Turkish Forum English

Author: ataatun

  • Regional Balances Are Changing Rapidly

    Regional Balances Are Changing Rapidly

    Turkey’s decision to completely stop its trade with Israel is likely to trigger a number of new developments in the coming months, deeply affecting Israel’s strategy of aggression, genocide and extermination of the Palestinian people.

    Israel is the 12th country to which Turkey exports the most.

    According to Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) data, the volume of trade between Turkey and Israel in 2023 was $6.8 billion, 76 per cent of which consisted of goods sold by Turkey to Israel.

    In addition to this, Israel imports overland – especially strategic products such as oil – through Turkey. Therefore, it is certain that Turkey’s imposing restrictions on the shipment of products that Israel buys from third countries, raw materials and reserve ores that Israel needs for production, especially the oil that Israel buys from Azerbaijan, through its territory and ports, will put Israel’s economy in trouble. (Israel’s dependence on Turkey in this regard is many times higher than Turkey’s dependence on Israel).

    Considering these facts, Turkey’s decision to completely halt mutual trade with Israel resembles and evokes the global isolation policy that many countries implemented in the last years of the 20th century against the ‘apartheid’ regime in the Republic of South Africa, which ruthlessly implemented the idea that whites of European origin were superior to other races, including the suspension of the purchase and sale of all goods and services, and the severing of political and diplomatic relations.

    The last government in the Republic of South Africa, formed by whites of European descent, which had managed to maintain the apartheid regime for more than a century with the use of brute force in addition to the military and police force, in which whites were not arrested in any way, was crushed under these global isolations and gave up. Apartheid was buried in the dusty pages of history, never to return. 

    It should be noted that Turkey’s decision is not primarily directed against the Israeli people. The reason for this decision is the removal of the Israeli government, which persistently pursues the policy of genocide with its policy of global isolation, from power and the cessation of attacks against the Palestinian people and Gaza.

    It is certain that if some countries with common sense take Turkey’s decision to stop trade with Israel as an example and decide to stop their trade with Israel in the coming days, this will put Israel in a difficult situation despite all the support that the US has given/will give to Israel.

    At this stage, the US factor and Turkey-US political and economic relations have begun to come to the fore and gain importance. A few days ago, 57 Democratic Party members of the US House of Representatives asked US President Joe Biden to cut off aid to Israel, stating that Israel’s continued attacks would bring the region to the brink of a war that Israel and the US cannot afford, and the US government’s statement that it respects Turkey’s decision indicates that the regional balances have changed.

    In the coming weeks, it is possible to say that Israel will lose global support to a great extent, will rapidly move towards isolation, and as a result, the pro-genocide government will leave power, the attacks will stop and the Palestinian state will make great gains towards recognition.   

    Prof. Dr. (Civil Engineer), Assoc. Prof. Dr. (UA. Relations) Ata ATUN

    Member of the Advisory Board of the TRNC President

    TRNC Republican Assembly 1st Term Deputy

  • We Own Cyprus

    We Own Cyprus

    This was the catchphrase of the Greek Cypriots between the years 1960 to 2017 in Cyprus.

    The Greek Cypriots and Greeks, who leaned their backs to the Atlantic Alliance and the Christian world, thought and acted as if the island of Cyprus was their private property, their homeland, an integral part of the Great Byzantine Kingdom, and kept saying “We are the owners of Cyprus”.

    In order to cleanse the island of Cyprus from the Turkish Cypriots, relying on the Atlantic Alliance and the Christian world, they applied the genocide, same as the armed attacks in Gaza of today, to us, the Turkish Cypriots during years 1963 to 1974.

    When the Atlantic Alliance and the Christian world, which claim to be the flag bearers of “Human Rights, Peace and Justice”, did not raise voices such as “What are you doing, stop the massacres and genocide, you are violating human rights”, the brutal genocide they inflicted on us continued for 11 years till 1974.

    They thought that they had the right to take away all the materialistic and spiritual life opportunities of the Turkish Cypriots by the armed attacks, to crush the Turkish Cypriots, to destroy them, to squeeze them into a tiny area like three percent of the island and only allow them to breathe, and they thought they were successful with the full scale support of the Atlantic Alliance and the Christian world.

    In the second stage of the so-called negotiations that started in 1968, they would get up from the negotiation table whenever they felt like it, they would immediately reject the peaceful proposals made to them, they would try to corner the Turkish Cypriots by making proposals that would never happen and could not be accepted, they would put them in a difficult position and try to put them in a guilty position. Although it was agreed at the last stage of these negotiations to grant partial autonomy to the Turkish Cypriots, the Greek Cypriot leader of the period, Makarios, said, “I will not give the Turkish Cypriots even a neighbourhood headman ship, let alone an autonomy”, revealing that the negotiations were made for show and ended them.

    Such was the mindset of the Greeks, such was the idea that they owned the island of Cyprus.

    In July 1974, when the Colonels’ Junta in Greece staged a coup d’état on the island, overthrew the 1960 Republic of Cyprus, declared the “Hellenic Republic of Cyprus”, annexed the island to Greece and declared it as part of the Greece, the situation suddenly changed. Turkey, as a guarantor, had to intervene in order to re-establish the abolished 1960 Republic of Cyprus in the manner and method clearly stated in Annex 1, Article 4 of the 1960 Constitution of the Republic of Cyprus. In this way, the Turkish Cypriots were freed from captivity and were able to establish their own sovereign state in the northern parts of the island.

    The negotiations, which started in 1977 to stop the armed conflicts on the island of Cyprus and to restore the 1960 Republic of Cyprus, ended in 2017 in Crans Montana, where the last stage of the negotiations was held, with the Greek Cypriots leaving the table due to their megalomanic and maximalist demands and behaviours.

    The power and effectiveness of the Atlantic Alliance, which has been going on in the world since 1945, has started to decrease. The political and economic support of the Russian Federation and its allies, which unconditionally supported the Greeks and Greek Cypriots within the Christian world, came to an end. In the process, the mountains on which the Greek Cypriots had leaned and cocked their backs collapsed.

    Once upon a time they were saying “We are the owners of the island of Cyprus. Whatever we say, whatever we want, only happens”. By the time the political situation dramatically changed. The Greek Cypriots and Greeks are now begging and pleading for the Turkish Cypriots to sit at the negotiation table. They are trying to get the support of the strong partners of the Atlantic Alliance such as the UN, the US and the EU to intervene, but no positive results.

    It is time for them to pay for “obstructing the two peoples on the island from living in PEACE”, which they are the cause of the failure of the Annan Plan by voting “NO – OXI” in the Annan Plan referendum held on April 24, 2004, relying on the Atlantic Alliance and the Christian world…

    Prof. Dr. (Civ Eng), Assoc. Prof. Dr. (Int Rel) Ata ATUN

    Advisory Board Member of the TRNC President

    TRNC Republican Assembly 1st Term Deputy

  • Why No Turkish

    Why No Turkish

    The European Union’s pressure on the Greek Cypriot Administration on the issue of golden passports has started to yield results. The Greek Cypriot Administration will no longer be able to hand out the so-called “Golden Passport” to anyone for its political and financial interests, because the Greek Cypriot Administration made an important change in December regarding naturalization. From now on, those who will be naturalized will first have to be able to speak, read and write Greek at level B1 according to international foreign language exam criteria. Depending on the situation, the slightly lower A2 level may also be accepted. It is not yet clear what this special “situation” is or will be.

    According to the amendment to the Citizenship law, which was published in the Official Gazette after the House of Representatives adopted the draft law approved by the Council of Ministers, a foreigner applying for citizenship of the so-called “Republic of Cyprus” can be naturalized on the condition that he or she has knowledge of the Greek language at level B1, as set out in the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, based on language certificates at the level mentioned in the Decree.

    In addition to this, they will also be required to have “adequate knowledge of the basic elements of the contemporary political and social reality of the so-called “Republic of Cyprus”” and to pass an exam on this subject. This exam will be prepared, conducted and evaluated by a committee consisting of staff from the Greek Ministries of Education and Justice.

    If the candidates who will take the exam say, “Between 1963 and 1974, the Greeks attacked the Turkish Cypriots in order to ethnically cleanse the island of Cyprus, mercilessly killed hundreds of Turks, burned down their homes, looted their property, confiscated their livestock and crops, and forced the Turkish Cypriots to migrate en masse,” they will fail definitely. He/she can never become a citizen.

    If he/she says, what the members of the committee, all of whom are Greek Cypriots, want to hear and denigrates the Turkish Cypriots and Turkey, he/she will pass this so-called “History and Culture Exam” with a hundred percent. 

    But there is lawlessness and suspension of human rights involved. According to the Constitution of the so-called “Republic of Cyprus”, the valid official languages are Greek and Turkish, yet this amendment law does not include a sentence such as “being able to speak, read and write Greek or Turkish at B1 level”. The requirement is limited to knowing only and only “Greek”. The constitutional rights of Turkish Cypriots, which are clearly stated in the 1960 Constitution of the Republic of Cyprus, have not been taken into consideration at all. When have they ever been taken into consideration, and they will be taken into consideration this time too. If anything, the rights of the Greeks are the only valid ones.

    And they shamelessly expect miracles from Maria Holguin, the Personal Representative of the UN Secretary-General, and with the magic wand in her hand, to touch the parties in Cyprus and try every possible means and pray that the negotiations will start immediately from the place where in Crans Montana in 2017, the Greeks overturned the table – due to their maximalist demands and their Enosis dreams of annexing the island of Cyprus to Greece – in a way that, the map submitted at the meeting in 2017 in their pockets and the concessions made at that time will also be valid.

    Going back to citizenship, many of the Greek fans among us do not speak Greek. If the citizenship of Turkish Cypriots is to be revised in terms of knowing how to “speak, write and read Greek” at an adequate level, then they will be disillusioned.

    Oh, if you say vested rights!, we know how the Greeks took away all the rights of the Turks and did not even want to give them the right to breathe.

  • THE UNFOUNDED MASS BURIALS OF THE SO-CALLED ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

    THE UNFOUNDED MASS BURIALS OF THE SO-CALLED ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

    According to some sources, The Armenian Genocide Appeals (the so-called
    Armenian Genocide or the Unfounded Armenian Claims) indicate that the
    Armenian deportation, which was carried out by the Ottoman State in Eastern
    Anatolia for internal security reasons from May to November 1915, was aimed
    at destroying the Armenian community in the region, Millions of Armenians
    are alleged to have been killed by this reason. In the early years of the First
    World War, the Ottoman State while fighting in many fronts with Allied Powers,
    the Armenians attacked the Ottoman army jointly with the Russian army in
    the region up to Central Anatolia in the East, and rebelled in many cities. In
    order to overcome these rebellions, the Ottoman State held a joint meeting with the Armenian Patriarchs, especially the Armenian Members of the Tanzimat Parliament, and the leaders of the Armenian community, and informed them that the Ottoman State would take countermeasures if the Armenians continued to kill local Muslim people in Eastern Anatolia. On the basis of this notion, the Ottoman State in April 24, 1915 arrested 235 people who had organized the rebellions and closed down all the Armenian Committees and local organizations that supported and organized the rebellions. The Ottoman State promulgatiated the Temporary Law of Deportation, in 27 May 1915. Accordingly, it was decided some of the Armenians in Eastern Anatolia would be displaced to Syria, Lebanon and Iraq.

    According to the Armenians’ claims, massacre and genocide were carried out under the deportation title and 1.5 million Armenians were killed.

    This article is about the mass graves of 1.5 million Armenians which would form the basis of the massacre allegations, the size, how and by whom they were dug, how the massacred Armenians buried and how the mass graves covered with soil. The paper is written to investigate whether there are mass graves or not.

    THE-UNFOUNDED-MASS-BURIALS-OF-THE-SO-CALLED-ARMENIAN-GENOCIDE466303-546406Download
  • INVITATION OF ACADEMICIANS TO OUR UNIVERSITY IN NORTH CYPRUS

    INVITATION OF ACADEMICIANS TO OUR UNIVERSITY IN NORTH CYPRUS

    For the MASTER’s Programs of the following departments, which we plan to open in October 2023 in line with the educational program development studies of the Faculty of Engineering of CYPRUS Science University;

    Electrical and Electronics Engineering

    Mechatronics Engineering

    Software Engineering

    Blockchain Engineering

    Agricultural Engineering

    We need Doctor of Philosophy, Assistant Professor, Associate Professor and Professor academic colleagues. Lessons will be taught in English and online.

    Academics who are interested; Please send an email to ataatun@csu.edu.tr address.

    Prof. Ata Atun,

    Dean of the Faculty of Engineering

    CYPRUS University of Science

    CSU KIU 1
  • Israel-Lebanon Agreement and Restructuring in the Eastern Mediterranean

    Israel-Lebanon Agreement and Restructuring in the Eastern Mediterranean

    As if the rapid change of balances in the world will lead to the reconciliation of resentments and the re-determination of ranks…

    For example, after Israel completed the exploration and extraction of gas in the Karish field, political relations between Lebanon and Israel were positively affected by the certainty that there was gas in the region.

    In fact, although there has been no conflict between Lebanon and Israel for years, a ceasefire agreement has not yet been signed. Although the two countries are still technically at war, talks on the designation of adjacent maritime jurisdiction areas have continued, albeit intermittently.

    11.26.22 Israel Lebanon Agreement and Restructuring Eastern Mediterranean

    The confirmation of the existence of rich hydrocarbon deposits in the Qana and Karish fields off the southern coast of Lebanon and the northern coast of Israel, and Israel’s physical extraction of natural gas from the Qarish region, have eased tensions between the two countries.

    In particular, Lebanon’s years of political and economic crisis have triggered the idea of better relations with Israel.

    Although it has no de facto right to the hydrocarbon deposits in the Eastern Mediterranean, the United States, which wants to use it as leverage against rival countries, did not miss the opportunity and entered the dispute between Lebanon and Israel as a mediator in 2020. With the de facto participation of the United Kingdom and France, the parties agreed on 11 October 2022. (The fact that Hezbollah, which has a say in Lebanese politics and people’s lives, is also warm to this issue has positively affected this agreement.)

    According to this agreement, which is unique to date, all the rights of the Qarish region will belong to Israel and all the rights of the Qana region will belong to Lebanon. Since a small part of the Qana region falls under Israel’s maritime jurisdiction, the French company Total will extract natural gas from the region. Israel will own a part of the shares of this company. Israel will not receive a share of the natural gas that will come out of the Qana region, but of the profits that Total makes from this region.         

    Let’s come to Turkey; Turkey’s insistence on the Exclusive Economic Zone determined according to the 1958 and 1960 World Law of the Sea Conferences marked the beginning of a new construction in the Eastern Mediterranean. This development was accelerated by the war in Ukraine and the crisis in Iran.

    Since the U.S. has mediated in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) designation talks between Israel and Lebanon, Russia also wants to take an active role in the EEZ designation talks between Syria and Lebanon. 

    The involvement of the United States, Russia and Turkey in the restructuring in the Eastern Mediterranean has made the Greek Cypriot Administration of Southern Cyprus (Greek Cypriot Administration – GCA) very nervous.

    The fact that the European Union began to struggle with economic and political problems and was dragged to the brink of relegation in the global league weakened the regional power of Greece and the Greek Cypriot Administration. Their alliances with Israel, Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon to strengthen their presence and demands in the Eastern Mediterranean have lost their importance.

    The rejection of the EEZ, unilaterally declared by the Greek Cypriot Administration, and the declaration of the Seville Map, which Greece had insidiously prepared, as invalid by the USA and the EU, pushed both Greece and the Greek Cypriot Administration out of the developments in the Eastern Mediterranean and broke their power in the international arena.  

    Turkey’s continental shelf agreement with Libya and the steps it has taken for the normalization of relations with Israel and Egypt have begun to reveal Turkey’s superiority in the new construction that has started in the Eastern Mediterranean.

    In addition to all these, the acceptance of the TRNC as an observer member of the Organization of Turkic States extended the borders of the Organization of Turkic States to the middle of the Eastern Mediterranean. While behind Greece and the Greek Cypriot Administration is the European Union, which has entered a period of decline, behind Turkey and the TRNC is the Organization of Turkic States, whose star has begun to shine again. The balances in the region have changed in favor of Turkey and the TRNC.

    This new development began to affect the borders of the exclusive economic zones of the littoral countries in the region and the way of shipment of natural gas to be extracted. 

    Israel has put on its agenda the sending of the natural gas it has started to extract in the Eastern Mediterranean to the European continent through Turkey. The Greek Cypriot Administration is aware that if it succeeds in extracting natural gas that it can export one day because it is alone and without alternatives in the region, it has to send it through Turkey.

    For this reason, GCA started to look for ways to establish relations with Turkey. For now, GCA is trying to extract concessions from Turkey with threats, but GCA knows very well that at the end of the day GCA will have to make concessions himself. 

    It is certain that the Exclusive Economic Zone border agreement signed by Israel and Lebanon will pave the way for Turkey and the TRNC to conclude Exclusive Economic Zone border agreements with their economic zone neighbors Syria, Lebanon and Israel in the future, and that the Greek Cypriot Administration will eventually have to reach an agreement with the TRNC and recognize the TRNC, albeit under certain conditions.  

    Prof. Dr. (Civ. Eng.), Assoc. Prof. Dr. (Int. Rel.) Ata ATUN

    Dean, Cyprus Science University