CHP leader Ozgur Ozer responded to Greek Defense Minister Dendias by saying, “The man is flying over the island, he is coming with a flag, so it is provocative. If I were Erdogan, I would say to my interlocutors in Greece: ‘If you are really sincere, you need to control this man a bit.'” “His actions are not done with any good intentions,” he said.
The Republican People’s Party attended the 50th anniversary of the Cyprus Peace Operation with a large delegation of former chairmen and veterans. The only former chairman not in the delegation, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, attended the funeral of the mother of Saadet Party Chairman Temer Karamolaoğlu on Friday. CHP Chairman Özgür Özer has many contacts in Cyprus and a very busy schedule, and it was almost midnight when we met. The first task of our work in Cyprus was the 50-year balance sheet.
“We came here 50 years ago with something right. Everything that was done in Bosnia happened in Cyprus 29 years ago, and everything that is happening in Palestine today is happening in Cyprus. Things were being done that did not even fall under the laws of war. Innocent people, women and children were being massacred. We had no other choice, and we came here. Ecevit put it very well. “We are going to bring peace to the island,” he said. Its name was “Operation Peace.” It really is. After such a process, we stopped and negotiated between the first and second operation. When the negotiations did not bring results, Ayse went on vacation. Two days have passed already. So what does this mean? Within two days, the military objectives that served the political purpose of the operation were achieved on the island. With two more days we could have occupied the entire island. If we wanted to invade, we would have occupied the entire island and even annexed it to Turkey. After that, we sat down and negotiated. But Turkiye showed goodwill to the entire international community as follows: He occupied one-third of the island in proportion to its population and left two-thirds behind.
Wherever they went, they didn’t go to the places evacuated as the military withdrew, or to the vacant towns beyond the operational boundary line. They are still standing empty. “This is very important.”
Special feature: Allowing Greeks into the EU would be a historic mistake
At this point, I stepped in and asked Ezell what he thought about the new negotiation process.
“There may have been mistakes in those 50 years of negotiations, but the Turkish side has always been in good faith, and we have always been deceived, we have always been deceived.
Unfortunately, this is how it ended up. There were mistakes in the Annan Plan, for example, if one of the two parties violated the agreement, the violating party should be punished and the complying party should be rewarded. It was always the other way around. The Greeks played both spoils and were rewarded. Our people always kept the agreements but were always punished.
The fact that Greek Cypriots became EU members on their own after the Annan Plan is a historic mistake and the biggest obstacle to a solution. So it seems that the possibilities for a federation based on negotiations have been exhausted in a very significant part of the island. But ultimately, we need to be able to talk about what the basis of negotiations will be. I have discussed this with different political parties, past presidents, the current foreign minister, the speaker of parliament, the prime minister, the president and the opposition. In fact, there is an agreement that: First, “If we negotiate again, we will start result-oriented, time-bound negotiations, and if we fail again, we will start negotiations on a benefit basis.” “I think this is an important lesson that we have learned from past negotiation failures.”
Cyprus, more than Turkey, is needed for normalization
“In his meeting with the TRNC chairman and in his demands regarding the Turkish Cypriot community, he said: ‘We want direct trade, direct flights, direct contacts and dialogue.’ These are not in contradiction to what has been proposed, for example, by the CTP or the Cypriot opposition.
There is still tension, polarization and polarisation in Cyprus, and there have been very tough debates and disputes in the past, but everyone wants to get to the same place in terms of demands and methods, unless the desired outcome is in the form of a government, a form of agreement, etc.
They say; “Our athletes, students and patients should not be sacrificed. We have very good universities and they should not be devalued. Cyprus should not be labelled as if it is a black money haven”. These demands are common, but the solution is to negotiate at length. In fact, negotiations can be made, but they are time-bound and result-oriented negotiations. In fact, no one is against this, but “Do we need more normalisation than Turkey?” To me, Cyprus needs it. “The government and the opposition need to talk more and develop a culture of doing business together.”
The CHP chairman also said that at this point, the Turkish government should also be meeting with the Cypriot opposition and not appearing to take sides, adding:
“Just as it was good for Turkey for the Turkish government to meet with the opposition, it is also important for the government to meet with the opposition in Cyprus, because in Cyprus you cannot move forward by supporting one idea, one person or one party.”
“There will be both negotiations and discussions.”
As the time approached 02:00, I asked Ezell about his stance on domestic politics and whether he would continue with this stance.
“In politics there will be struggles, negotiations, arguments, but there will always be kindness. Politics is actually a quarrel that does not go beyond the limits of courtesy and civility. To do this, it is necessary not to personalize the issue and to distance yourself from insulting discourse. In the contradiction between power and opposition, when the ruling environment is tense, know that the essence is flawed. If you fight, it will be in his interest. I do not fight with the government on issues that do not concern the people. I also fight for the people’s issues such as the price of wheat, the price of tea, pensions, and I do the toughest rallies, and the words that are said at those rallies are to talk about how you cannot make a living. If you cannot make ends meet, where will you find money if you can find it. If you leave it at that and insult Erdogan and stir up controversy, you are avoiding the essence. This time, the man who remained at the rally probably traveled eight hours on a bus and came because I wanted to call and explain my problem, and when I start arguing, he says, ‘Shame on you,’ turns around and walks away. That is why I have always insisted on this as a basic idea. We need to talk about the economy and build a competition about how we can improve the situation of our people. We shouldn’t get caught up in other artificial conflicts, especially conflicts and tensions based on identity politics. “This is what we’re going to do.”
A heavy message to Dendias
Greece was also one of the key topics in the interview with Özel. At this point, Özel spoke at the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly about his relations with SYRIZA and his friendship with Tsipras during his tenure. He said that if it would be to Turkey’s advantage, he would be willing to meet with everyone in the world except for a few Salafist groups that seek to eliminate democracy. “On the other hand, I don’t know if the New Democracy that is in power in Greece wants to meet with us,” he added. When talking about Greece, Greek Defense Minister Dendias, who tries to provoke a dialogue process at almost every opportunity, was also mentioned.
“A guy comes, flies over the island and plants a flag. So it’s provocative. If I were Erdogan, I would say to my interlocutors in Greece, ‘If you are really sincere, you need to control this guy a little.’ Nothing he does is done in good faith. I think he is saying that if Turkey and Greece normalize, he will rise to power, and because he is a hawk, he is the same as those who oppose normalization in Turkey. “There are people who feed on all tensions.”
