On July 8, 2026, the European Parliament (EP) adopted a resolution addressing alleged sexual violence against Cypriot women during the 1974 Peace Operation, with 575 votes in favor, 33 against and 43 abstentions. The text, drafted under the rapporteurship of Greek-origin Member of the EP Eleonora Meleti, demands reparations from Türkiye and calls for the complete withdrawal of Turkish troops from the island.
Turkish Republic Ministry of Foreign Affairs described the resolution as containing "baseless and preposterous allegations against the heroic Turkish Armed Forces," while the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) Ministry of Foreign Affairs called the text yet another manifestation of the European Parliament's "biased, prejudiced and politically motivated" approach to the Cyprus issue. AK Party spokesperson Ömer Çelik, for his part, called the resolution "a despicable slander," stating that the text had no basis in reality whatsoever.
Selective sources, one-sided narrative
Perhaps the most striking flaw of the resolution is that it focuses exclusively on the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) while making no mention whatsoever of the "Bloody Christmas" massacre carried out by Greek EOKA militants against Turkish Cypriot civilians in 1963-64, nor of the attacks that followed.
