49th anniversary of the Cyprus Peace Operation. On July 20, 1974, with the historical operation order given by Erbakan Hodja to eliminate the persecution of the Muslims on the island of Cyprus, our army crossed the Beşparmak Mountains, which is called insurmountable, in a short time, and with a successful operation, rescued the Muslims from oppression and re-established peace and tranquility on the island.
And thus, with the Cyprus Victory, our noble nation regained ground after 200 years.
THE ISLAND WAS CONCERNED THAT IT BELONGS TO ENGLAND WITH LAUSANNE
With the Treaty of Lausanne signed at the end of World War I, Turkey accepted that the island of Cyprus belonged to England.
Thus, the Cyprus issue was not included in Turkey's domestic and foreign policy until the 1950s. Until July 20, 1974, Muslim blood was shed in Cyprus for years.
After the disintegration of the Ottoman Empire, the British kept the lands of Cyprus occupied by the colonial British for years.
Thousands of Muslim Turkish citizens were brutally murdered under the rule of British soldiers, within the framework of the Greeks' continuous Enosis (joining to Greece) plans.
The life of the Republic of Cyprus, which was established in 1960 under the guarantor of the guarantor states, was also short-lived.
Because the Greeks claiming Enosis continued to shed Muslim blood with their attacks.
ENOSIS
Enosis refers to the attachment and annexation of Cyprus to Greece within the framework of the Megali Idea goal.
Enosis, which literally means "annexation" (that is, connecting the island to Greece), has been a topic on the agenda since 1791, when the first Megali Idea map was drawn.
In a sense, it can be said that the Cyprus problem has existed since this date. The Greek demand for Cyprus took place on December 30, 1918.
Giving a note to England, Russia and France on October 18, 1828, Greece officially put forward the idea of Enosis for the first time and wanted the island to be connected to itself.
FIRST ATTEMPT AND US RESPONSE
Türkiye could intervene in the island with the London and Zurich agreements. In this context, İsmet İnönü government received the authority to intervene in Cyprus from the Grand National Assembly of Turkey in 1964.
The government's authority to intervene and the announcement that it would intervene on the island on June 7 brought Turkey and the United States of America (USA) face to face.
On June 5, US President Johnson sent a letter to Prime Minister İsmet İnönü, the content of which was rude and harsh.
In the famous letter, which went down in history as the Johnson Letter, it was stated with harsh sentences that Turkey's intervention in the island would put the two NATO countries (Turkey and Greece) in a state of war, that this was unacceptable, that NATO might not be with Turkey in a possible intervention by the Soviet Union against Turkey, and that the military supplies given to Turkey by the United States within the framework of the 1947 Treaty could not be used in this intervention.
This letter, which was written outside the diplomatic practices that Turkey received from its most trusted ally, the United States, caused disappointment in Turkey. This letter clearly showed how lonely Turkey is in the international arena.
America was openly threatening Turkey. Although İsmet İnönü's first reaction to the letter was a resounding "The world will be rebuilt, Turkey will take its place", Prime Minister İsmet İnönü had to give up the idea of intervening in Cyprus.
ERBAKAN'S OPERATION ORDER
The Milli Gorus mentality, which was at work when history showed 1974, did not remain silent any longer against the persecution of Muslims on the island.
While the plane of then-Prime Minister Bülent Ecevit had just taken off from Etimesgut Military Airport to discuss the Cyprus issue with the UK, the guarantor country, Deputy Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan convened the National Security Council (MGK) with an urgent agenda code.
Despite all the objections made while the MGK was in progress, Erbakan Hodja gave that historical order to the Chief of General Staff of the period, General Semih Sancar, for the ships to set off.
Despite the refusal of the then CHP Chairman and Prime Minister Bülent Ecevit from the Western powers, the bloodshed was stopped after the determined attitude of his coalition partner MSP Chairman and Deputy Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan.
ERBAKAN, ARCHITECT OF THE OPERATION ACCORDING TO THE BRITISH
According to the information that emerged in the past years, it was revealed that the Cyprus Peace Operation was not carried out by the then Prime Minister Bülent Ecevit, but by our then Deputy Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan Hodja.
Historian Mustafa Sıtkı Bilgin, who scanned the documents of the period in the British archives, revealed the facts with documents as a result of his research.
After a 10-year research in the British National Archives for his doctoral study, Bilgin scanned the British archives for six months in 2005 and 2006 for the TUBITAK project titled "The Great Powers, Turkey and Cyprus Issue (1967-1975)" and disclosed important information for the first time in February 2010.
It is understood from the reports written by the British ambassador in Ankara to the British Foreign Office and the minutes of the speeches of the statesmen who attended while the British Prime Minister and his cabinet were evaluating the issue.
From Ecevit's visit to London and the correspondence between the Turkish and British government, it is seen that Ecevit was reluctant about the operation and sought a solution without going to war.
According to the documents, Necmettin Erbakan is more active and willing to carry out the Cyprus Operation. Ecevit, on the other hand, appears to be unwilling to go to war.
In the reports from the British Embassy at the time, it is stated that Erbakan was in line with the General Staff and that the operation was necessary, and that his intention was to take all of Cyprus. It is also stated in the documents that Erbakan gave full support to the Chief of General Staff of the period, General Semih Sancar and the Turkish army.