In her speech in parliament, Member of Parliament of the self-proclaimed “Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus” Doğuş Derya declared that the Turks of Cyprus cohabit with Armenians and Greeks, and that Turkish soldiers are violent. Her statement caused uproar in parliament.

As “ArmenPress” reports, citing the Turkish guncel58.com, Derya declared that the Turks need to confront the past in order to reconcile. “Nobody wins a war. Besides the Turks, the Greeks, Armenians and Maronites also suffered pain. They suffered losses and were left homeless. They were subject to assaults by Turkish soldiers,” she said.

Some deputies accused Derya of calling Turkish soldiers “violent” and demanded that she apologize, but the latter refused. Moreover, Derya has filed a complaint to the police about the MPs who insulted her in parliament.

After that, Doğuş Derya said the following in an interview with the “Vatan” Cypriot-Turkish newspaper: “The Turkish army committed war crimes during the war, using rape and assaults as “weapons”. Citizens were raped by soldiers during the events prior to and after 1974. The Turks need to confront the past for reconciliation and reunification,” she said.

Turkey seized one-third of Cyprus during the expansionary war unleashed in 1974. As in the past expansionary wars, Turkish soldiers once again raped non-Muslims, deprived them of their homeland and took their properties. The Turkish and Greek sectors of Cyprus aren’t making progress in their negotiations over their reunification because Turkey demands that Cyprus create a confederation for the Turkish sector, granting Turks full political rights, but the Republic of Cyprus is against that.