Turkish professor calls for sanctionS on Turkey over Cyprus invasion; cites Russian invasion

A Turkish professor of political science has called on NATO to sanction Turkey over its 1974 invasion and continued illegal occupation of Cyprus, citing the example of sanctions on Russia for doing exactly the same thing in Ukraine.

Pointing out the obvious double-standards, Mehmet Efe Caman, a visiting Assistant Professor who teaches politics at Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada, made the comments on his twitter account.

“Turkey invaded Cyprus in 1974, separated the sovereign and independent country by using force and has occupied the northern half of it ever since with a constant military presence. Turkey is a @NATO member. NATO must address it and coerce Ankara to end its illegal occupation.”

“NATO must also put pressure on Turkey to stop the assimilation policies towards the Kurds in Turkey based on a Turkish-supremacist identity. Turkey must respect human rights and return to the rule of law and constitutional liberal democracy.

“So, apply the same criteria to Turkey that you apply to the Russia’s invasion in Ukraine. Russia is an aggressor state violating the international law. Turkey has been doing the same since 1974. Ergo, Turkey is also an aggressor state violating the international law.”

Dr. Caman earned his B.A. – M.A. and obtained his Ph.D. at Augsburg University in Germany. He focuses on democratization and human rights as well as on Turkish politics in comparative politics and international politics contexts. He is broadly interested in democratic decay, current human rights issues in Turkey and political justification mechanisms of authoritarian regimes. Dr. Caman has published a monograph on Turkish foreign policy, numerous book chapters and scholarly articles in English, German and Turkish about topics related to his research areas. His recent research investigated why the Turkish opposition accepted the regime’s discourse in the process of democratic decay. He taught in Germany (2005-2006) before he went to Turkey where he worked several years as a professor, and also served as department head and dean. He has been teaching at MUN Political Science Department since August 2015.