Tag: Ata Atun

  • Trusting the Greeks

    Trusting the Greeks

    In reality, the problem that lies at the root of the Cyprus problem and needs to be solved is the problem of ‘trust’.

    The number of Turkish Cypriots who sincerely trust the Greek Cypriots and Greeks is almost negligible.

    The roots of this mistrust go back to the early 20th century, but if we leave the past in the past and return to the present, we see that nothing has changed since then.

    As you know, the Greek Cypriots prevent all kinds of initiatives that will mention the name of the TRNC, that will bring the TRNC to the top and that will give the Turkish Cypriots a breath of fresh air. This includes touristic visits, economic and scientific activities.

    The Greek Cypriots are doing their best to isolate from the world the state that the Turkish Cypriots, who were subjected to a genocide between 1955 and 1974, similar to the genocide in Gaza today, managed to establish – as a result of their liberation in 1974 with the help and support of the motherland Turkey -.

    The Greeks, who have been terminating the negotiations that have been going on since 1968 to establish a so-called common state with the Turkish Cypriots, each time with a megalomaniacal attitude and with lame excuses, overturning the table and leaving, today, as if they were not the ones who left the negotiation table, they are trying to get the Turkish Cypriots to sit at the table, they are travelling from door to door and trying every way to put pressure on Turkey and the Turkish Cypriots.

    Recently, they did everything in their power to prevent our President Ersin Tatar from travelling to Australia and meeting with Australian local administrators and government members.

    They tried to do so, but this time they were not successful and for the first time a TRNC President was welcomed, hosted and visited Australia as ‘President’, even if not officially.

    The Greek Cypriots, who prevented the Turkish Cypriots from participating in international sports competitions, prevented the Turkish Cypriots from connecting to the world with direct flights, prevented the Turkish Cypriots from becoming an ‘observer’ member of the Organisation of Turkic States established by states of Turkish descent, and plotted all kinds of intrigues to prevent the Turkish Cypriots from establishing academic, commercial, industrial, social and cultural ties with the states of the world, have run out of credit, and it has become impossible for them to expect love and respect from the Turkish Cypriots.

    Although the UN representatives meet with the anti-TRNC people in the TRNC and present them as the general opinion of the Turkish Cypriots, the vast majority of the Turkish Cypriots do not want to establish a common state with the Greek Cypriots, who have been carrying out armed, economic and political attacks to destroy them for the last century, and where they will be relegated to minority status like the Maronites, Armenians and Latins after a while.

    The inhumane practices of the Atlantic Alliance, which isolates them from the world and does not recognise laws and rules, has been a great lesson to the Turkish Cypriots about who they can trust. 

    05.27.24 Trusting the Greeks

    The Atlantic Alliance, which has been providing financial and arms support to the terrorist formation operating under the names of PKK, YPG and similar names in the territory of North East Syria for years, is now trying to give legal status to their existence by supporting them to hold local elections illegally, but unfortunately, it has not imposed any sanctions to be taken seriously on the rulers of the ‘Hellenic Republic of Cyprus’, Greek Cypriots and Greece, who declared the ‘Hellenic Republic of Cyprus’ by overthrowing the internationally recognised ‘Republic of Cyprus’ by staging a coup d’état in Cyprus on 15 July 1974 and declared the ‘Hellenic Republic of Cyprus’ and announced the annexation of the island of Cyprus to Greece the next day. (Turkey, which saved the Turkish Cypriots from genocide and extinction, was subjected to an ‘arms and financial embargo’ immediately after the 1974 Peace Operation). In the United Nations Organisation, of which they are the protector and founder, they took the decision dated 18 November 1983 and numbered 541, which is a disgrace to humanity, isolating the Turkish Cypriots from the world.

    Now, while they are trying to illegally create a terrorist state in North East Syria, which will be completely under their control, I leave it to you to interpret the aim of bringing together two communities that have fought each other and whose anger has not subsided on the island where the world’s longest-lasting conflict is taking place, and giving the administration to the Greeks. Here, there is a 41-year-old state with all its institutions – not counting the Federated State – and there is an attempt to have terrorists establish a state there!

    What kind of global justice is this? Who, why and how should we trust?

    Prof. Dr. (Civil Engineer), Assoc. Prof. Dr. (UA. Relations) Ata ATUN

    Member of the Advisory Board of the TRNC President

    TRNC Republican Assembly 1st Term Deputy

  • EU provides aid for Northern Cypriots

    EU provides aid for Northern Cypriots

    The EU’s latest funding package for Northern Cyprus aims to help the process of reunification, but critics argue aid in itself won’t resolve the impasse.

    By Menekse Tokyay for Southeast European Times in Istanbul – 29/06/11

    photo  Turkey's EU accession negotiations have faltered over the Cyprus issue. [Reuters]
    photo Turkey's EU accession negotiations have faltered over the Cyprus issue. Reuters
    The European Commission approved 26.5m euros in funding for the Turkish Cypriot community Monday (June 27th), with the goal of promoting confidence building and reconciliation between the two parts of the divided island. Beneficiaries of the new funding will include civil society organisations, SMEs, farmers, schools and villages.

     

    In a press release, EU Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy Stefan Fuele emphasised the importance of the Commission’s activities in light of ongoing reunification talks.

    “These 26.5m euros demonstrate the continued commitment of the EU to the Turkish Cypriot community and to a Cyprus settlement,” he stated.

    But with Turkey’s EU negotiations blocked over Cyprus and the peace process slow to yield fruit, questions remain as to the effectiveness of the EU aid.

    According to Hugh Pope, director of the Turkey/Cyprus Project at the International Crisis Group, the latest tranche of EU aid reassures Turkish Cypriot hopes of one day joining the EU and prepares them for EU membership.

    “This is obviously a continuation of previous commitments, and is not in itself a reason for the talks to achieve new energy,” he told SETimes.

    In 2004, the EU committed itself to providing 259m euros in aid to Turkish Cypriots. By the end of 2010, 40% (110 euros) was spent. Prior to the latest tranche, only 1.5m euros had been approved for this year.

    “This financial support means the continuation of the EU’s commitment made after the 2004 referendum for providing 259m euros in aid for Northern Cyprus, to improve the infrastructure and enable greater foreign investment,” says Erdem Aydin, a researcher at the Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation (TESEV).

    Ata Atun, a professor at Near East University in Nicosia, believes EU funding has done little to contribute to peace on the island.

    “The EU has lost colossal credibility in the eyes of Turkish Cypriots due to its decision taken after the 2004 Annan Plan, especially the non-implementation of the Green Line Regulation for seven years on the grounds of Greek objections, as well as of the Direct Trade Regulation,” Atun said.

    Distrust of the EU drains the positive impact generated by the funding, which in any case is low compared to the financial contributions made by Turkey, Atun said. He also criticised the EU for aiding specific NGOs while excluding many others.

    “This funding does not cover all of the Turkish Cypriot community, but only Turkish Cypriots who were citizens of Cyprus before 1974 and the NGOs founded by them, which offends deeply the Turkish community,” Atun explained to SETimes.

    “The majority of this aid has been spent for the salaries and the rent charges of the EU bureaucrats,” he added.

    Aydin disagrees, pointing out that 1.5m euros was approved earlier this year to fund the EU Scholarship Programme, which sends Turkish Cypriot students to study in the EU.

    “We have personally experienced that different NGOs from various tendencies benefit from this funding,” he told SETimes.

    This content was commissioned for SETimes.com.

    via EU provides aid for Northern Cypriots (SETimes.com).