Turkish parliament speaker blasts Greek official for remarks against Ankara, Baku

By Ali Kemal Akan

DUBLIN (AA) – Türkiye's parliament speaker on Thursday lashed out at comments of a Greek representative who called Türkiye and Azerbaijan "occupiers."

"It is true that there is an occupation in Cyprus. But the occupier in Cyprus is not Türkiye, it is the Greek Cypriot side, which abolished the legal Republic of Cyprus established in 1960 and occupied it," Numan Kurtulmus said in his address to the European Conference of Presidents of Parliament in Dublin.

His words came as a respond to previous speaker Annita Demetriou, the president of the House of Representatives of the Greek Cypriot administration of Southern Cyprus.

Regarding the Azerbaijan, Kurtulmus said Ankara understands Azerbaijan's sensitivity in liberating its territories in the face of Armenia's 33-year occupation of Karabakh.

He added that this was not an "occupation" but "a people liberating their own land."