AK Party Vice Chairman Zorlu condemns provocative EOKA event in Greek Cyprus

Türkiye’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) Vice Chairman Kursad Zorlu strongly condemned the event organized by the Greek Cypriot Administration to mark the founding anniversary of the EOKA terrorist organization, emphasizing that the messages and imagery displayed were unacceptable.

Zorlu took to social media to express his disapproval of the event, which sparked controversy due to the provocative nature of its messaging.

He emphasized that these actions serve only to deepen division rather than foster lasting peace on the island.

‘Unacceptable messages and imagery’

Zorlu referred to the commemoration of the EOKA terrorist group’s founding as a “symbol of a dark period marked by bloodshed and tears in Cyprus,” highlighting that the messages conveyed during the Greek Cyprus event were unacceptable.

In his statement, Zorlu said, “Such provocative steps on these lands, which are equally owned by the Turkish Cypriot people, serve not to achieve a real and permanent solution on the island, but to polarization and lack of solution.”

Call for equality and lasting peace

Reiterating the importance of a peaceful and sustainable future for the island, Zorlu stated that the solution lies in acknowledging the equal sovereignty of both Turkish and Greek Cypriots, and the international recognition of their rights.

“We would like to emphasize once again that a sustainable future in peace in Cyprus will be possible with the acceptance of the sovereign equality of both peoples and states and their international status based on this,” he said, asserting continued support for the Turkish Cypriot people by saying, “We will always continue to stand by the Turkish Cypriot people in this just cause.”

What happened?

Fanatic Greek Cypriot groups threw stones and insulted civilians in the territory of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) in the border area dividing the capital Lefkosia on the 70th anniversary of the establishment of the EOKA terrorist organization.

According to the information received from the TRNC authorities, a fanatic Greek Cypriot group of 15 people dressed in black, who participated in the celebration of the anniversary of the founding of the EOKA terrorist organization at noon, threw stones at civilians in Lefkosia Yigitler Burcu Park on the TRNC border from the territory of the Greek Cyprus.

The group, who insulted the civilians and shouted slogans in favor of the EOKA terrorist group, then ran away from the area.

Citizens in the area reacted to the group’s stone attack. It was learned that TRNC authorities increased security measures at the border after the incident.

Issue of EOKA terrorist group and decadeslong conflict

Founded in 1955, the EOKA terrorist group targeted British soldiers and civil servants on Cyprus—then ruled by the U.K.—but also Turkish and Greek Cypriots who opposed its extremist ideology and its goal of union with Greece.

In the infamous Bloody Christmas massacre of late 1963 and early 1964, also called Black Christmas, the terrorist EOKA killed more than 370 Turkish Cypriots and displaced 25,000-30,000 others—some 25% of the island’s Turkish Cypriot population—in less than two weeks.

The Eastern Mediterranean island of Cyprus has been mired in a decadeslong dispute between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, despite a series of diplomatic efforts to achieve a comprehensive settlement.

Ethnic attacks starting in the early 1960s forced Turkish Cypriots to withdraw into enclaves for their own safety.

In 1974, a Greek Cypriot coup aimed at Greece’s annexation of the island led to Türkiye’s military intervention as a guarantor power to protect Turkish Cypriots from persecution and violence. The TRNC was founded on Nov. 15, 1983.

It has seen an on-and-off peace process in recent years, including a failed 2017 initiative in Switzerland under the auspices of guarantor countries Türkiye, Greece and the U.K.

The Greek Cypriot administration was admitted to the EU in 2004, the same year the Greek Cypriots thwarted a U.N. plan to end the longstanding dispute.