Ankara, after fueling Armenia conflict, moves on to Varosha in Cyprus

Ankara provoked a new crisis with Cyprus on Thursday with plans to extend its illegal occupation of part of the island to include an area called Varosha. Turkey’s regime of Recep Tayyip Erdogan uses a new international crisis every week to distract from economic failures at home and to keep the public motivated through nationalist and religious action. Varosha is a beach area that has been abandoned for 46 years after Ankara invaded Cyprus and expelled Greek Cypriots from the northern part of the island. Ankara claims its illegal invasion was merely to “guarantee” the rights of Turkish Cypriots. However, the expulsion of Greeks and keeping them from returning to areas like...