With a fragmentary presentation of documents and photographs, the book promotes the Turkish narrative of Greek Cypriots massacring Turkish Cypriots.
With a presentation of documents and photos, the Turkish presidency is attempting to convince the international community of the need to resolve the Cyprus problem on the basis of two-state solutions.
They hope to achieve this through the book “Who’s to Blame? Today Cannot Be Considered Apart from the Past.” The book’s name is a rhetorical question for Ankara since it places the blame for the division of Cyprus on the Greek Cypriots.
This is the republishing of a French-language book by the Turkish government in 1974. The 93-page edition was released in Turkish and English on the 50th anniversary of the Turkish invasion of Cyprus.
However, the weight of the Turkish argument does not fall on 1974 but on the events of the 1960s, events that propagate the Turkish narrative of Greek Cypriots massacring Turkish Cypriots.
The book is an attempt to promote to the international community recognition of the illegal “Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus,” an entity only recognised by Turkey, and spread the narrative that Greek Cypriots are a danger to Turkish Cypriots.
Absurdly, the Turkish presidency refers to an alleged current pursuit of the Greek Cypriots to union with Greece. At the same time, the book accuses the Greek Cypriot side of propaganda.
Through the published material, Ankara attempts to justify the unjustifiable with its long-held narrative – that the Turkish invasion was done to protect the Turkish Cypriots, who the Greek Cypriots would otherwise wipe out.
In the book, distressing images are published, with corpses, including some dubious authenticity and some real events, which are presented differently. One example is the “Bathtub Crime,” infanticide by a Turkish army doctor blamed on Greek Cypriots.
In a statement on his social media account, Turkish communications director Fahrettin Altun said: “I hope this valuable book, which we believe will contribute to a better understanding of the true story of the Turkish Cypriots worldwide, will be auspicious.”
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan even contributed to the foreword of the new edition of the book.