ATHENS – Just a few days before the 50th anniversary of Turkey’s unlawful invasions of Cyprus which seized the still-occupied northern third of Cyprus, Greece’s Defense Minister Nikos Dendias drew fire for calling Turkey an “intruder” jumping on the chance.

While there’s been a detente between the countries, Dendias set off criticism in Turkey which said the two invasions were a peace operation to protect Turkish-Cypriots over a Greek military junta engineered coup to unite Cyprus with Greece.

In statements after meeting with his Cypriot counterpart Vasilis Palmas in the divided capital of Nicosia which separates the two sides, Dendias said that the 1974 coup had “opened the back door to the intruder who was lurking,” a reference to Turkey.

“It is unacceptable for a European capital, the capital of an EU member state, a member of the United Nations, to be divided for half a century, to have green or any other colored lines. Of course, it is not acceptable that international law and the United Nations Charter have been violated for the past 50 years,” Dendias said.

He also called for “a just and viable solution” to the Cyprus problem in line with United Nations Security Council resolutions, which call for a bi-zonal, bi-communal federation that’s been rejected by Turkish-Cypriot hardline leader Ersin Tatar.

He has demanded instead that the UN and world recognize the rogue self-declared republic that’s accepted only by Turkey in the world although UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has sent yet another envoy to try to restart talks.

Turkey’s Defense Ministry said Dendias’ comments were “false” and “slanderous,” and said that in 1974, “the heroic Turkish army took action in accordance with Turkey’s right of guarantee derived from international agreements and saved the Turkish-Cypriot people, who were subjected to all kinds of persecution by the Greek-Cypriot side between 1963 and 1974, from an attempted genocide.”

Mocking that, Greece’s Defense Ministry expressed faux “regret” Dendias had “omitted to ‘thank’ the Turkish forces of invasion and occupation for their ‘services’ in defending the principles … in the United Nations Charter, the territorial integrity of the Republic of Cyprus, the protection of human rights and democracy.”

Turkey said, “Thanks to the courage and presence of the Turkish army, no blood has been shed in Cyprus since 1974. The oppression of the Greek junta on the Greek-Cypriot people has been eliminated, the military regime in Greece has been overthrown and the return to democracy has been made possible. The Turkish army will continue to be the guarantor of peace and stability in Cyprus,” the statement continued.

That was in reference to Turkey keeping 40,000 soldiers on the occupied, isolated side, which led to a breakdown in the last round of reunification talks in July, 2017 at the Swiss resort of Crans-Montana, along with demands by Turkey and the Turkish-Cypriots for the right of further military intervention – another invasion.

Turkey’s ministry added: “We call on the Greek defense minister to abandon his efforts to undermine the common stance of the leaders of the two countries, which aims to promote Turkey-Greece relations in a constructive manner. Mr. Dendias’ attempts to advance his political career by creating turmoil between the Turkish and Greek people will not yield any results.”