A fresh wave of controversy has been stirred by Hulusi Akar, Turkey’s former defense minister and current head of the parliamentary Defense Committee, following inflammatory comments regarding Cyprus.

In a post on X, Akar issued a stark warning: “In the homeland of the Turkish Cypriots, those who dream of Easter… will experience their last Easter.” The remark has drawn sharp attention, adding to a pattern of provocative rhetoric directed at both Greece and Cyprus.

Akar has made similar statements in the past. On December 28, 2024, he controversially claimed that Kastellorizo lies within “swimming distance” of Turkey. “Kastellorizo is directly opposite us. Historically, it was bypassed in a way and ended up belonging to the Greeks,” he said, adding that Turkish military cadets are capable of swimming two kilometers. “Our Greek friends said, ‘Then swim.’ We replied, ‘God willing, a day will come when we will,’” Akar remarked, referencing tensions with Athens.

More recently, on April 2, he argued that the existence of two sovereign and equal states on Cyprus is, in his view, an inevitable outcome—a position aligned with elements of policy supported by allies of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Akar’s latest statements have once again brought the Cyprus issue into focus at a time when it remains a highly sensitive matter, both diplomatically and geopolitically, in the Eastern Mediterranean.