Turkey’s President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan gave a speech to Turkish military troops on Monday, declaring his support for the Turkish invasion of Cyprus, while also stating that if Turkish forces had advanced further south in 1974, Cyprus would be fully Turkish now.
“Half a century ago, the Turkish Cypriots came back from the brink of genocide. In the Peace Operation of 1974, 498 of our soldiers from all corners of the country, officers, non-commissioned officers and civilians, were martyred”, President Erdogan said.
“…Despite all the pressures, if it were not for Turkey’s intervention, neither the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus nor the Turkish Cypriots would exist today. In fact, perhaps if we had pushed south, and I say this as a child of the present, there would be no more south and north and Cyprus would be completely ours.”
Source: Ekathimerini
