Pakistan's involvement in the 1974 Turkish invasion of Cyprus

Turkey Pakistan flags Turkish Pakistani

After the two Turkish invasions in 1974 (July 20 and August 14 respectively), apart from Turkey itself, the two countries that recognised the occupying regime were Pakistan and Bangladesh. However, they withdrew their recognition in 1983 following UN Security Council Resolution 541.

In 2005, the President of Gambia expressed his country's readiness to recognise the "independence" of the occupied territories, as well as Azerbaijan, but after protests from the Cypriot Government, that intention was abandoned.

Pakistan, however, unlike the other countries had direct and extensive cooperation with Turkey in perpetrating the Turkish invasions of Cyprus.

In fact, on the website of Pakistan's seemingly state-controlled Defence forum, there are many photos of the Turkish invasion of Cyprus, such as the preparations of Operation Attila, the landing on the shores of Kyrenia, and the Turkish military's advance on Kyrenia.

In the hyperlink above you will find dozens of such photos, which were apparently posted, or re-posted during the 40th anniversary of the two Turkish invasions, "photos of the peace operation" as the Pakistani forum calls them.

Defence, which supports the Turkish positions to the core and justifies the inhumane invasions.

On November 18, 2017, in "Daily Time Pakistan", columnist Sultan M. Hali, a retired Group Captain of the Pakistan Army, while praising the celebrations in the occupied territories for the "34th anniversary" of the unilateral declaration of the pseudo-state, wrote among other things:

"I have a personal stake in the Cyprus issue since in 1974; I was an air crew in No. 6 Squadron of Pakistan Air Force, which was detailed to take medical aid to Ankara on a number of missions after Turkey intervened to rescue Northern Cypriots.:

And on January 12, 2018, a Pakistani former General, named Karamat Ahmed Karamat, spoke about his memories alongside the Turkish army during the invasions of Cyprus, even stating that "he was happy to have the opportunity to help his Turkish brothers and sisters."

Karamat Ahmed Karamat, a former Surgeon General, was part of a medical team sent to Turkey during the invasions to help wounded Turkish soldiers and civilians.

“It was July 17, 1974, when our team, consisting of 30 doctors, nurses and paramedical staff, left for Turkey aboard a special Pakistani military C-130 aircraft that arrived at Adana airport in Turkey in the evening. Soon after our arrival we were moved to military camps in Mersin and Tarsus areas," he said in an interview with the Anadolu Agency.

The said military doctor and his team served in Turkey until September 1974. It is noted that July 17 was the day that Turkish prime Minister Bülent Ecevit was in London and got his approval for the invasion...

Karamat Ahmed Karamat said that Turkey and Pakistan are two countries one nation and praised Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

In February 1958, a large group of Pakistanis also participated in the Turkish demonstration in London in favour of the "partition" of Cyprus.

Incidentally, according to a British document, dated 20.7.1974, the Israeli Ambassador in London then informed the Foreign Office that the Turkish Government had asked the Government of Israel to express its support for the Turkish invasion, but that his Government had not responded.

For 43 years, unfortunately, all successive Cypriot governments have failed and avoided holding all those foreign governments to account for their complicity and cooperation in the two barbaric Turkish invasions of Cyprus.

With the recent revelations mentioned above regarding the complicity of Pakistan in 1974, the Republic of Cyprus must demand reparations and other remedies from Turkey and all those countries that directly or indirectly supported the two ongoing Turkish invasions, which also includes Libya and the US.

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