Turkish Defence Minister Yaşar Güler visited northern Cyprus to mark the 52nd anniversary of Türkiye's 1974 military intervention, as Ankara reaffirmed its support for Turkish Cypriots and renewed its call for international recognition of the self-declared Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.
On Sunday, Güler met Tufan Erhürman, president of the self-declared Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), and joined commemorations marking the anniversary.
According to the Turkish Defence Ministry, the Turkish Air Force marked the occasion by conducting training flights with combat and support aircraft in international airspace south of the divided island.
Speaking to Turkish state media, TRNC Foreign Minister Tahsin Ertuğruloğlu said that "decades of talks" had failed to resolve one of the world's longest-running territorial disputes.
Ertuğruloğlu blamed the United Nations for contributing to the impasse by recognising the island's Greek Cypriot administration as the Republic of Cyprus.
He also criticised the European Union's decision to admit the Republic of Cyprus as a full member despite the island's continued division.
On Monday, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said Ankara would continue "defending the interests of Turkish Cypriots" and working towards international recognition of the TRNC as a sovereign state.
Writing on social media, Turkish Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş said Türkiye remained the "guarantor of the legitimate rights of the Turkish Cypriot people and of peace and tranquility on the island of Cyprus."
Cyprus has been divided along ethnic lines for more than five decades.
Türkiye sent troops to the eastern Mediterranean island on 20 July 1974, five days after a coup backed by a military junta in Athens sought to unite Cyprus with Greece.
Ankara says it intervened as a guarantor power to protect the island's ethnic Turkish minority.
Turkish forces ultimately seized control of more than a third of the island. In the ensuing conflict, large numbers of Greek and Turkish Cypriots were displaced, cementing the island's partition.
In 1983, Turkish Cypriots established the TRNC, but the breakaway state is recognised only by Türkiye.
In 2004, the internationally recognised Republic of Cyprus, which controls the island's south, formally joined the European Union.
Repeated UN-backed peace initiatives have since failed to reunify the island.
While Greek Cypriot leaders continue to support a federal settlement bringing both communities together, Türkiye and the Turkish Cypriot leadership advocate a two-state solution with two separate sovereign states enjoying equal international status.
Next week, UN Secretary-General António Guterres will visit the island in an effort to revive the moribund peace process.
"We hope conditions will be created for the resumption of talks," Nikos Christodoulides, president of the Republic of Cyprus, said over the weekend.
Chinese researchers have developed the world’s smallest CT scanner, a portable device designed to produce...
Saudi civil defence sent an all-clear on Saturday after issuing alerts for a second time for potential danger in R...
The U.S. State Department approved a $2.7 billion military sale to Ukraine for air-defence development upgr...
Iran's Revolutionary Guards Navy said a Togo-flagged oil tanker was struck while attempting to make an “illegal passage” through the Strait of Hormuz, Iranian state media said early on Friday.
Russian air strikes injured 13 and damaged buildings in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv and in the Black Sea port city of Odesa in the early hours of Thursday, officials said on the Telegram messaging app.
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he hoped the war against Iran was nearing its end and that Tehran wanted to reach a deal, but Iran dismissed his comments as “mixed signals” as the conflict approaches its seventh month.
The European Union will disburse €3.3 billion ($3.8 billion) to Ukraine for missiles and drones, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said after a phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The U.S. State Department approved a $2.7 billion military sale to Ukraine for air-defence development upgrades, along with related equipment and services, the department said. Meanwhile, Ukrainian authorities reported at least 10 people had died in Russian attacks over the last 24 hours.
Saudi civil defence sent an all-clear on Saturday after issuing alerts for a second time for potential danger in Riyadh and the city of Al-Kharj east of the capital, amid an uptick in attacks by Iran-aligned Houthis on the Gulf country.
Uzbekistan’s grape exports have grown rapidly. In January-August 2025, the country exported 86,200 tonnes of fresh grapes worth $78.3 million to 19 countries but can it turn these crops into a recognisable international product?
The death toll in a suicide attack at a police compound in northwest Pakistan has reached 31, AFP reported on Saturday, citing a police official.
Azerbaijan has rejected France’s justification for advising its citizens against travel to the country, after Paris cited risks of arbitrary detention and unfair trials.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards Navy said a Togo-flagged oil tanker was struck while attempting to make an “illegal passage” through the Strait of Hormuz, Iranian state media said early on Friday.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment