Cyprus is Turkey's homeland: opposition MHP leader

ANKARA

A senior leader of the opposition Nationalist Movement Party has criticized the Turkish government and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus administration for putting bilateral ties under pressure.

“Cyprus is our homeland and heirlooms from our ancestors, and Cyprus is a national cause for us. Any withdrawal from the Cypriot issue means losing and defeat,” Nationalist Movement Party, or MHP leader Devlet Bahceli tweeted Thursday.

Bahceli’s remarks came after the newly-elected Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus President Mustafa Akinci said Monday that his government wanted "brotherly" ties with Turkey, rather than the traditional "foster land-motherland" relationship.

The remarks prompted a strong response from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who told Akinci that he “has to watch his words.”

Erdogan had said that Turkey made investments worth over a billion U.S. dollars in the Turkish Cypriot region, and reminded that Turkish soldiers died securing the land, highlighting the historical aspect of ties between Ankara and Lefkosa.

Bahceli criticized Erdogan and Akinci for the exchange of remarks, and called for focusing instead on the vital relationship between both sides.

The European Union recognizes the Greek Cypriot administration in the island, but Turkey recognizes the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus diplomatically.

Negotiations between the Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots resumed after a two-year pause in February 2013. The previous round of talks had collapsed because of the eurozone debt crisis and the Greek Cypriot side's turn to occupy the EU presidency in 2012.

However, the Greek Cypriot administration suspended talks over the divided island on Oct. 7, 2014 after Turkey sent a ship to monitor an oil-and-gas exploration mission off the coast of Cyprus.