Turkey’s invasion threats should be taken ‘very seriously’: Cyprus official

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s recent threat to invade Israel should not be taken lightly and betrays Ankara’s continued regional ambitions, according to an official from Cyprus. 

“Any threat being made publicly has to be taken very, very seriously here and we think that the international community cannot ignore or disregard the threats,” Konstantinos Letymbiotis, the official government spokesperson for Cyprus, told Fox News Digital. 

“History itself has proven this, respect for international law is fundamental, and it goes without saying that all of us should be strongly committed to it,” Letymbiotis said. “Unfortunately, as a country, we have been experiencing for the last 50 years a continuous ongoing increase in illegal occupation of 37% of the Republic of Cyprus territory by Turkey.”

“We know exactly the consequences of an illegal invasion, and we take every threat very seriously,” Letymbiotis said. 

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President Recep Tayyip Erdogan observes a military exercise in Izmir, Turkey, on June 9, 2022. (Xinhua via Getty Images)

Erdoğan at the end of July suggested to his party that Turkey “must be very strong so that Israel can’t do these ridiculous things to Palestine” and, further, “just like we entered Karabakh, just like we entered Libya, we might do similar to them.” 

The comments drew a scathing rebuke from Israel, with Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz comparing Erdoğan to former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, saying that Erdoğan should “remember what happened there and how it ended,” referring to Hussein’s execution by hanging in 2006.

President Nikos Christodoulides during the memorial service in Nicosia, Cyprus, on July 20, 2024. The service marked the 50th anniversary of the Turkish invasion, which led to the occupation of 37% of the island, at Makedonitissa Tomb, where the bodies of the soldiers killed during the war are buried. (Kostas Pikoulas/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

When previously questioned about the Turkish president’s comments, an embassy spokesperson in the U.S. told Fox News Digital, “Turkey has no issue with the Israeli people at all. Our problem has been with the brutal acts and irresponsible steps of the current extremist Israeli government.”

Letymbiotis argued that part of the issue is that the world no longer has “so-called frozen conflicts” and it grows “more evident than ever, and more especially in our region” with increasingly intense fighting. 

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With Turkey specifically, Letymbiotis points to the ongoing “Turkification” of parts of Cyprus – changing names of geographical sites and “systematic destruction” of cultural and historical heritage – as one of the main indicators that Turkey seeks influence and control rather than any altruistic drive. 

“It is in the context of Turkish revisionism, expansionism in the neo-Ottoman approach,” Letymbiotis said. “This is not the first time we have seen this kind of approach from Turkey.”

A replica of the flag of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus on the slopes of Mount Pentadaktylos in the occupied part of Cyprus, on Aug. 10, 2024. Next to it is the motto “Happy is he who calls himself a Turk.” (Christoph Reichwein/picture alliance via Getty Images)

“In the case of the region and especially in the case of the narrative that Turkey and President Erdoğan specifically has adopted, we should also highlight the timing that they choose to continue this narrative and the position taken at the time when the government of the Republic of Cyprus president himself is making intensive efforts to resume negotiations,” he added. 

Turkey invaded Cyprus in 1974 and divided it along ethnic lines during a time when the island aimed at uniting with Greece. Only Turkey recognizes a Turkish Cypriot declaration of independence, and although Cyprus is a European Union member, only the south enjoys full membership benefits.

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A Turkish helicopter takes part in a military exercise in the eastern Mediterranean on Jan. 12, 2024. (Orhan Cicek/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Cyprus has in turn reached out to other nations, such as Armenia, which have recently felt the weight of Turkey’s regional ambitions: Karabakh, as Erdoğan referred to it, was an enclave of around 120,000 Armenians who lived within Azerbaijan until they were kicked out of the country last year and their land seized by Baku. 

Cyprus also played a key role in the U.S. plan to deploy humanitarian aid to Gaza as Israel continues its operations in the country. The European Union and United States in March established a sea route that would start at Cyprus and deliver aid to ports on the Gaza Strip. 

“The Cypriot initiative will allow the increase of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, after a security check according to Israeli standards,” Lior Haiat, former spokesperson for Israel’s foreign ministry, said on social media platform X in March. 

A crane unloads food packages over a makeshift port on the Gaza Strip, Saturday, March 16, 2024. (World Central Kitchen via AP)

Letymbiotis hopes that this cooperation, born out of the “best period” of Cyprus-U.S. relations, will continue to improve the country’s standing and global perception, leading to further advances.

“Our relations with the United States of America are based on a foundation of mutual trust,” Letymbiotis said. “Cyprus is no longer approached by the U.S. only through the prism of the Cyprus problem, but also as a reliable, stable partner.” 

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“The role of Cyprus and the level of cooperation has been substantially highlighted from both the evacuations of citizens in crisis in the region and also through the very important domestic initiative that created the maritime border to provide humanitarian aid to people in Gaza.”

However, he lamented that Turkey remains a problem due to its membership in NATO, where the country can use its veto power to troubling effect, such as when Sweden needed to acquiesce to Ankara’s demands before Erdoğan agreed to allow it to join the alliance.

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A soldier holds the Cypriot flag during the annual military parade to mark the Independence Day of Cyprus in the divided capital of Nicosia, Oct. 1, 2022. (Danil Shamkin/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

“Seeing how Ankara behaves with the issue of Swedish membership in the North Atlantic alliance, think what would happen in the case of Cyprus if we applied for membership, an issue that Turkey won’t even discuss,” he said. 

The Turkish embassy did not respond to several Fox News Digital inquiries about the Cyprus spokesman’s comments by the time of publication. 

Fox News Digital’s Caitlin McFall and The Associated Press contributed to this report.