Category: Cyprus

assembly@ataa.org

July 20, 2008, Washington DC – From early morning, over 45 Turkish Americans braved an Aegean-like sun and 100 degrees to gather in front of the Turkish Embassy and show solidarity with the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) on Turkish Cypriot Independence Day.
 
Organized by the Assembly of Turkish American Associations (ATAA), with the leadership of President-Elect and local attorney Gunay Evinch and coordinated by Georgetown University Fulbright graduate Sonay Kanber, nine local Turkish American groups participated in a tremendous show of Turkish American unity and solidarity.
 
About 30 Greek demonstrators, supposedly members of the newly formed, Greek ultranationalist Cyprus Action Network of America (CANA), strolled in at around 2pm, as Metropolitan Police sent them to the other side of the street.  The Greek demonstrators replicated decades-old allegations and hatred.  Screaming for the removal of Turkish and UNFICYP peacekeepers (there since 1963), CANA was quick to forget the ethnic cleansing and genocide that occurred against Turkish Cypriots between 1960 and 1974.
 
What was clearly abundant at the CANA demonstration was the anti-Turkish, anti-Muslim and, surprisingly, anti-immigrant slurs of Greek demonstrators.  Turkish Americans responded, “No Enosis – No Racism!”
 
Turkish Americans were the first to come, and last to leave, saluting the Turkish Cypriots for their sheer determination, strength, infatigueability, and independence with cheers, dance and song.
 
Remembering the Victims
 
We acutely remember that in the 1960s, Cypriot Minister of the Interior Polykarpos Yorgadjis conducted rallies in support of the extermination of Turkish Cypriots, declaring, “There is no place in Cyprus for anyone who is not Greek, who does not think Greek, and who does not constantly feel Greek.”  Yorgadjis created the “Akritas Plan” to achieve enosis (joining of Greece and Cyprus) by stripping Turkish Cypriots of all their rights, hamleting them, and then killing them.  Finally, in 1963, then-Cypriot president Archbishop Makarios III unilaterally declared the constitution “dead and buried”.
 
UN peacekeepers, as in the case of Bosnia in the 1990s, were utterly ineffective, and in 1974 the Turkish Republic was forced to intervene under the London-Zurich Accords to stop the ethnic killings and topple the Greek Junta.
 
Since the proclamation of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus in 1983, Turkish Cypriots have endorsed the 1992 UN Set of Ideas, 1994 UN Confidence Building Measures, and the 2004 UN Secretary General Kofi Annan Comprehensive Settlement Plan.  The Turkish Cypriots voted in favor of the Annan Plan by 70%, while the Greeks voted against it by 80%.  Still, the EU accepted a divided island, while the Turkish Cypriots continue to face alienation and embargos.  Efforts to ease the isolation of Northern Cyprus have been lead by Turkey and the United States.
 
In closing remarks, ATAA President-Elect Evinch thanked the Turkish American participants and stated:”Today, while we celebrate the self-determination of Turkish Cypriots, we also honor the victims of Enosis.  Throughout northern Cyprus there are mass graves of Turkish Cypriots massacred between 1960-1974.  There is a memorial at every mass grave.  The memorials bare the names and ages of the victims.  They are mostly senior citizens, mothers and children.  The truth shall always prevail in the end.”

Costas Pitas
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday July 23, 2008

“Cyprus is entering its most critical stage” is a phrase I have heard ad nauseam over the last decade. It feels as if the “Cyprus Problem”, as it has been dubbed, is characterised by a jolty movement from one crucial moment to another. However, at each turn a solution is always thwarted. It thus comes as no surprise that the proposed face-to-face negotiations between Cypriot president, Demetris Christofias and Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat will once again be “critical”. However, for the first time, the talks may well be the last chance for peace.

Cyprus gained its independence from Britain in 1960. Inter-communal violence between the two communities blighted the 60s and early 70s and in the summer of 1974, a coup, backed by the ruling military in Athens, overthrew the democratically elected President Makarios. Turkey attacked a week later in what the international community see as an illegal invasion and subsequent occupation. For Turks the same events were an act of liberation, establishing a Turkish Cypriot state, albeit one which is not recognised by anyone except Turkey.

Thirty-four years later, anyone under the age of 45 has no recollection of the two communities living harmoniously together. There is a concern that by growing up separately, it is becoming ever more difficult for a future reunification to succeed. Further, Greeks look on anxiously as holiday villas and hotels begin to crop up across the North, despite deep uncertainty as to the legality of purchasing such property. These were among the concerns that prompted the election of Christofias in the spring of this year. His victory centred on the promise to end his predecessor’s freeze on negotiations.

Although history is important, Cyprus must now look forward and the acrimony of the past must be put to one side. Fundamental to this process is to build trust between the two sides. Many Greek Cypriots will point to Turkey’s military prowess (it keeps an estimated 40,000 troops on the island making it one of the most militarised places in the world) and conclude they cannot believe Ankara’s promises will be fulfilled.

Many Turkish Cypriots also have concerns that a future solution must guarantee them equal standing with the far more populous Greek Cypriots. They do not want to be a minority whose concerns are overridden. Having said that, there is also grave concern that Turkey has already contributed to Turkish Cypriot marginalisation. Tens of thousands of settlers have been brought in from Anatolia to alter the demographic balance. This is of great concern to the many Turkish Cypriots who feel increasingly alienated in their own country with large numbers choosing to leave. It is all too often ignored that the culture and attitudes of both Greeks and Turks in Cyprus are frequently more similar to each other, than they are to the two “motherlands”.

This demonstrates the problem of the guarantor powers, Greece, Turkey and Britain. It may not have escaped your notice that Cyprus is in the ultimate strategic position. It is perfectly poised in the eastern Mediterranean to monitor happenings in the Middle East. This is why Britain will fight tooth and nail to preserve its bases on the island and why others will not want to relinquish their influence. Somehow, Cypriot leaders will have to pry the hands of various foreign powers from the island if a solution is firstly to be found, but equally as important is to work in the long term; Cypriots should decide their own future.

The recent opening of several border checkpoints between the north and south has been a most welcomed gesture and does demonstrate the good will from both sides to avoid permanent division. Christofias and Talat have a warm relationship, forged through the labour movement, and are eager to resolve the stalemate. The two must seize the scintilla of hope that has been reignited but also recognise that too often hopes have been dashed. We may finally have reached the critical moment.