its 13th island: Tatar

The real intention of Greece and the Greek Cypriot administration is to establish their complete rule on the island, Turkish Cypriot President Ersin Tatar has said.

"They're violating international law in the Aegean. They are showing an aggressive approach. They are demonstrating militia behavior under the name of Hellenism, that would ruin the relations between the two countries," Tatar said in an interview with daily Milliyet columnist Abdullah Karakuş.

"We will never fall for their games and traps. They should stop following vain hopes," Tatar added.

Noting that the Turkish side wants peace on the island and the Aegean, Tatar emphasized that problems should be resolved via a dialogue.

"If the tensions rise, Greek and the Greek Cypriot economy will collapse. Greek Cyprus and Greece will collapse completely," Tatar said.

He stated that gas cannot reach Europe without Türkiye.

"It cannot be done without Türkiye. Other ways are too expensive. They have no other choice. They should stop playing games," he said.

"The real intention of Greece is to make Cyprus its 13th island," Tatar said.

According to Tatar, Greek Cyprus wants full Greek sovereignty in Cyprus.
"To them, full Greek sovereignty means unification with Greece. They have a mentality that one day this place will be unified with Greece. We are facing such an ideology," he said.

"Such selfishness. It is ignoring the balances in the eastern Mediterranean without taking international law into account," he added.

Tatar conveyed that Cyprus has never been under Greek sovereignty.

"It was under the Ottoman Empire's rule for more than three centuries," he added.

He mentioned that despite the Greek side's vetoing of the Annan...