What the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan thinks of international law, he gives the best in Cyprus.
Because on the anniversary of the Turkish invasion of 1974, which led to the partition of the island, he announced that he would open and develop the ghost town of Varosha, in which predominantly Greek Cypriots had lived.
With this provocation he violates resolutions of the UN Security Council, and he offends all those with whom Ankara has recently laboriously improved relations.
Erdogan scores in Turkey
Erdogan is doing this because Cyprus is one of the few topics in Turkey where there is bipartisan consensus and he can score points at a difficult time.
He is also doing it to add an exclamation mark to Turkey's regional supremacy in the eastern Mediterranean.
The price for short-term success is high.
The first reactions show that Erdogan is endangering the détente that has begun against Greece and Israel.
It was these two countries that had allied themselves with Cyprus against Turkey in the dispute over the natural gas reserves.
Erdogan also risks a new conflict with the EU, with which Turkey wants to negotiate over the modernization of the customs union.
In this game with fire, Erdogan could achieve one goal: The reunification of the island is now a very long way off, and with a two-state solution, Turkey can keep its base in the eastern Mediterranean.