How will Erdogan open the roads closed by the European Union on the island of Cyprus?

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's visit to the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus last month generated tremendous results and reactions, as the Cyprus issue has not yet been resolved, and it represents a fundamental point of contention between Turkey on the one hand, and Greece, which is behind the European Union on the other.

Within this complex issue, there is a sub-problem represented in the Marash area, which was closed 37 years ago.

Maraş is under the control of the Turkish side, but the Turkish Cypriots were unable to rebuild it pending an agreement on it, given that the entire Varosha region needs careful study before reaching a final agreement on it.

President Erdoğan believes that the European Union is primarily responsible for the 37-year stalemate on the Cyprus issue.

In fact, the Greek side of Cyprus has been accepted into the European Union, despite the long-standing dispute.

The government of this part of the island, along with the state of Greece, did not hesitate to use their relationship with the European Union to garner support in the struggle against Turkey.

As a result, the Union is no longer a mediator or arbitrator between the conflicting parties, but rather stands with the Greek side against Turkey, as it tries to impose the arguments and demands of the Greek Cypriots.

Despite the accession of the Greek part of Cyprus to the European Union, and its belief that it had gained a strong ally and became in need of negotiation, Turkey did not surrender to this situation.

This is the main reason that has made this problem unsolvable so far, as the Greek side of Cyprus refuses to agree on a solution that guarantees coexistence between the two sides of the island in peace and justice, but rather insists on adopting a policy of denying the existence of the Turkish side.

It is noteworthy that the Turkish Cypriots were facing an imminent danger before 1974, and they did not have any weapons to defend themselves.

After they were subjected to all forms of persecution, discrimination and massacres, the Turkish army decided to enter the island in order to protect them from genocide in a manner very similar to what the Bosnian people and the residents of the Gaza Strip were subjected to.

After this war, it became clear that coexistence between the two ethnic groups is no longer possible. Despite this, the Turkish side did not close the door to reconciliation and negotiation within the framework of the European Union and under the auspices of the United Nations.

The two sides agreed on the peace plan presented by Kofi Annan to be put to a referendum in 2004, and the results showed that the Turkish side approved this proposal by 65%, while the Greek side rejected it in the same proportion, and this clearly reveals the side that obstructs the settlement of this issue.

Despite the accession of the Greek part of Cyprus to the European Union, and its belief that it had gained a strong ally and no longer needed to negotiate, Turkey did not surrender to this situation.

Because the island has Turkish Muslims who cannot be left alone, as was the case before 1974. This issue has been in a stalemate for 17 years, that is, since the 2004 referendum, but Erdogan's recent visit to the island represented a new model that reflects his style of managing thorny political files.

Erdogan is distinguished by taking bold steps to force everyone to express their positions, when he sees that the chronic problems can no longer be resolved, and that the stalemate is harming his country.

This same method was adopted by Erdogan in the Azerbaijan war, during the siege of Qatar, and in Libya and Somalia.

These decisions have always subjected the Turkish president to harsh criticism, but he is well aware of these risks.

He visited the Turkish side of the island of Cyprus during the same period last year, and went to the Marash area during heavy rain.

During the current year, he announced that he would visit Marash, and that he was ready to open it to the reconstruction efforts.

It seems that this announcement forced everyone to change their positions and end the stalemate on this issue.

The European Union’s reactions continued to President Erdogan’s visit to the Marash region, where the European Union’s foreign and security policy chief Josep Borrell expressed his deep concern about Erdogan’s statements, and the President of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, Ersin Tatar, describing the move as a unilateral and unacceptable decision, leading to a change in the status of Marash area.

For his part, British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said that "the United Kingdom is deeply concerned by Erdogan's statements regarding the reopening and reconstruction of the Marash district, which forms part of the closed Varosha region."

US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken also condemned the change in the character of the Varosha region on the island of Cyprus, considering that this initiative violates UN resolutions 550 and 789, which stipulate that the United Nations supervises the Varosha region.

While Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias considered the Turkish decision an attempt to finish off all hopes of unifying the two parts of the island.

The Egyptian government also gave its role in this issue, which is surprising, as it is natural for Greece, the European Union and the United States to comment on these developments, but it is difficult to understand the reason for the intervention of the Egyptian side, which expressed its concern about the partial conquest of Varosha and changing its color, considering That it violates the resolutions of the UN Security Council.

Here, several questions are asked, including: Why does Egypt care about this issue?

And what is its interest?

The second question is, how long should we leave the problems hanging while awaiting international legitimacy?

In Azerbaijan, Syria, Somalia, and of course in Palestine, we can see that waiting for the intervention of the United Nations is largely an endless waiting, so whenever Turkey finds a solution, it does not hesitate to take steps to implement it.

In addition, Erdogan continued to express his good intentions by assuring that the move to open Marash for reconstruction would take into account the laws of both sides, and would contribute to finding a solution to the issue and breaking the long-standing deadlock. As a concrete step to express goodwill, Ankara confirmed that it will share with the southern part the waters that come from Turkey to Northern Cyprus via the sea, to contribute to the consolidation of peace and finding a solution on the island. Of course, there is no point in sitting around waiting for the United Nations forever.