Ankara goals to create an “Islamic area”, totally Turkish, within the occupied territories, and on this context the strengthening of the Turkish inhabitants, the settlers, is included, together with the Islamization of the occupied territories. This technique might be achieved “autonomously” by the separatist entity or by annexing the occupied territory to Turkey.
The plans, which have been promoted and carried out for many years, had been significantly strengthened throughout the period when the AKP, Erdogan's celebration, started to rule in Turkey. It’s a technique based mostly on inhabitants and faith. Concerning the switch of settlers, it’s recalled that this began in 1975.
It’s apparent that the implementation of the Islamization plan is linked with different actions of the occupying energy in Cyprus. The continuing effort to improve the pseudo-state with the final word strategic pursuit of recognition. Nevertheless, as a result of this highway is troublesome, the Turks successfully impose on the occupied territories, with Turkification and Islamization of the area. It’s, in spite of everything, a parallel course, with the identical consequence.
It’s famous on this regard that in some mosques there are three or 4 imams. The occupied press places the variety of mosques within the occupied territories at 213 and the full variety of “spiritual affairs directorate” personnel at 240, noting that 120 of them are imams (Press and Data Workplace Notice “Efforts to Islamize Occupied Territories by Turkey », 2013). It’s identified that extra mosques than colleges are constructed within the occupied territories. The imams are – primarily – from Turkey, whereas there’s a sturdy affect in colleges and universities (e.g. out-of-school Koran classes and camps in Turkey).
It’s famous on this regard that there are two approaches to this effort.
The primary claims that Turkey goals to make the Turkish Cypriot neighborhood “Muslim”. A enterprise, which can be gaining floor, however just isn’t progressing because the planners intend because the Turkish Cypriots don’t settle for such logic. The second strategy holds that the Islamic infiltration is principally directed on the settler inhabitants. These from Turkey are clearly extra spiritual. “This growth is especially worrying, as a result of the Islamic affect is exerted underground and with out management, whereas its results will slowly start to turn into extra seen in your complete inhabitants residing within the occupied territories” (GTP Notice).
It’s clear that the Turkish planning goals, by erecting many mosques, to vary the character of the occupied and the prominence of non secular energy. All that is steadily rising the strain on the Turkish Cypriots.
Moreover, Islamic teams are lively within the occupied territories, that are linked to the “Directorate of Spiritual Affairs”. This “Directorate”, with a decisive position within the implementation of those plans, having a big price range, which generally will increase over time relying on the wants, “takes care” of paying for the electrical energy of the mosques, their upkeep and restore, charity and offering social and cultural help, building of a brand new mosque, hospitality bills, ceremonies, exhibitions and occasions.
It’s famous that the implementation of the Islamization mission has been undertaken by the Turkish “embassy” within the occupied territories, which has political accountability.
Wider designs
The dependence of the occupied, the Turkification of the area can also be carried out with initiatives and infrastructures, reinforcements of the trouble. The mission to switch water from Turkey to the occupied territories by sea with pipelines, the plan to switch electrical energy, present the intentions of the occupying energy. It’s recalled that {the electrical} interconnection between Turkey and the occupied territories has been underway for years. The mission often involves the fore, is mentioned within the public sphere, however to this point there are not any indicators that it’s going to transfer ahead within the foreseeable future. It’s clear that these are initiatives of full dependence of the occupied. The area is held militarily by Turkey and operationally the separatist entity is totally depending on Ankara. In spite of everything, the “state” of the occupied was harmonized with the Turkish one, adopting the identical establishments.
It’s famous that through the years the coverage of privatizing key pillars and companies of the pseudo-state was promoted. “By chance” the businesses that function are Turkish firms, which both have a relationship with the ruling celebration in Turkey, the AKP, or with Erdogan himself. The occupied territories have turn into the laundry of the Turkish institution, political and financial.
The settlers
In occupied territories they usually seek advice from the variety of inhabitants. Nobody can provide an actual quantity. And this for apparent causes. In an article in Europe (March 29, 2024), Aziz Shah, citing the newest report of the “Data and Communications Expertise Authority (December 2023), reviews that the figures for the 4th quarter of 2023, point out that there are greater than 1 million, cell phone subscribers. Actually, subscribers exceed a million by 20,451. In different phrases, a rise of 72,000 subscribers was famous from 2022. And these figures concern, as talked about, two firms.
Majority in opposition to the Greek Cypriots!
In one of many conferences of the Turkish President, with representatives of the separatist entity of the occupied, Erdoğan insisted on the problem of accelerating the inhabitants of the occupied, setting the aim of the Turkish presence being a majority over the Greek Cypriots! He identified to them that the one method is the mass switch of settlers and their “naturalization” within the pseudo-state. From the facet of the Turkish Cypriots, the problem of T/ok overseas and the try and repatriate them was raised. Ankara just isn’t detrimental about this, “incentives” are being sought, however it appears that evidently the precedence is the switch of settlers and their “naturalization”.
Dr. Savvidis: Islamization coincides with a change in Turkish claims on the Cyprus challenge
Dr. Petros Savvidis, creator of a extremely enlightening e-book entitled “The Islamization of Occupied Cyprus”, in his assertion to “F” on this topic, said that even if the Turkish Cypriot neighborhood is taken into account one of the crucial secular within the Muslim world, the definitive Islamization of the occupied territories, by the nationwide Islamic authorities of Etrogan, not leaves room for interpretation concerning the centuries-old cultural id of the occupied space, which has now disappeared. In his assertion, Petros Savvidis mentions the next: “The development of dozens of Ottoman-style Islamic mosques with a dome all through the occupied territory – because the Ottoman instances there have been solely 4 mosques with a dome in Cyprus – the addition of disproportionately massive minarets to the standard Turkish Cypriot “mescit “, and the development of two Islamic mosques, have eradicated each hint of Greekness and Christianity from the occupied territories. Whereas within the preliminary phases, the method of Islamization advanced steadily, implying the Turkish intention to culturally alter the occupied territories, the ultimate Islamization of the northern a part of the island leaves no room for misinterpretation of the Turkish intention to politicize the world. The Turkish Cypriot neighborhood, having taken benefit, economically and politically, of the unlawful occupation of Greek land and the destruction of the Greek-Christian id that flourished for hundreds of years on this place, silently watches the cultural rape of the occupied with out objection. The spiritual linen cottonism of the Ottoman previous has been artfully reworked into “political linen cottonism”, claiming on the one hand the safety and army ensures of Turkey and, on the identical time, the European advantages supplied by the Republic of Cyprus. The juncture of the definitive, irreversible, elimination of the Greek-Christian id and its de facto substitute by the Turkish-Islamic one shouldn’t be thought-about unintentional, because it coincides with the change in Turkish claims for an answer to the Cyprus challenge on the premise of two impartial states” .
