Turkey says U.S. needs to return to neutral stance on Cyprus

[webfact]

Turkey says U.S. needs to return to neutral stance on Cyprus

 

FILE PHOTO: U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades elbow bump after a news conference at the Presidential Palace in Nicosia, Cyprus, September 12, 2020. Petros Karadjias/Pool via REUTERS

 

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkey said early on Monday that the United States needed to return to a neutral stance on Cyprus, after Washington and Nicosia signed a memorandum of understanding to create a training centre.

 

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said earlier this month that the United States would lift a 33-year arms embargo on Cyprus and deepen its security cooperation with Nicosia.

 

During a visit to Cyprus, Pompeo said on Saturday that Washington remained "deeply concerned" about Turkey's actions in the eastern Mediterranean, where it is at a standoff with Greece and Cyprus over maritime areas thought to be rich in natural gas.

 

"The memorandum of understanding will not serve peace and stability in the eastern Mediterranean and will damage the solution of the Cyprus problem," Turkey's Foreign Ministry said.

 

It added that the recent steps by the United States increased the tensions in the eastern Mediterranean.

 

"We invite the U.S. to return to the neutrality policy it traditionally follows on the island of Cyprus and to contribute to the efforts aimed at the solution of the Cyprus issue," the ministry said.

 

The eastern Mediterranean island was split in a Turkish invasion in 1974 triggered by a brief Greek-inspired coup. Its internationally recognised Greek Cypriot government represents the whole island in the European Union, although its authority is effectively confined to the southern part. North Cyprus is a Turkish Cypriot state recognised only by Ankara.

 

Turkey has sent two survey vessels to separate areas in the region, drawing strong protests from both Cyprus and Greece, which say Ankara is operating on their respective continental shelves.

 

Turkey says it has a legitimate claim over the area. There is no agreement between Greece and Turkey delimiting their continental shelves, while Turkey disputes any claims by Cyprus, with which it has no diplomatic relations.

 

(Reporting by Ali Kucukgocmen; Editing by Peter Cooney)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-09-14

 

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[Thailand]

Nocosia, the last remaining divided capital in the world. The Turks literally got away with murder and stole half a beautiful country.

[ezzra]

41 minutes ago, Thailand said:

Nocosia, the last remaining divided capital in the world. The Turks literally got away with murder and stole half a beautiful country.

And all the while the sultan wannabe Erdogan  pointing finger and accusing  Israel accusing them of occupation and land grab, double standard and hypocrisy at play...

[Megasin1]

All these countries around the world squabbling about ocean rights with the big aggressive countries, basically doing what they want unchecked. Soon after we have left the EU, Turkey will be admitted by the sops that run the EU and will then no doubt use their position within the EU to leverage a lot more ocean grabbing. As the worlds resources dwindle the squabbling and military activity will increase. There is absolutely no need at all to go to Mars, pretty soon you will be able to see it all here, barren and red.....what a crazy, crazy world our poor kids will inherit. I wonder if the Chinese will also apply to join the EU???

[puipuitom]

9 hours ago, ezzra said:

And all the while the sultan wannabe Erdogan  pointing finger and accusing  Israel accusing them of occupation and land grab, double standard and hypocrisy at play...

Total Cyprus is 9.251 km²  , of which the Turks now occupy 3.355 km² = 36,27 %. Before the Turkish invasion it was a 17 %

 

After a coup attempt by Green nationalists the Turkish army invaded northern Turkey to protect their fellow-Turks there. On the basis of the Agreement between community leaders Rauf Denktaş and Glafcos Clerides under the auspices of United Nations, 196,000 Greek Cypriots living in the north were exchanged for 42,000 Turkish Cypriots living in the south

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyprus

https://www.loc.gov/law/help/cultural-property-destruction/cyprus.php  Cyprus: Destruction Of Cultural Property and Violations of International Law Of the United States Law Library of Congress

·         500 Greek Orthodox churches and chapels have been pillaged, vandalized, or demolished; 

·         133 churches, chapels, and monasteries have been desecrated;  

·         the whereabouts of 15,000 paintings are unknown; and

·         77 churches have been turned into mosques, 28 are being used by the Turkish military forces as hospitals or camps, and 13 are used as agricultural barns

 

Just a limited number of disappeared fresco’s and mozaics were found back at the international art markets

[Morch]

1 hour ago, Megasin1 said:

All these countries around the world squabbling about ocean rights with the big aggressive countries, basically doing what they want unchecked. Soon after we have left the EU, Turkey will be admitted by the sops that run the EU and will then no doubt use their position within the EU to leverage a lot more ocean grabbing. As the worlds resources dwindle the squabbling and military activity will increase. There is absolutely no need at all to go to Mars, pretty soon you will be able to see it all here, barren and red.....what a crazy, crazy world our poor kids will inherit. I wonder if the Chinese will also apply to join the EU???

 

No idea why you imagine Turkey will be admitted. Doubt it will happen while Erdogan is in power. As for the World's resources dwindling, most of what the these recent squabbles are about is the discovery of several juicy gas fields in the Eastern Mediterranean. The Chinese will join the Martian Consortium. China will be then converted into a pangolin farm. When export quotas are matched, and only then, Turkey will be allowed to resubmit its application.

[daejung]

27 minutes ago, Morch said:

 

No idea why you imagine Turkey will be admitted. Doubt it will happen while Erdogan is in power. As for the World's resources dwindling, most of what the these recent squabbles are about is the discovery of several juicy gas fields in the Eastern Mediterranean. The Chinese will join the Martian Consortium. China will be then converted into a pangolin farm. When export quotas are matched, and only then, Turkey will be allowed to resubmit its application.

Turkey is not an european country. Only 3% of their territory is in Europe after invading Constantinople in 1453 and slaughtering and raping its people. Most of their territory was greek before they invaded it. And many greek settlements remained on the west the west coast before turkish expelled them in the greek-turkish war (1919-1922)

 

Europe has nothing in common with Turkey. They should not enter EU nor remain as a NATO member.

 

Edited September 14, 2020 by daejung

[JulesMad]

12 hours ago, webfact said:

United States would lift a 33-year arms embargo on Cyprus

Briljant! Spoken like a true arms dealer... Selling weapons to Turkey and to Cyprus!
usa is showing off its complete dedication to destruction and murder of the innocent people ????

[daejung]

14 minutes ago, JulesMad said:

Briljant! Spoken like a true arms dealer... Selling weapons to Turkey and to Cyprus!
usa is showing off its complete dedication to destruction and murder of the innocent people ????

Turkey invaded Cyprus ! And is still agressive against Cyprus and Greece

 

USA should stop selling arms to Turkey and Turkey has nothing to do in NATO

 

Cyprus and Greece are in Europe, not Turkey

 

Are you on the turkish side then ?

Edited September 14, 2020 by daejung

[Morch]

40 minutes ago, daejung said:

Turkey is not an european country. Only 3% of their territory is in Europe after invading Constantinople in 1453 and slaughtering and raping its people. Most of their territory was greek before they invaded it. And many greek settlements remained on the west the west coast before turkish expelled them in the greek-turkish war (1919-1922)

 

Europe has nothing in common with Turkey. They should not enter EU nor remain as a NATO member.

 

 

And you're barking up the wrong tree. I said nothing about the merits of Turkey joining the EU. As for NATO, it's a somewhat different situation. Granted, Turkey's membership creates issues for the alliance, but the alternative might be having it as a borderline hostile force (or allied with such) on Europe's doorstep. Other than that, there's no mechanism in place to expel member countries.

[daejung]

2 minutes ago, Morch said:

 

And you're barking up the wrong tree. I said nothing about the merits of Turkey joining the EU. As for NATO, it's a somewhat different situation. Granted, Turkey's membership creates issues for the alliance, but the alternative might be having it as a borderline hostile force (or allied with such) on Europe's doorstep. Other than that, there's no mechanism in place to expel member countries.

Turkey is already an hostile bordeline for Europe.

Between Turkey and european countries I support european countries.
As for NATO, I think, an I am not h only one, that this alliance is dead. No way to expel a member, then let's leave it and create a distinct european alliance.

[Morch]

4 minutes ago, daejung said:

Turkey is already an hostile bordeline for Europe.

Between Turkey and european countries I support european countries.
As for NATO, I think, an I am not h only one, that this alliance is dead. No way to expel a member, then let's leave it and create a distinct european alliance.

 

Turkey under Erdogan might be this way. Erdogan will not necessarily stay in power forever.

Claiming that NATO dead is a big statement - don't know who exactly you consider supportive of this view, so hard to comment. Disbanding NATO and creating a new alliance would be very difficult given today's politics and divides. Maybe better to try and hang on to it, or at least secure an alternative beforehand.

[daejung]

22 minutes ago, Morch said:

 

Turkey under Erdogan might be this way. Erdogan will not necessarily stay in power forever.

 

Yes but any other turkish leader will not make turkey a european country. Nothing in common with european.

 

23 minutes ago, Morch said:

Claiming that NATO dead is a big statement - don't know who exactly you consider supportive of this view, so hard to comment.

 

With NATO not acting anywhere and Trump in charge, it's a fact.
Also french statement "NATO is brain-dead" : https://www.economist.com/europe/2019/11/07/emmanuel-macron-warns-europe-nato-is-becoming-brain-dead

 

28 minutes ago, Morch said:

Maybe better to try and hang on to it, or at least secure an alternative beforehand.

European alliance within EU should be an alternative, even if not in short term.

With Trump in charge, USA is not longer reliable anywhere in the world.

[sammieuk1]

How do you upset a Sultan ... just open your mouth Erdog won't be happy until he has some oil and gas with the crazy price of it there????

[Morch]

28 minutes ago, daejung said:

 

Yes but any other turkish leader will not make turkey a european country. Nothing in common with european.

 

 

With NATO not acting anywhere and Trump in charge, it's a fact.
Also french statement "NATO is brain-dead" : https://www.economist.com/europe/2019/11/07/emmanuel-macron-warns-europe-nato-is-becoming-brain-dead

 

European alliance within EU should be an alternative, even if not in short term.

With Trump in charge, USA is not longer reliable anywhere in the world.

 

Although I may be inclined to agree, I do not have a clear idea what makes a European. There are already European countries in the EU with great difference and gaps regarding politics, for example. Granted that Turkey takes this a step further, but not sure it's impossible - in the long run.

 

Same comment made about Erdogan, applies to Trump - he's not a permanent fixture. As for Macron, for some years now, France and Germany push for some unified European armed force. On a personal level, no issues with that, it's the way forward. On a national level, there are objections and reluctance. So how this will pan out is unclear. Given that the EU got trouble sorting even less complicated issues, I wouldn't hold my breath. Unless, that is, if Trump does something drastic.

 

For me there's no contradiction between a unified European army and the existence of NATO.

[Opl]

54 minutes ago, daejung said:

Yes but any other turkish leader will not make turkey a european country. Nothing in common with european.

Because Turkish diaspora in Europe vote for Erdogan ( therefore support Muslim Brotherhood), Turkey should never join the E.U.  

https://europa.blog/erdogans-election-and-the-role-of-the-turkish-diaspora-in-europe/

Edited September 14, 2020 by Opl

[notmyself]

Turkey invaded part of the EU and the EU done nothing. Happy to bomb Libya and such but refuses to protect 'their' people. You/they can't use the argument of mustering the fleet after decades. Disgusting. 

[Morch]

4 hours ago, notmyself said:

Turkey invaded part of the EU and the EU done nothing. Happy to bomb Libya and such but refuses to protect 'their' people. You/they can't use the argument of mustering the fleet after decades. Disgusting. 

 

Turkey invaded Cyprus in 1974.

The EU was officially formed in 1993.

Cyprus joined the EU in 2004.

 

That's not offered as a defense of Turkey's actions, but as a reality check.

[fredbe]

The Muslim Brotherhood Erdogan seeks the restoration of the Ottoman Empire

[geriatrickid]

On 9/14/2020 at 5:44 AM, Megasin1 said:

All these countries around the world squabbling about ocean rights with the big aggressive countries, basically doing what they want unchecked. Soon after we have left the EU, Turkey will be admitted by the sops that run the EU and will then no doubt use their position within the EU to leverage a lot more ocean grabbing. As the worlds resources dwindle the squabbling and military activity will increase. There is absolutely no need at all to go to Mars, pretty soon you will be able to see it all here, barren and red.....what a crazy, crazy world our poor kids will inherit. I wonder if the Chinese will also apply to join the EU???

The EU will never admit Turkey. This would allow millions of  migrants to enter unchecked.

Europeans are inherently bigoted.  Too many former east bloc members and  baltic countries would protest.

[Opl]

24 minutes ago, geriatrickid said:

The EU will never admit Turkey. This would allow millions of  migrants to enter unchecked.

Europeans are inherently bigoted.  Too many former east bloc members and  baltic countries would protest.

Germany is already hostage to its Turkish minority, so, no more,  thanks.  

Edited September 15, 2020 by Opl

[Nout]

On 9/14/2020 at 8:36 PM, Morch said:

 

Although I may be inclined to agree, I do not have a clear idea what makes a European. There are already European countries in the EU with great difference and gaps regarding politics, for example. Granted that Turkey takes this a step further, but not sure it's impossible - in the long run.

 

Same comment made about Erdogan, applies to Trump - he's not a permanent fixture. As for Macron, for some years now, France and Germany push for some unified European armed force. On a personal level, no issues with that, it's the way forward. On a national level, there are objections and reluctance. So how this will pan out is unclear. Given that the EU got trouble sorting even less complicated issues, I wouldn't hold my breath. Unless, that is, if Trump does something drastic.

 

For me there's no contradiction between a unified European army and the existence of NATO.

Europe is a physical landmass reinforced by history, culture religion, politics and other issues. Turkey, although partially part of the European land mass is historically an invader of Europe and has no religious,  cultural or political ties. Its membership of Nato has always been an anomaly.

[Nout]

34 minutes ago, geriatrickid said:

The EU will never admit Turkey. This would allow millions of  migrants to enter unchecked.

Europeans are inherently bigoted.  Too many former east bloc members and  baltic countries would protest.

Inherently well informed and politically astute. The Balkan were brutally occupied by the Turks and it took years to drive out the murderous,  rapine, slave driving Ottoman Turks.  The more Balkan and Eastern European States we allow in Europe the safer we will be from Islamic expansionism. Turkey will never be allowed to join the EU.

[tgw]

and we say Erdogan needs to be taught a lesson in humility.

[tgw]

48 minutes ago, geriatrickid said:

The EU will never admit Turkey. This would allow millions of  migrants to enter unchecked.

Europeans are inherently bigoted.  Too many former east bloc members and  baltic countries would protest.

that's why Greece is worth every single billion Germany has put in it.

as long as Greece is in the EU, Turkey won't be able to join.

[tgw]

13 minutes ago, Nout said:

Inherently well informed and politically astute. The Balkan were brutally occupied by the Turks and it took years to drive out the murderous,  rapine, slave driving Ottoman Turks.  The more Balkan and Eastern European States we allow in Europe the safer we will be from Islamic expansionism. Turkey will never be allowed to join the EU.

maybe you confuse Balkan states with Baltic states? because Albania, Kosovo and Bosnia Herzegovina have Islam as majority religion.

[Opl]

29 minutes ago, tgw said:

and we say Erdogan needs to be taught a lesson in humility.

financial sanctions will do,

"CHP chair: Erdoğan and his family accumulating wealth in US, to move there if Turkey enters a new era. The CHP leader also said that Erdoğan could not stand up against the U.S. as there is the “threat” of his financial assets being investigated in the country."

https://www.duvarenglish.com/politics/2020/07/14/chp-chair-erdogan-and-his-family-accumulating-wealth-in-us-to-move-there-if-turkey-enters-a-new-era/

 

 

[candide]

On 9/14/2020 at 11:44 AM, Megasin1 said:

All these countries around the world squabbling about ocean rights with the big aggressive countries, basically doing what they want unchecked. Soon after we have left the EU, Turkey will be admitted by the sops that run the EU and will then no doubt use their position within the EU to leverage a lot more ocean grabbing. As the worlds resources dwindle the squabbling and military activity will increase. There is absolutely no need at all to go to Mars, pretty soon you will be able to see it all here, barren and red.....what a crazy, crazy world our poor kids will inherit. I wonder if the Chinese will also apply to join the EU???

In case you didn't notice, the " sops that run the EU" are the elected governments of its member States.

Edited September 15, 2020 by candide

[Morch]

9 hours ago, Opl said:

Germany is already hostage to its Turkish minority, so, no more,  thanks.  

 

Hostage how? And if possible, without hyperbole.

[Morch]

9 hours ago, Nout said:

Europe is a physical landmass reinforced by history, culture religion, politics and other issues. Turkey, although partially part of the European land mass is historically an invader of Europe and has no religious,  cultural or political ties. Its membership of Nato has always been an anomaly.

 

Landmass, ok. So where does that leave Russia, for example? Does it apply for Iceland? Similar issues can be brought to question each and every common denominator or generalization attempting to define what makes Europe, what makes a European. As said earlier, there's, I think, an instinctive feel to it - but harder to put the finger on it or claim that it is not grounded in some old concepts (and maybe prejudice). The Vikings were, at one time, the invaders, so were Germanic tribes, and so on. Things changed, albeit ever so slowly.

 

I'm not saying I think it a good idea (or even a plausible one) for Turkey to be admitted into the EU. All the more so under its current leadership. Long term, and with different circumstances, maybe less farfetched.

 

Other than claiming Turkey's NATO membership is an anomaly, no explanation or reasoning is supplied.