Northern Cypriot president flays Israeli attacks on Gazans, charges global powers of being 'hypocritical'

By Mehmet Kemal Firik, Muhammet Tarhan, Gokhan Celiker and Mehmet Kemal Firik

ANTALYA, Türkiye (AA) – The President of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), Ersin Tatar, slammed Israel’s war on the Gaza Strip, accusing major global powers, particularly the West, of “double standards” in failing to stop Palestinians’ “massacre.”

“When we think about the massacre in Gaza, we have seen how some great powers in the world have double standards and hypocrisy, and how they can do anything to annihilate a generation through genocide without showing any mercy, for the interests they envisage,” Tatar told Anadolu at Antalya Diplomacy Forum (ADF).

“Frankly, I am concerned about the future of the world because of this situation,” he remarked.

Tatar also condemned Israel's attack on a civilian crowd waiting for aid in the besieged enclave, saying the deaths of more than 30,000 people in Gaza since Oct. 7 are "unacceptable."

He pointed out that similar massacres to those carried out by Israel in Gaza had been perpetrated by Greeks against Turks in Cyprus since the 1960s, demonstrating similar experiences faced by the Turkish Cypriot people in the past.

The approach that “massacres do not happen in the modern world” is debunked by the killing of tens of thousands of people in Gaza, not even 100 years after World War II, he said.

Israel has launched a deadly military offensive on the Gaza Strip since an Oct. 7, 2023, cross-border attack led by Hamas, in which nearly 1,200 people were killed.

At least 30,410 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have since been killed in Gaza, and 71,700 others injured amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

Israel has also imposed a crippling blockade on Gaza, leaving its population, particularly residents in the north where the Thursday shootings took place, on the verge of starvation.

The Israeli war has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

- No possibility for Cyprus to become federal republic again

Separately, during a panel discussion titled "ADF Talks" at the forum, Tatar said, "There is no possibility of Cyprus becoming a federal republic again. If our sovereign rights and equal international status are recognized, two states will cooperate. It is not possible to bring together two different peoples who have been separated for 60 years under one state.

He stressed that the TRNC's non-recognition, except for Türkiye, does not imply that it is not a state. He emphasized that Northern Cyprus fully meets the conditions of a state, including its flag, parliament, culture, language, state institutions, and authority.

Drawing attention to the massacres in Gaza, which is adjacent to Cyprus, Tatar pointed out that if Cyprus has only one state under Greek authority at the federal level, Turkish Cypriots will face the same risk, explaining that Turkish soldiers on the island are the only guarantee of peace.

Tatar expressed their expectation for the international community to treat them fairly and reasonably, calling for the lifting of unjust embargoes imposed on the TRNC in all areas.

Cyprus has been mired in a decades-long dispute between Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots, despite a series of diplomatic efforts by the UN to achieve a comprehensive settlement.

*Writing by Seda Sevencan