UPDATE - Turkey condemns offensive stamp by S. Cyprus

UPDATES WITH FOREIGN MINISTRY STATEMENT

By Havva Kara Aydin

ANKARA (AA) – Turkey's ruling party spokesman on Friday condemned the Greek Cypriot administration stamp commemorating the 65th anniversary of the EOKA terror group.

“We condemn the Greek Cypriot administration for printing a stamp commemorating the 65th anniversary of the EOKA terrorist organization,” said Omer Celik, spokesman for the Justice and Development (AK) Party on Twitter.

“EOKA is a massacre network. This terrorist organization that killed the Turkish Cypriots ruthlessly can only be remembered with a curse,” he added.

He stressed that the Greek Cypriot administration's commemoration of EOKA shows that “it still supports this murder network.”

“The Turkish Cypriots existed and will continue to exist by fighting these murderous organizations,” he added, underlining Turkey’s endless support for Turkish Cypriots.

In a separate statement, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said: “EOKA, of which 66th anniversary was celebrated with commemoration ceremonies by the Greek Cypriot administration of Southern Cyprus, is a terrorist organization for Turkey and the Turkish Cypriot people.”

"The pain caused by the inhumane massacres carried out by this terrorist organization between 1963-1974, with the aim to eliminate the existence of the Turkish Cypriots on the Island, remains fresh in the memories," the ministry said.

Celebrating the anniversary of EOKA's founding and issuing stamps in its memory is yet another proof of the Greek Cypriots' mentality that ignores the very existence of the Turkish Cypriots and views them as a minority, still prevails today, the statement concluded.

The EOKA was a pan-Hellenic armed movement aiming for the unification of Cyprus with mainland Greece.

It forced Turkish Cypriots out of their homes and killed those who were in their way.

Following a military coup on the island led by the leader of the EOKA, Nikos Sampson, Turkey sent a peace mission to aid Turkish Cypriots in the north in 1974.

The island of Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when a Greek Cypriot coup was followed by violence against the island's Turks and Turkey's intervention as a guarantor power.

It has seen an on-and-off peace process in recent years, including a failed 2017 initiative in Switzerland under the auspices of guarantor countries Turkey, Greece, and the UK.

The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus was founded in 1983.