Erdogan claims Turkey ‘stopped the bloodshed’ in Cyprus

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan placed Cyprus at the centre of a sweeping historical narrative, telling families of fallen soldiers and veterans that Turkish forces “stopped the bloodshed” on the island.

Speaking at an iftar dinner, a meal taken following a daily fast during Ramadan, in Ankara on Friday, Erdogan opened his bombastic address ranging across centuries of Turkish military victories, from the Seljuk triumph at the Battle of Manzikert in 1071, the Gallipoli campaign in 1917, the Greco-Turkish war of 1922, and the failed coup attempt of 2016.

“In Cyprus we stopped the bloodshed, in this spirit,” he asserted, framing the 1974 invasion as part of what he described as “an unbroken struggle to defend the homeland”.

The remark was delivered primarily to an audience of soldiers’ families and veterans.

Erdogan argued that despite crusades, invasions and attempts at occupation, “no matter what they did, they could not uproot us from these lands,” insisting Turkey has never retreated from defending its sovereignty.

Turning to the international environment, Erdogan said Ankara is “absolutely aware of the games being played, the traps being set and those acting covertly”.

He highlighted the government’s anti-terrorism” initiative, saying that 16 months after its launch “remarkable progress” has been achieved and that the relevant parliamentary committee has completed its work.

Erdogan linked this to Turkey’s continued actions “within and beyond its borders” to safeguard security, pointing to advances in the defence industry, including unmanned aerial vehicles, missile systems and naval assets.

Earlier this month, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis told Erdogan there was a “window of opportunity” for progress on the Cyprus issue, pointing to initiatives by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres aimed at restarting talks that stalled in 2017.

Erdogan, while avoiding direct comment on Cyprus at that meeting, said he and Mitsotakis had discussed the Aegean and eastern Mediterranean, stressing that disputes were not insurmountable “under international law” if approached in good faith.

According to widely cited UN and Council of Europe records, the Turkish invasion of Cyprus resulted in around 3,000 deaths, the displacement of approximately 160,000 Greek Cypriots, 40,000 Turkish Cypriots, as well as documented cases of systemic rape and other serious human rights violations committed during and after the fighting.