The Turkish Maritime and Global Strategies Center (TÜRK MAGS) organized a symposium titled “What is happening in the Eastern Mediterranean and Cyprus, what should be done” by the Eurasian Strategic Research Center (ASAM).
Speaking at the symposium, ASAM Chairman of the Board Murat Doğanay said, "I would like to express that we cannot understand why our so-called Western friends, who forced the Turks and Greeks in Cyprus to unite, are fueling separation in Syria and Iraq. Why do those who want to divide Iraq and Syria force us to unite in Cyprus?"
"IT LOOKS LIKE ENGLAND IN 1919s"
Former Minister of Foreign Affairs Prof. Dr. Şükrü Sina Gürel spoke at the symposium.
"The United States today is similar to Britain in 1919. Now that European supremacy has come to an end, Britain's role as a directing outside Continental Europe has come to an end. England then used Greece as a ram against Turkey. What does the US want to do now? It wants to use some elements from our south and Greece as a ram against Turkey," he said.
“IT IS A POLITICAL PROBLEM, NOT ECONOMIC”
Speaking at the conference, retired Ambassador Uluç Özülker stated that the problem in the Eastern Mediterranean is not an economic one, but a political one.
"The Eastern Mediterranean will continue as a field of contention. Turkey is a part of it whether you want it or not. We sent our ships here. A great deal of pressure was put on us for political reasons, we had completed our drilling works to a large extent and we withdrew these ships and sent them to the Black Sea," he said.
“EXCLUSIVE ECONOMIC ZONE SHOULD BE ANNOUNCED”
Head of Turkish Maritime and Global Strategies Center (TÜRK MAGS) Assoc. Dr. Cihat Yaycı, emphasized that according to Article 16 of the Lausanne Peace Treaty, Turkey cannot be excluded from Cyprus:
"Article 16 of the Lausanne Peace Treaty introduces a general arrangement regarding all other parts of the country, such as Cyprus, Mosul, Kirkuk and the Aegean Islands, which are subject to the transfer of sovereignty. Turkey, after the entry into force of the Lausanne Peace Treaty, has reserved that it will have the right to have a say in the future of the sections of the country to which it has transferred its sovereignty, as one of the relevant parties mentioned in Article 16, or more accurately, as the first priority concerned state," he said.