Law for Iraq, for Cyprus as well

Maybe, at that time, those describing the Turkish army’s existence in Cyprus as an "invader on EU soil" will admit the reality that "Turkey’s military existence on Cyprus depended on international treaties." In 1960, the Republic of Cyprus bases of equality of Turkish and Greek Cypriots were abolished as a result of pressure stemmed from the Greek Cypriots’ attempts to remove the Turkish from the country’s administration in the year 1963.

Both the Greeks’ and the Greek Cypriots’ attacks and sanctions, which serve the purpose of the island’s annexation to Greece, continued between 1963-1974. The Turkish Cypriots were squeezed into the island’s three-percent part. In 1974, there was a conflict between the military coup, of which aim is "immediate enosis," within the administration in Athens and Makarious, of whom aim is "enosis in time." On July 15, 1974, the Greek officers conducted a coup together with the terrorist organization EOKA-B. Turkey, which is a guarantor country and acts with responsibility to its fellows, intervened into the island on July 20, 1974, due to the Greek and the Greek Cypriots’ attempts for ethnic cleansing and it gave an end to 11-year lasting conflicts, bloodshed and pains.

Turkey intervened through using its rights based upon the Treaty of Guarantee, which was prepared in 1959 and which gained international validity with the foundation of the Republic of Cyprus in 1960. The second article of the Treaty of Guarantee, of which guarantors are Turkey, Greece and Britain, granted permission for this. It was frequently confirmed by the international platforms that Turkey’s intervention into the island was legal.

The United Nations took a range of resolutions concerning the operation. However, it never described the intervention as an "invasion." This reality was admitted again with the resolution of the Council of Europe, which gathered on July 29, 1974, nine days following the intervention.

There have been three articles in Resolution 573 taken by the Council of Europe: "The Turkish government used its right to intervene into the island in accordance with the fourth article of 1960 Treaty of Guarantee as no agreement was reached in the island through diplomatic ways." But, Resolution 2658/79 taken by the Athens Supreme Court of Appeals on March 21, 1979, stipulates: "The intervention of Turkey, which is one of the guarantors within the scope of Zurich and London Treaties, into Cyprus is legal. The Greek officers, against whom a case was opened, have the major responsibility."

The Greek Cypriot Administration’s appointment for membership to the EU is illegal in accordance with the first article of the Treaty of Guarantee. It means that if the Greek Cypriot Administration’s membership to the EU is admitted, the EU will have violated international law.

The first article of the Treaty of Guarantee is as follows: "The Republic of Cyprus affirms not to join, partly or totally, in any political or economic union with any state. In line with this, it announces any kind of attempts illegal, which will pave the way for the union with a state or the island’s division directly or indirectly." If the EU has a view that its agreements with the Greek Cypriot Administration will make the Treaty of Guarantee invalid, as it seems, it should never criticize the U.S. stance on Iraq. Professor Mendelson, an academic at the London University, stressed in his legal remarks on September 12, 2001, concerning why the Greek Cypriots’ accession to the EU is improper that the mentioned appointment was not legal within the framework of the 1960 Constitution.

No states have claimed the invalidity of the Treaty of Guarantee up to this date. According to Professor Mendelson, the House of Commons Foreign Relations Committee’s decision in 1987, saying, "We still believe the validity of 1960 Treaty of Guarantee as a guarantor country and we continue to play our role." It is clear that several decisions of the U.N. Security Council concerning Cyprus, mentioned in the remarks of professor Mendelson, based on the London agreements. U.N. Secretary-General Annan touched upon the Treaty of Guarantee in the Cyprus plan’s new state order part (Article 1.3), submitted to the sides in late 2002. The Greek Cypriot Administration, in its attempts to make the Treaty of Guarantee invalid, granted permission to open the Southern Cyprus’ air space and ports to Britain and permit their use for military reasons due to the Gulf war on March 20, 2003, "within the framework of the Treaty of Guarantee."

What more could be done? These lines are not a secret of history. None of them were written from hidden documents. All freshmen at law schools or departments of international relations in Turkey know this. There is a word in German, "vergeuden". It means waste, loss and squandering. In the event that the EU does not apply the rules concerning the Cyprus issue, many more important chances might be "vergeuden".

The EU should take the law into consideration in its later steps and it should not "vergeuden" the chances for a solution in Cyprus any longer. This is important especially for "Verheugen", who is responsible for the EU’s enlargement process.