How Europe could play hardball with Turkey over Cyprus

Tourists look at a wall blocking a road and a banner showing divided Cyprus at the UN buffer zone that divides the Republic of Cyprus and the island's Turkish-occupied north, in the capital Nicosia, on July 20, 2023. Cyprus marked the 49th anniversary of the Turkish invasion on July 20.  [Petros Karadjias/AP]

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is riding high after extorting Europe and forcing not only Sweden but also NATO to humiliate themselves as supplicants caving to extortion. For the first time, NATO has accepted in its documents Turkey's terrorism label for organizations neither NATO nor Europe consider to be terrorists. Meanwhile, Islamic State, an Al Qaeda-affiliated Syrian organization and members of US-designated terror organizations roam free in Istanbul and Ankara.

The Turkey terror nexus increasingly poses a threat to Europe's security. Last month, for example, Cyprus disrupted an Iranian terror attack aimed at Israeli and Jewish interests on the island. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps used Turkish-occupied northern Cyprus as its staging ground. Turkish intelligence and soldiers crawl over the Turkish-occupied zone. No one can enter without clearance from...

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