Erdogan advisor suggests annexation of Turkish-occupied northern Cyprus
Turkish journalist and senior advisor to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Yigit Bulut, has suggested that Turkey annexes the Turkish-occupied north of Cyprus.
Speaking on A Haber news channel on November 20, Bulut argued that Britain was attempting to control the northern part of Cyprus. His comments came two days before talks on the ethnically split island’s reunification collapsed at a Swiss resort.
Bulut said that the two British military bases would remain following a possible reunification. He also alleged that on July 15, the night of a failed coup in Turkey, increased activity had been reported on the bases and that members of the US-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen's religious movement, whom the Turkish administration accuses of plotting the coup, were awaiting orders.
He also said that Turkish citizens would need a visa to visit the Turkish-occupied north in case of a deal for the island.
“[Under these circumstances] do we hand over Cyprus to the EU and then plead for Schengen validation? This is an assassination,” Bulut argued.
If the Turkish-occupied north did not wish to go on with the current regime, “it will turn into a Turkish province and carry on in that way. We provide water and electricity to the island,” he said.
The occupied north’s economy “was organized in Turkey," said Bulut, adding that, "under these circumstances, there are still those spreading propaganda on behalf of England and the EU."
