Community Activist\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/An-Israeli-air-force-F-15-1024x576.jpg\")
Send Israeli Peacekeepers to Cyprus<\/a><\/blockquote>
National Security Journal
Harry J. Kazianis – Editor-In-Chief and CEO
800 N King Street Suite 304
Wilmington, DE 19801<\/p>\n\n\n\n
November 1, 2025 <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dear Mr. Kazianis,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At the outset, I must note that the article in question repeatedly refers to the nation as \u201cTurkey,\u201d despite the fact that the country\u2019s official and internationally recognized name is T\u00fcrkiye. Respecting a nation\u2019s chosen name is not symbolic\u2014it is a matter of acknowledging the identity and will of its people. I am writing in direct response to Michael Rubin\u2019s recent piece advocating for the deployment of Israeli forces in the sovereign territory of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus and calling for Turkish peacekeeping forces to be barred from participating in the stabilization of Gaza. His assertions are not merely historically inaccurate they reflect a consistent posture of antagonism toward T\u00fcrkiye\u2019s sovereignty, diplomatic legitimacy, and historical truth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Let us be unequivocal: T\u00fcrkiye did not \u201cinvade\u201d Cyprus. The Turkish Peace Operation of 1974 was carried out under the legal authority of the 1960 Treaty of Guarantee, which empowered the three guarantor states T\u00fcrkiye, Greece, and the United Kingdom to intervene should the constitutional order or the security of either community be endangered. It was Greece\u2019s own extremist and illegal coup, orchestrated with the objective of Enosis the annexation of Cyprus by Greece that triggared T\u00fcrkiye\u2019s intervention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This was not speculation; it was confirmed by Greece itself. The Athens Court of Appeals Decision No. 2658\/79 (March 21, 1979) acknowledged that the coup was engineered by Greek officers and was the direct cause of the events of 1974.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In contrast to this unlawful coup, T\u00fcrkiye\u2019s action was a necessary humanitarian and legal measure to stop mass killings, village burnings, ethnic cleansing, and forced displacement directed against Turkish Cypriots. The continued presence of the Turkish Peace Force in Northern Cyprus remains the sole guarantee that Turkish Cypriots may live in safety and dignity today. History is not something to be rewritten to fit modern editorial fashion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Furthermore, Rubin\u2019s comparison of Gaza with the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus is a deliberate distortion. Northern Cyprus is a functioning democracy with its own parliament, rule of law, civil institutions, and elected leadership. Turkish Cypriots overwhelmingly supported a peaceful federal settlement during the 2004 Annan Plan referendum 65% voted \u201cYes\u201d while the Greek Cypriot side rejected reunification with 85% voting \u201cNo,\u201d following an emotional televised appeal urging rejection by their leader, Tassos Papadopoulos. If this region remains divided, it is not by the will of Turkish Cypriots.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The proposal to replace UNFICYP with Israeli troops is not a diplomatic strategy; it is a provocation. It would escalate regional tensions and deliberately undermine delicate peace mechanisms. And the suggestion to remove the Turkish Cypriot flag from the mountainside is not political commentary it is cultural vandalism .<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What compounds the tragedy is the silence of those who are entrusted to defend our community\u2019s dignity. The absence of a clear, strong, and principled response from Consulate General Ambassador Ahmet Yazal Republic of Turkiye to New York leaves our community exposed to mischaracterization and distortion. At such a moment, silence is not neutrality it is abandonment by the worst Consulate General our community has seen in 40 years. If our history, sacrifices, and rights are challenged publicly, then they must also be defended publicly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As a citizen, a community activist, and someone who has always advocated for peace and dignity rooted in historical truth for what I call it the Turkish Republic of Cyprus, I cannot remain silent where others choose to do so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Our NATO ally T\u00fcrkiye has never opposed peace, transparency, or negotiation grounded in fairness. But it will not accept erasure, revisionism, or the rewriting of the lived suffering of Turkish Cypriots. Rubin\u2019s article is not a policy recommendation it is an attempt to delegitimize a people\u2019s right to exist in security on their own land. It nothing but a smear campaigns across the world against <\/p>\n\n\n\n
T\u00fcrkiye. All I can do is laugh at these ludicrous smear campaigns by the Hate Merchant Rubin, We will not allow smear campaigns to go unanswered. We will not stay quiet. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Respectfully,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ibrahim Kurtulus
Community Activist\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\nSend Israeli Peacekeepers to Cyprus<\/a><\/blockquote>