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Tag: EOKA

  • Is Netflix a Tool for Propaganda or an Entertainment Platform?

    Is Netflix a Tool for Propaganda or an Entertainment Platform?

    TV shows and movie platforms Without looking into the script’s content, Netflix has blatantly decided to serve as a propaganda weapon for Greek and Greek Cypriot interests.

    Press reports state that Andreas Georgiou’s television series “Famagusta,” in which he plays the protagonist, would premiere by the end of September.

    The Greek Cypriots, who maintain that the Cyprus issue originated in 1974 and have rewritten history to suit their needs, are currently attempting to convince the world that they were the victims of 1974 by using false information and fantastical stories that they cling to.

    The Greek Cypriot Administration sponsored and produced the series, although it omits the internal strife that followed Greece’s coup on July 15, 1974, which led to Makarios’ overthrow. The terrorist group EOKA B slaughtered leftist Greeks, and they designate terrorist commander Nikos Sampson as the head of the coup.

    There is no claim that the island of Cyprus, which was thereafter governed by the Hellenic Republic of Cyprus, was annexed by Greece or that the Republic of Cyprus, of which Turkey, Greece, and England were the guarantors, was destroyed and replaced by the “Hellenic Republic of Cyprus.” Of course, the television show “Famagusta” did not address these issues.

    Turkiye intervened as the guarantor state after it was announced that the island of Cyprus had been taken over by Greece, and that the terrorist organisation EOKA B and the Greek National Guard had begun shooting at the Turkish Cypriots, in accordance with the internationally recognised Republic of Cyprus Constitution, Annex I, the Treaty of Guarantee and Alliance.

    As per Annex I, Article 4, the guarantor powers possess the jurisdiction to step in and restore the 1960-declared Cyprus Republic if there is a status shift in the Republic of Cyprus.

    Based only on falsehoods, the news about the allegedly televised series suggests that it is a work of fiction.

    Assuming you are going to deceive everyone, how will you deceive us?

    I took part in the July 20, 1974, military action that was authorised by international law. That “Turkish troops fired at people and the Turkish army bombarded civilian communities” is something I have never seen or heard of.

    This is a totally untrue accusation meant to harm one’s reputation.

    Turkish soldiers are obligated by custom and belief to “help the enemy even if they are soldiers in need of assistance” and “not shoot unarmed citizens.”

    I saw and participated in many of these selfless deeds during the 1974 Peace Operation involvement.

    Those included bathing, feeding, and handing over to the authorities the mentally handicapped Greek Cypriot child whose parents had abandoned him, chained him to a tree in their backyard. When he saw us, the the young boy cried and asked for ice cream. In addition, unlike the Greek Cypriots, this story was firsthand seen rather than recorded at a desk.

    It appears that these stories need to be told, documented, and disseminated to the public since TV shows with a propagandist bent are now more successful than military conflict. The world, the Greek Cypriots who carried out the genocide, and our own youth are unaware of the genocide against us Turkish Cypriots between 1963 and 1974 since there has been a dearth of publicity and promotion.

    Not even the Greeks knew until the latter week of August 2024 about the massacre of 103 Turkish Cypriots in the villages of Muratağa, Atlılar, and Sandallar, fifty years ago on August 15, 1974. The victims ranged in age from 3-month-old newborns to 93-year-olds, and they were cruelly massacred by the Greek Cypriots.

    We have witnessed atrocities like the Türkeli, Taşkent, and Kumsal massacres in addition to massacres like Muratağa, Atlılar, and Sandallar. From six months to ninety years old, our people were burnt and dumped into dry wells. Our instructors in the classroom lamented the death of the pupils they were supposed to be teaching. Our cars disappeared on the roads. Our buses and passenger cars were buried with the passengers alive inside.

    For eleven years, we were restricted to three percent of the island. Our communities were plundered and set on fire. Not to mention the economic strains, the Greek takeover of the government, and the forced migration of the Turkish Cypriots.

    With great success, the Greek Cypriot Administration of Southern Cyprus has been able to conceal these massacres and the genocide against the Turkish Cypriots in Cyprus between 1963 and 1974 from both its own people and the global public opinion. They have also been able to keep these events off the agenda for newspapers, media, press, and television.

    Propaganda put the Greek Cypriots in the victim position, while we, the Turkish Cypriots, were the victims and victims of genocides.

    It is therefore imperative to produce television shows that will demonstrate our innocence, rightfulness, and victimization—particularly with regard to the “Cyprus issue”—and convince the world that we are the ones who are being victimised, not the invaders.

    Making television shows and films that reveal what was done to us and releasing them on Netflix is what we need to do. Subsequently, we shall comprehend if Netflix and similar sites serve as propaganda weapons or genuine entertainment venues. (Yes, but let us double check)

    Academic: Prof. Dr. (Civ Eng), Assoc. Prof. Dr. (Int. Rel) Ata ATUN

    First Term Deputy of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus Assembly;

    Member of the Advisory Board of the TRNC President

  • Two Politically Equal and Sovereign Peoples Live on Cyprus

    Two Politically Equal and Sovereign Peoples Live on Cyprus

    The conflict in Cyprus has been ongoing for the past 57 years, since 1955 when the Greek Cypriot terrorist organization EOKA was established.

    Yet still there seems to be no sign of a settlement and no hope for one as well. Cyprus became part of the Ottoman Empire in 1571 and more than 300 years later, it was leased to Britain by Turkey with the agreement that Cyprus was to be returned to Turkey when Britain no longer wanted it.  Britain ruled Cyprus as a protectorate until 1914, when Turkey sided with Germany in the Great War. Britain then annexed Cyprus and assumed sovereignty, ruling it as a colony until 1960 when it became an independent republic.

    Although Cyprus has historically never been part of any Greek state, the population of Cyprus was changed dramatically by the British as from 1905 once Cyprus became a Crown Colony. The British began to allow Greeks to settle in Cyprus and communities were set up in Greece to encourage people to move to the island of Cyprus. Greek Cypriots became a majority on the island of Cyprus and remain so today.

    Around mid 1950s Britain decided to hand sovereignty over to the inhabitants of the island. Her decision was to transfer sovereignty jointly to the Turkish and Greek Cypriot peoples, for the “creation of an independent, partnership state in Cyprus.”

    It was on this basis that the constitution of 1960 was negotiated and the Treaties of Guarantee, Alliance and Establishment were finalized. It was at this point that the Republic of Cyprus came into being as an independent partnership state.

    The agreements that were made were based on equality and partnership between the two people in the independence and sovereignty of the island. The 1960 constitution required joint presence and effective participation on both sides in all organs of the state to be legitimate.

    Neither community had the right to rule other the other, nor could one of the communities claim to govern the other. The aim of the basic articles of both the constitution and the subsequent treaties was to safeguard the rights of the two peoples as equals.

    It was hoped that the two peoples of the island and their new partners would be able to live peacefully together under this new political partnership. It soon became obvious that this was not going to be possible.

    It became clear that the Greek Cypriots and Greece did not intend to abide by the constitution. They did not give up their ambition for the annexation of the island to Greece, and the Greek Cypriot leadership sought to unlawfully bring around constitutional changes. In effect, this would negate the “partnership” status of the Turkish Cypriots and clear the way for annexation with a Turkish minority. The only way that the Greek Cypriots could achieve their aims was to destroy the legitimate order, by the use of force, and to overtake the joint-state. The rule of law collapsed on the island in 1963 as a result of a ruling by the Supreme Constitutional Court of Cyprus.

    The Turkish Cypriots took the Greek Cypriots to court because the Greek Cypriots refused to obey the mandatory provision of separate municipalities for the two communities. The court ruled against the Greek Cypriots, and as expected they ignored the courts’ ruling.

    After this the Greeks tried to get eight basic articles of the 1960 Agreement abolished. These articles were there to protect the Turkish Cypriots, and so by removing them the Turkish Cypriots would be reduced to a minority subject to control by the Greek Cypriots. Christmas 1963 saw Greek Cypriot militia attack Turkish Cypriot communities across the island killing many men, women and children. Around 270 mosques, shrines and other places of worship were desecrated. The constitution became unworkable, because of the refusal on the part of the Greek Cypriots to fulfill the obligations to which they had agreed. The bi-national republic which was imagined by the Treaties ceased to exist after December 1963. The Greek Cypriot wing of the “partnership” State took over the title of the “Government of Cyprus” and the Turkish Cypriots, who had never accepted the seizure of power, set up a Turkish administration to run their own affairs.

    In the end, the Greek Cypriot state was internationally recognized under the title of the “Government of Cyprus,” was brought into the EU, and the Turkish Cypriots were forced in 1985 to unilaterally declare their own administration under the name of the “Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus,” which still is not recognized.

    The two main peoples on Cyprus, the Turks and the Greeks, share no common language besides English, no common religion and no common literature, nor do they, except on the surface, share any common culture, from the past until the present. A “United Cyprus” or a “United Federal Republic of Cyprus” is a utopian idea that has no hope of realization.

     

    Ata ATUN

    ata.atun@atun.com

    August 9, 2012