“One tiny mistake could turn Cyprus into a new Gaza,” reads a headline in the British Telegraph newspaper following an interview with the Turkish Cypriot leader, Ersin Tatar.
Tatar gave an interview to the Telegraph, just hours before he met with the UN’s Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres.
Specifically, Tatar stated, among other things, that people on the island are living under the fear of a “little flare-up” and that the “two-state solution is the only way forward.”
Tatar said: “If you shoot one Turkish soldier, you will have 10,000 soldiers on the ground.”
He added: “Everybody should be calm and reasonable. Turkish Cypriots are not alone – we have got 85 million Turks behind us and they are just 40 miles away.
“A little flare-up, that is what people are fearing. Look at what happened in Gaza. And before that, Ukraine. Before that, Bosnia.”
Pyla
The Telegraph mentions last August’s clash between UNFICYP and Turkish Cypriots in the buffer zone in Pyla, which led to the injuries of several UN peacekeepers, including British soldiers.
“We don’t want a clash and they [Greek Cypriots] shouldn’t want a clash,” Tatar is quoted as saying.
“They have five million tourists visiting them each year, especially from the UK. If there is a bomb going off – pop! – not one tourist will come. They will go bankrupt.”
Reunification
The Turkish Cypriot leader also dismissed efforts of reuniting the island as a “waste of time.”
“That’s all past. All those opportunities have been exhausted,” he said.
“How can you unite an island like this after so many years? You cannot possibly unite Cyprus. You have to face the facts and accept reality.”
Recognition
Furthermore, he argued that the ‘TRNC’ is slowly working towards recognition.
“Recognition might take time but as time goes by, we consolidate more.”
He suggested that Azerbaijan, Pakistan and Bangladesh may soon recognise the breakaway state in the occupied north as an independent country.
