Post by Bozur on Feb 17, 2005 16:42:19 GMT -5
Turkish army stands firm on Cyprus
NICOSIA (AFP) - The Turkish army has no intention of withdrawing troops from the breakaway Turkish-Cypriot state before the three-decade-old Cyprus conflict is resolved, a senior Turkish general said yesterday.
«We keep armed forces in Cyprus to ensure the security of the Turkish Cypriots,» said Yasar Buyukanit, head of the Turkish land forces. «Not even a single soldier will go before a definite and lasting settlement is reached.» The general was speaking during a visit to the Turkish statelet in northern Cyprus, which is recognized only by Ankara, to inspect the some 30,000 Turkish troops stationed there.
Turkey's military presence in northern Cyprus dates back to 1974 when it invaded and occupied the northern third of the Mediterranean island with the stated aim of protecting its kinsmen there in the wake of an Athens-engineered coup aimed at uniting the island with Greece.
The intervention sealed the island's division between its Turkish-Cypriot and Greek-Cypriot communities. Proponents of reunification have often called on Ankara to pull out troops from the north as a gesture of good will.
The Cyprus conflict is a major stumbling block for Turkey's bid to join the European Union.
The most recent international effort to reunite the island failed last April when the Greek Cypriots voted down a UN peace plan, while the Turkish Cypriots, long seen as an obstacle to any settlement, overwhelmingly endorsed it.
The outcome ensured that only the internationally recognized Greek-Cypriot south joined the EU on May 1, leaving the breakaway Turkish-Cypriot north out in the cold.
Ankara sees a settlement as a way out of its increasingly difficult position as an EU membership candidate that does not recognize a member nation.
www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/news/content.asp?aid=52201
NICOSIA (AFP) - The Turkish army has no intention of withdrawing troops from the breakaway Turkish-Cypriot state before the three-decade-old Cyprus conflict is resolved, a senior Turkish general said yesterday.
«We keep armed forces in Cyprus to ensure the security of the Turkish Cypriots,» said Yasar Buyukanit, head of the Turkish land forces. «Not even a single soldier will go before a definite and lasting settlement is reached.» The general was speaking during a visit to the Turkish statelet in northern Cyprus, which is recognized only by Ankara, to inspect the some 30,000 Turkish troops stationed there.
Turkey's military presence in northern Cyprus dates back to 1974 when it invaded and occupied the northern third of the Mediterranean island with the stated aim of protecting its kinsmen there in the wake of an Athens-engineered coup aimed at uniting the island with Greece.
The intervention sealed the island's division between its Turkish-Cypriot and Greek-Cypriot communities. Proponents of reunification have often called on Ankara to pull out troops from the north as a gesture of good will.
The Cyprus conflict is a major stumbling block for Turkey's bid to join the European Union.
The most recent international effort to reunite the island failed last April when the Greek Cypriots voted down a UN peace plan, while the Turkish Cypriots, long seen as an obstacle to any settlement, overwhelmingly endorsed it.
The outcome ensured that only the internationally recognized Greek-Cypriot south joined the EU on May 1, leaving the breakaway Turkish-Cypriot north out in the cold.
Ankara sees a settlement as a way out of its increasingly difficult position as an EU membership candidate that does not recognize a member nation.
www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/news/content.asp?aid=52201