Akar says it’s necessary for troops to remain on Cyprus

Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said at the weekend that it is necessary for Turkey to keep its troops on Cyprus to exercise its rights as a guarantor power.

Akar, who visited Turkish troops on the island on Saturday, said that when Turkey talks of peace, the Greeks see it as weakness, while when Turkey says it will not accept faits accomplis, they see it as a threat.

“So our neighbors should gather their mind and see matters objectively,” he said, adding that Turkey’s views about Cyprus have been the same since 1974, when it invaded the northern part of the island, and called on the new Greek government to learn from the past.

However, he insisted that Turkey is pursuing a policy of good-neighborly relations in the Aegean, the Eastern Mediterranean and Cyprus.