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Turkey Arrests Iranian Activist

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani chairing the Sixth Meeting of Supreme Council of Strategic Relations between Iran and Turkey | DPA
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani chairing the Sixth Meeting of Supreme Council of Strategic Relations between Iran and Turkey | DPA
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Turkey Arrests Iranian Activist

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani chairing the Sixth Meeting of Supreme Council of Strategic Relations between Iran and Turkey | DPA
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani chairing the Sixth Meeting of Supreme Council of Strategic Relations between Iran and Turkey | DPA

Turkish authorities arrested an Iranian women’s rights activist, Maryam Shariatmadari, in the southwestern Turkish city of Denizli in order to deport her back to Iran. The arrest took place on the eve of holding the Sixth Meeting of Supreme Council of Strategic Relations between Iran and Turkey.

In a short video shot from inside the police car and shared on her Instagram, Shariatmadari said that Turkish police detained her late at night and that her arrest was a pretext for her deportation.

“This is without cause. They have chosen a few people to sacrifice and deport. I only ask that you share this news, that is the only way you can help right now,” Shariatmadari said in the video.

The video was widely circulated on social media by Iranians who have been calling for Shariatmadari’s release and criticizing the Turkish government’s treatment of refugees.

Shariatmadari said that immigration police had arrested her for allegedly not obtaining legal residency documents.

The Iran International Network reported that, after her arrest, Shariatmadari was escorted to a hospital to get tested for the coronavirus, which is a prerequisite for travel between Iran and Turkey.

“History has shown that if returned to Iran, [Shariatmadari]’s life will be in imminent danger. She must not be returned to her oppressors,” former Iranian crown prince Reza Pahlavi said on Twitter.

Shariatmadari was one of several Iranian women who protested against compulsory hijab in Iran by removing and waving her headscarf in Enghelab (Revolution) Street in the capital Tehran. These women came to be known as the “girls of revolution street.”

Shariatmadari took off and waved her headscarf as she stood on a platform on Enghelab Street in 2018. Her action was met with a violent reaction from a police officer who threw her off the platform causing her injuries.

The Iranian judiciary sentenced Shariatmadari to one year in prison for “encouraging corruption by removing the hijab.”

Shariatmadari managed to flee to Turkey after being detained for a few days in Iran.

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Türkiye Insists on Two States for Ethnically Divided Cyprus as the UN Looks to Restart Peace Talks

UN Secretary General's Special Representative in Cyprus Colin Stewart, center, Cyprus' President Nikos Christodoulides, left, and the Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar talk as they attend the UN's end of year reception at Ledras Palace inside the UNbuffer zone in the divided capital Nicosia, Cyprus, Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)
UN Secretary General's Special Representative in Cyprus Colin Stewart, center, Cyprus' President Nikos Christodoulides, left, and the Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar talk as they attend the UN's end of year reception at Ledras Palace inside the UNbuffer zone in the divided capital Nicosia, Cyprus, Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)
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Türkiye Insists on Two States for Ethnically Divided Cyprus as the UN Looks to Restart Peace Talks

UN Secretary General's Special Representative in Cyprus Colin Stewart, center, Cyprus' President Nikos Christodoulides, left, and the Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar talk as they attend the UN's end of year reception at Ledras Palace inside the UNbuffer zone in the divided capital Nicosia, Cyprus, Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)
UN Secretary General's Special Representative in Cyprus Colin Stewart, center, Cyprus' President Nikos Christodoulides, left, and the Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar talk as they attend the UN's end of year reception at Ledras Palace inside the UNbuffer zone in the divided capital Nicosia, Cyprus, Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)

Türkiye on Wednesday again insisted on a two-state peace accord in ethnically divided Cyprus as the United Nations prepares to meet with all sides in early spring in hopes of restarting formal talks to resolve one of the world’s most intractable conflicts.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said Cyprus “must continue on the path of a two-state solution” and that expending efforts on other arrangements ending Cyprus’ half-century divide would be “a waste of time.”
Fidan spoke to reporters after talks with Ersin Tatar, leader of the breakaway Turkish Cypriots whose declaration of independence in 1983 in Cyprus’ northern third is recognized only by Türkiye.
Cyprus’ ethnic division occurred in 1974 when Türkiye invaded in the wake of a coup, sponsored by the junta then ruling Greece, that aimed to unite the island in the eastern Mediterranean with the Greek state.
The most recent major push for a peace deal collapsed in 2017.
Since then, Türkiye has advocated for a two-state arrangement in which the numerically fewer Turkish Cypriots would never be the minority in any power-sharing arrangement.
But Greek Cypriots do not support a two-state deal that they see as formalizing the island’s partition and perpetuating what they see as a threat of a permanent Turkish military presence on the island.
Greek Cypriot officials have maintained that the 2017 talks collapsed primarily on Türkiye’s insistence on permanently keeping at least some of its estimated 35,000 troops currently in the island's breakaway north, and on enshrining military intervention rights in any new peace deal.
The UN the European Union and others have rejected a two-state deal for Cyprus, saying the only way forward is a federation agreement with Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot zones.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is preparing to host an informal meeting in Switzerland in March to hear what each side envisions for a peace deal. Last year, an envoy Guterres dispatched to Cyprus reportedly concluded that there's no common ground for a return to talks.
The island’s Greek Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides says he’s ready to resume formal talks immediately but has ruled out any discussion on a two-state arrangement.
Tatar, leader of the breakaway Turkish Cypriots, said the meeting will bring together the two sides in Cyprus, the foreign ministers of “guarantor powers” Greece and Türkiye and a senior British official to chart “the next steps” regarding Cyprus’ future.
A peace deal would not only remove a source of instability in the eastern Mediterranean, but could also expedite the development of natural gas deposits inside Cyprus' offshore economic zone that Türkiye disputes.