President Ersin Tatar commemorates the anniversary of the Glorious Erenköy Resistance:
“The Glorious Erenköy Resistance is the Çanakkale Epic of the Turkish Cypriot People”
President Ersin Tatar issued a written statement commemorating the 59th anniversary of the Erenköy Resistance which is an important “cornerstone” in the struggle of the Turkish Cypriot People who defended the strategically located coastal village at the cost of sacrificing their lives during the attacks by Greek-Greek Cypriot forces in August 1964.
The statement of President Tatar reads as follows:
“Considered to be the most important cornerstone of the Turkish Cypriot people’s struggle for existence and survival, the Glorious Erenköy Resistance is a demonstration of the epic heroism of the people of the region. It was in the Turkish enclaved coastal village of Erenköy that hundreds of Turkish Cypriot patriotic university students studying abroad suspended their studies and made their way to defend the village, the honour and dignity of the People, alongside the locals, which was surrounded by Greek-Greek Cypriot forces and the EOKA terrorists.
Due to its coastal positioning on the north-western coast, Erenköy was the only link between the Turkish Cypriot People and Türkiye which was defended by hundreds of Mujahideen in 1964, allowing for food, aid and defence equipment to be shipped to the enclave. The Greek-Greek Cypriot duo and EOKA terrorists were aware of this at a time when they had already initiated island-wide attacks against Turkish Cypriots under the Akritas Plan, after expulsing our People by force of arms from the state apparatus of the 1960 established partnership republic. Since then, the Turkish Cypriot People have effectively been governing themselves as a State.
Defending Erenköy was absolutely crucial for the survival of the Turkish Cypriot People on the island and had to be defended at all costs.
The mujahideen of Erenköy sacrificed their lives, and courageously defended the village, paving the way for Turkiye to intervene for the first time during that period under the Treaty of Guarantee. The 4th Fleet Commander Pilot Captain Cengiz Topel, who piloted the Turkish jet during the intervention to stop the attack on Erenköy, was forced to parachute out of the aircraft after it had been hit. Despite his safe landing, he was caught and barbarically martyred. I pay tribute to his bravery and self sacrifice. Cengiz Topel has a special place in our hearts.
The Glorious Erenköy Resistance of August 1964, with its geopolitical, strategic and logistical importance, has come to be known as being similar to the “Çanakkale [Galliopoli] Epic” of the Turkish Cypriot People, who fought to defend their inherent sovereign rights, to live in peace, dignity, freedom and security, in the face of attacks and the aspiration to unite Cyprus with Greece.
And it is this struggle and the sacrifices that have been paid that we are once again commemorating, which has been recorded in the pages of history.
The great resistance and the sacred success achieved in Erenköy also paved the way for the Cyprus Peace Operation that was undertaken by Türkiye in July 1974 following the coup d’état by the Greek junta and the declaration of the ‘Hellenic Republic of Cyprus’. It has been the determination of the Turkish Cypriot People to live as an equal People as one of the co-owners of this island, under the roof of their own State.
It is time the international community acknowledges and respects the inherent rights of the Turkish Cypriot People – namely their sovereign equality and equal international status. It is through a lot of sacrifice that we have come to the point of living under the roof of our own State, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. We thank our martyrs, mujahideen, veterans, the Turkish forces [Mehmetçik], the institutions and organisations. . .that have undoubtedly left the greatest legacy that we shall be leaving to our children: Our State.
Upgrading the status of our State is the struggle we are facing today, and ending the injustice faced by Turkish Cypriot People who continue to be inhumanely isolated, despite the Greek Cypriot Side’s rejection of more than a dozen settlement plans and ideas over more than half-a-century.
The struggle for the acceptance of our State has culminated with the historical call made at the 77th session of the UN General Assembly last September by the President of the Republic of Türkiye, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who invited the international community to formally recognise the TRNC. A month after this call, the TRNC, under its constitutional name, was accepted into the Organisation of Turkic States as an observer member. These are tangible outcomes due to our new realistic and forward looking policy.
I want to reiterate that and underline my policy and vision that I have been stating at every opportunity to international actors ever since being elected in October 2020 which in fact had received the approval of my People: Equality-based federal negotiations have been exhausted due to mentality that exists in the Greek Cypriot Side that does not accept sharing power and prosperity on the basis of equality with Turkish Cypriot People. Our new policy is a paradigm shift that is essential in reaching a sustainable and realistic settlement to the Cyprus issue, on the basis of a cooperative relationship between the two Sides. This will not only be of benefit to the two Sides on the island of Cyprus, but also to regional and global stability.
One of the main motivations for the continuation of the maximalist attitude of the Greek Cypriot Side is also due to UN Resolution 186, adopted by the Security Council on March 4, 1964, which recognised the Greek Cypriot Side as the “only legitimate government” of the island despite international treaties. This political decision allowed the Greek Cypriot Side to usurp the partnership republic which they have transformed into a wholly Greek Cypriot state.
While the Greek Cypriot side gains strength from this unfair and political decision, it continues its disagreement and plays for time. It should not be forgotten that the paradigm shift we have created is also a powerful diplomatic step towards eliminating this asymmetric situation and the political and economic disparity between the two Sides.
The political effort and the policy we have put forward are to leave a peaceful and secure future for our children by glorifying the inheritance left to us by our martyrs and veterans...
With these feelings and thoughts, whilst I salute our veterans with respect and gratitude, I commemorate our Leader Dr. Fazıl Küçük, Founding President Rauf Raif Denktaş, and our martyrs, and our heroes who sacrificed their lives in Erenköy. May they all rest in eternal peace.”