Dennis Skentzis

Professor of History

[Lena Argiri @lenaargiri]

New: a significant development for the Eastern Mediterranean.The East Med Energy Center launches today at Rice University's Baker Institute in Houston, establishing a permanent platform for cooperation among US, Greece, Cyprus, Israel in energy, innovation, research, technology

[Harry Theocharous @TheocharousH]

TURKISH CYPRIOTS JOIN THE CALL TO END TURKEY‘S ILLEGAL OCCUPATION OF CYPRUS🚨

People like Eren Ali, a British born Turkish Cypriot and Oz Karahan, a Turkish Cypriot born in Turkey, are bravely condemning the Turkish occupation and demanding real justice for Cyprus. Voices like theirs prove that liberation is possible when we stand together.
The only solution is a free, united Cyprus under the Republic of Cyprus, the sole legitimate state on the island.

Let’s unite and demand:
▪️Immediate withdrawal of all Turkish troops from Cyprus
▪️All refugees return to their homes
▪️Illegal Turkish settlers returned to Turkey
▪️Full account of all missing persons
▪️Complete abolition of Turkey’s guarantor status

Cyprus belongs to Cypriots, not to occupation and division.

Video via @UKCypriotFed edited by Harry Theocharous

[Endy Zemenides @Zemenides]

Your daily reminder that Turkey continues its illegal 52 year occupation of #Cyprus and gaslights the world by casting itself (the aggressor) as a victim. #ItIsAnOccupation

[Dennis Skentzis @Digenis12]

Woodrow Wilson’s Legacy Is Loaded With Good and Bad, but His Work to Even the Economic Playing Field Is Often Overlooked https://t.co/Ptn8BJEPx3 via @smithsonianmag

[Harry Theocharous @TheocharousH]

ERDOGAN THREATENS EU MEMBER CYPRUS WITH INVASION🚨

Dear @vonderleyen, @kajakallas, @eucopresident, @EP_President and other EU leaders,

Is this the country you are giving everything to and trying to bring into the EU?
You are quick to sanction other countries but when it comes to Turkey, silence.

Take action against this regime now, suspend all agreements starting with the customs union, aviation agreement and sanctions.

Good evening Mr @antonioguterres, all good?

[Ictinus ®️ @ictinus_x]

⚠️The problem in Turkey isn’t Erdogan. It’s Turkey.

For decades, it has been shaped by a blend of neo-Ottoman ambition, and Islamist ideology-accompanied by revisionist rhetoric, military posturing and territorial claims against its neighbours.

This is a NATO member that threatens fellow allies, arms Islamist groups across the region, weaponizes migration for political leverage, and routinely holds its partners hostage for concessions.

Turkey is not merely a difficult ally. It is a security threat to the entire region.
❌The longer the West pretends not to notice, the higher the price.

[Shay Gal שי גל @ShayGal84]

Europe cannot promise solidarity while arming Ankara.

👇 A strategic file in @ekathimerini.

Ankara does not move alone.

Before Turkey coerces, Europe equips it.
Before the ship sails, the drone flies, the submarine dives or the aircraft climbs, a European capital has signed.

That is the contradiction Brussels refuses to name.

Athens and Nicosia are told that Turkish pressure is “bilateral”, while European governments license the platforms, sustain the systems, certify the access and launder Ankara’s coercion through industry.

It is not bilateral when the threatened border is European.

It is not frozen when Cyprus remains occupied, Turkish forces remain in the north, Ankara militarizes the island and still refuses to recognize the Republic of Cyprus.

It is not commerce when a state keeps a casus belli against Greece and turns Blue Homeland into doctrine, law and pressure.

The sharper test is export law. Under Common Position 2008/944/CFSP, clear risk of aggression, force-backed claims or danger to member-state security is enough. Law must stop the license before Ankara creates the evidence.

Madrid cannot architect and sustain TCG Anadolu, then call it neutral when a Spain-enabled platform parades off occupied Cyprus on the invasion’s 50th anniversary.

Berlin cannot preach restraint while Turkish submarines reshape the underwater balance of the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean.

Rome cannot open Europe’s unmanned-systems gate to Baykar and hide behind industry.

London sits outside the EU legal contradiction and inside NATO’s strategic one. It cannot lead Ankara up the next air-power ladder and pretend alliance language sanitizes coercion.

Paris was the exception. Now it is the warning. It read the Eastern Mediterranean earlier than most, strengthened Athens and understood that Ankara was not a difficult ally, but a power problem.

That is precisely why the Safran-Baykar threshold matters. Sensors, optronics, navigation and guidance are not accessories. They are the kill chain.

This is Europe’s test.

Article 42(7) cannot be a fire alarm after aggression while export law becomes the paperwork before it. Solidarity that begins only after the first shot is not strategy.

It is condolence with a legal citation.

Ankara is not a normal defense customer until it removes the casus belli, ends maritime coercion, stops using occupied northern Cyprus as a military platform and accepts the legal personality of the Republic of Cyprus.

Until then, Turkish-linked defense cannot be treated as European business.

No export is innocent.
No sustainment is technical.
No co-production is neutral.
No invoice is private.

Europe now runs two policies:
One calls Greek and Cypriot borders European.
The other arms the power designed to test them.

🔗 https://t.co/pgAwfKMB9E

[Dennis Skentzis @Digenis12]

These Italian Teenagers Stayed Overnight at Their School. They Found Ancient Roman Ruins Hidden in the Basement https://t.co/GzbpSS7d2L via @smithsonianmag

[Endy Zemenides @Zemenides]

Your daily reminder that Turkey’s illegal occupation of 🇨🇾 is into its sixth decade. Attempts to whitewash Ankara-the chief sponsor of the Muslim Brotherhood, the chief enabler of Hamas, a NATO member that blackmails the alliance-can no longer ignore that 🇹🇷 occupies the president of the 🇪🇺. #ItIsAnOccupation

[Harry Theocharous @TheocharousH]

@mustafaciftcitr Turkic state members betrayed you?

[Marios Karatzias @MariosKaratzias]

🚨 #BreakingNews

Turkish forces just harassed the Greek state aircraft carrying Defence Minister @NikosDendias to Cyprus this evening — along with the planes of EU Defence Ministers from France and the Netherlands.

All three aircraft were en route to Nicosia for tomorrow’s informal EU Defence Ministers’ Council on European Security, hosted under the Cypriot Presidency.

In other words: European ministers just got a live demonstration of what it means to be an EU member state under continuous occupation and threat by Turkey — the same country that constantly complains it isn’t getting enough “EU benefits.”

According to @cvenizelos / @philenewscy:

• The illegal “control tower” at occupied Tymbou airport interfered with communications.
• Two Turkish F-16s scrambled from the same occupied air base and shadowed the European ministers’ aircraft.

This isn’t a one-off. Turkey pulled the exact same stunt during previous informal EU meetings in Cyprus.

Yet today — while Ankara pretends it wants to “warm up” Euro-Turkish relations and the UN envoy begins fresh talks — it still can’t resist provoking Europe right in its own backyard,violating its own air space !

So… will the EU or the ministers involved issue a strong condemnation for this blatant violation of Cyprus’s sovereign airspace?
Or does that only happen when the victim is a Baltic state? 🤔
#Cyprus #EU #Turkey #EuropeanSecurity #EUDefence

[Dennis Skentzis @Digenis12]

America’s Original Travel Influencer Drew Up a Revolutionary Itinerary 200 Years Ago. There’s Still Plenty to See Along the Way https://t.co/LfpMPoXUmQ via @smithsonianmag

[Dr Helen Fry | WWII Historian @DrHelenFry]

Do please post something today on your X page, in honour of our Allied heroes.

They deserve to be remembered on the 82nd anniversary of D-Day.

[Dennis Skentzis @Digenis12]

A Shipwreck 'Almost Beyond Belief' Stunned Archaeologists in Norway With Its Cargo of Intact Porcelain Dishes and Luxury Goods https://t.co/mLyMWUkRhE via @smithsonianmag

[Dennis Skentzis @Digenis12]

Rare Roman Gold Ring Found in England Sheds Light on Britain’s Ancient Revolt https://t.co/EYHxU3xarZ via @greekreporter

[Sarah @Sarah404BC]

The Rich History of the Acropolis of Lindos on Rhodes

https://t.co/4mquv87bDn

[Dina Titus @repdinatitus]

Ambassador, I’m sorry to say it appears you’ve developed a bit of clientitis.

Let me help you — Turkey cannot rejoin the F-35 program while it maintains Russian S-400s. If you or @POTUS try to circumvent that, Congress will stop you.

By the way, aren’t you in the Epstein Files?

[Paul Antonopoulos 🇬🇷🇨🇾 @oulosP]

🇨🇾🇰🇿 Turkish media and nationalist opinion reacted with anger after being hit with the reality of Cyprus’s successful outreach to Central Asia, which destroyed Turkey’s delusions that the Turkic States would recognize the Turkish occupation of northern Cyprus as an independent state.

President Nikos Christodoulides, visiting Kazakhstan on June 3 to open an embassy and inaugurate a direct flight between the two countries, also received the Order of Friendship of the First Degree from Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev. Christodoulides, accompanied by Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos, is visiting Tajikistan today before returning to Cyprus. Kombos will then proceed to Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan.

Christodoulides's monumental visit to Kazakhstan is another diplomatic victory for the internationally recognized Republic of Cyprus at the expense of the so-called “Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC),” which Turkey alone recognizes in violation of UNSC Resolutions. Turkey is the only country in the world that does not recognize the Republic of Cyprus as the legitimate government of the whole island.

The high-profile visits, embassy openings, and direct flights by the Republic of Cyprus have essentially destroyed any hope Ankara had of the Turkic countries of Central Asia recognizing the Turkish occupation as an independent state.

In their lunacy, Turkish nationalists view Kazakhstan’s balancing act as a betrayal of the Turkic world. Kazakhstan and other Central Asian Turkic states, such as Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, have deepened ties with Nicosia, while Turkish Cypriots hold only observer status in the Organization of Turkic States. Kazakhstan has publicly supported UN Security Council resolutions that deem the so-called “TRNC” invalid and affirm the Republic of Cyprus's sovereignty and territorial integrity. In Turkey, this is interpreted as Turkic "brothers" siding with the Greek Cypriots and the EU over pan-Turkic “solidarity.”

The inaugurations of Cyprus's embassy in Astana and Kazakhstan's embassy in Nicosia, the launch of direct flights, and business deals are concrete steps that enhance the Republic of Cyprus's global legitimacy and connectivity. Turkish media have framed this as a "diplomatic rift" or a setback for Ankara's Cyprus policy. And of course it is. Not even Pakistan or Azerbaijan is willing to recognize Turkey's occupation as a sovereign state - so who else is left?

Central Asian states have increasingly engaged with the Republic of Cyprus, despite Turkey's objections. Turkey sees its influence in the Turkic world being diluted by EU and economic incentives that pull these countries toward the Republic of Cyprus.

Turkish Cypriot leaders have also visited Kazakhstan, but these visits carry less weight internationally. The Cypriot president's high-level reception and awards amplify frustration in Ankara.

Turkey’s reaction is rooted in the zero-sum nature of the Cyprus dispute: any success for the Republic of Cyprus is a loss for the already non-existent legitimacy of the so-called “TRNC” and a challenge to Turkey's long-standing position.

By building direct links with Cyprus, Kazakhstan is diversifying its diplomatic and economic channels. Cyprus positions itself as a potential maritime and logistics partner in the Middle Corridor, also known as the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route, a multimodal trade and transport network connecting East Asia to Europe. Cyprus is essentially offering an alternative or complementary route that bypasses some Turkish influence.

Turkey now faces a fragmentation of its narrative in Central Asia. The region is pragmatically balancing relations — engaging with Turkey on cultural issues but aligning with international law regarding the Republic of Cyprus. This forces Ankara to confront the limits of its influence, where even a small republic of about a million people can easily undo Turkey’s great efforts and investments to become the dominant power in Central Asia.

[Dennis Skentzis @Digenis12]

@JenM023 About time he did something! Doesn't he realize this is a free agent year for him.

[Harris Samaras @HarrisSamaras]

U.S. Secretary of State @SecRubio stated that Turkey cannot be readmitted into the F-35 program because the issue is regulated by legal provisions (NDAA¹ and CAATSA²).

Then how come Ambassador Tom Barrack, the U.S. Ambassador to Turkey, that works under the Secretary of State claims otherwise?

Puzzlement: Who is U.S. Ambassador to Turkey Tom Barrack working for if he is not for the Secretary of State?

Query: Could it be that either of the two is lying, Mr. Rubio or Mr. Barrack, or could it be that a ruse is by both in play?

Why the query? Because it must be the first time or one of the very rare times in U.S. diplomacy history when an Ambassador is cancelling the Secretary of State, and repetitively.

¹ National Defense Authorization Act
² Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act

| @repdinatitus @USAMBTurkiye #USA #Turkey #F35s