Erdogan claims Turkiye’s willingness to build Naval base in Cyprus ‘If Necessary’

• Erdogan also accused Greece of seeking to establish its naval base on Cyprus, citing deep divisions over the island's future.
• Turkey established the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) in 1983, which no other country has recognized.
• Turkey rejected the UN-patrolled buffer zone separating the two communities, stating that relaunching talks on a federal model is futile.

On Sunday, Turkiye’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stated that his country is ready to build a naval base in Cyprus “if necessary,” 50 years after Turkish forces invaded the now-divided island. The official Anadolu news agency reported him as saying, “If necessary, we can construct a base and naval structures in the north” of the divided island.

Erdogan said, “We also have the sea,” as he flew back to Turkiye after visiting Northern Cyprus on Saturday to mark 50 years since Turkiye’s invasion. He also accused rival Greece of seeking to establish its naval base on Cyprus, with both sides remaining deeply divided over the island’s future.

In 1983, Turkiye established what it calls the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), which no other country has recognized four decades after Turkish Cypriot leaders proclaimed it. As Greek Cypriots mourned those killed and still missing since the 1974 violence, Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides stated on Saturday that reunification was the only option.

Cyprus joined the European Union in 2004 while still divided after Greek Cypriots overwhelmingly rejected a UN plan to resolve their differences with Turkish Cypriots. However, on the other side of the UN-patrolled buffer zone separating the two communities, Erdogan rejected the federal model advocated by the United Nations on Saturday, stating that he saw no point in relaunching talks on such a plan.

“Frankly, we do not think it is possible to start a new negotiation process without establishing an equation whereby both parties sit down as equals and leave the table as equals,” Erdogan said.

The last round of UN-backed talks to reunify the island collapsed in 2017.

“We are constructing on the island the building of the presidency of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) and the parliament building. They are constructing a military base, we are building a political base,” Erdogan added.

He also praised the “precious” presence of Ozgur Ozel, the leader of Turkiye’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), during Saturday’s visit. He said it demonstrated the “unity” of Turkiye’s population regarding Cyprus.

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