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President Suleyman Demirel of Turkiye was
in Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) last month for a one
day visit to inaugurate a project bringing much needed drinking water to
the TRNC from Turkiye.
The plastic balloons, which are
more than 100 metres long and carrying 10,000 cubic metres of water each,
are the first step towards solving the TRNC’s drinking water shortage.
The next step is a pipeline which will be laid on the sea bed between Turkiye
and the TRNC to carry water to irrigate the TRNC’s fields.
This water project will bringing life
to the TRNC and perhaps to the Cypriots in the South, should they
choose to accept Turkiye’s offer to bring life to the whole of Cyprus, 
the first of many possible confidence building measures between the two
communities. Unfortunately the Greek Cypriots see this as a political
manoeuvre. Just as in the 1960’s during the short lived Republic of Cyprus,
when Makarios rejected a similar offer from Turkiye to bring water to Cyprus.
During his visit, President
Demirel delivered a speech at the TRNC Assembly, where he stated, “The
devoted Turkish Cypriot people have reached this stage after trials and
tribulations over many years. The Turkish Cypriots want to
live in peace and security, and do not accept the denial of their
existence and sovereignty.”
Demirel stressed that the
decision taken by the EU at the Luxembourg Summit had been a historical
error because it disregarded the existence of two peoples having
equal legal and political status on Cyprus and added that, “the second
mistake made by the EU is not taking into consideration the fact that due
to international agreements, Cyprus can only be a member of the EU after
a settlement and after Turkiye has also become a member. The decision has
destroyed the parameters of the negotiations and encouraged the Greek-Greek
Cypriot duo to adopt adventurous attitudes. The result is obvious.”
Demirel then continued by adding that,
“neither the Turkish Cypriots nor Turkey is responsible for the Cyprus
problem. It is the sovereignty problem which lies at the basis of
the 35 years old Cyprus conflict. Today there is a de facto condition
in the island which is the result of the struggle for the existence of
the Turkish Cypriots and their right to self-determination. This
right also exists in the UN Universal Declaration for Human Rights
and in the 1959-60 Agreements.”
Moreover, Demirel reminded all concerned
that “The Greek Cypriot administration cannot represent the whole island,
because the TRNC exists as a state, equal and sovereign people, flag, soil
and successes as an undeniable fact in front of the world.”
Article written by Ian Mather in The European,
17-23 August, explains the dangerous situation that the EU created in Cyprus
quite well. First few paragraphs quoted below are as follows:
“WHEN the Turkish Cypriot leader, Rauf
Denktash, and President Suleyman Demirel of Turkey pressed a plunger together
and unleashed a jet of water it was as though they were hosing away the
European Union's Policy towards Cyprus. The ceremony, on a beach on the
northern coast of Cyprus, was to inaugurate a scheme to ferry seven million
cubic metres of water a year, incredibly, from Turkey to northern Cyprus
in floating balloons pulled by tugboats.
It was yet more proof that the
EU’s decision to start negotiations with the internationally-recognised
Greek Cypriot government had badly backfired. The decision to admit Cyprus
was a gamble. EU governments believed that the prospect of goodies in the
form of EU benefits would galvanise the Greek and Turkish Cypriots into
settling their differences.
Instead it is driving northern
Cyprus even further into the arms of' Turkey. The island has never
seemed closer to permanent partition than it is today.
To make matters worse
the Greek Cypriots have been emboldened to defy world opinion by ordering
air defence missiles from Russia, a move seen by Turkey as a direct threat.”
....
Article
below, published in Cyprus Mail on 28 July 1998 under the headline “Time
to take responsibility for the missile fiasco”, shows the dilemma the
Greeks and the Greek Cypriots are in about the Russian missiles they have
purchased. It seems like the Greek government is having second thoughts
in the face of a determined Turkish stance and the pressure of other countries.
Time to take responsibility for the missile fiasco:
Reports in Sunday's Athens papers, suggesting that deployment of the
S-300 missiles in Cyprus was giving Prime Minister Simitis sleepless nights,
were not a good sign. A commentator in the Athens paper, Kathimerini, wrote
on Sunday:
"The Prime Minister recognises that a combination of
conditions and circumstances have led to a dangerous deadlock. He tells
associates that the decision for the deployment of the Russian missiles
was taken without an analysis or evaluation of the possible counter-measures
by the other (Turkish) side."
It is quite clear from the reports that Simitis
is opposed to the deployment of the missiles, about the purchase of which
he had not been consulted by the Clerides government in the first place.
There are very good reasons for his stance. Greece has repeatedly warned
that a Turkish attack on Cyprus would be a cause for war and the Turks
have made it very clear that they will carry out a preemptive strike against
the missiles if they are deployed. This would inevitably lead to a Greco-Turkish
war.
Simitis realises that the last thing Greece needs is a
war with Turkey. All the hard work to rebuild the Greek economy would go
to waste for the sake of the Cyprus government's insistence on deploying
the missiles.
It is understood that a few days ago Simitis informed
President Clerides that he was not prepared to risk anything for the sake
of the missiles, making it clear that Greece did not want a crisis. Why
should Greece, which had not even consulted about the missile purchase,
suffer the catastrophic consequences of an unnecessary war because of the
Clerides government's ill-conceived and misguided missile brinkmanship?
This is why Clerides is now eagerly looking for
some face-saving excuse not to bring the missiles to Cyprus. But the Turks,
realising he is in a very tight spot, are pushing home the advantage. Not
only have they rejected any form of compromise that would allow Clerides
a face-saving cancellation of the deal, but they are also stepping up the
war threats, in order to force the complete humiliation of the Cyprus and
Greece governments, when they eventually retreat on the issue. Simitis'
stand makes things even easier for Turkey.
Meanwhile, the Cyprus government is calling for a meeting
of the island's political leadership with Simitis so that the missile issue
can be discussed and decisions taken. This is a ploy by Clerides, who wants
to avoid taking sole responsibility for the imminent missile embarrassment.
Any decisions on the missiles taken there would be collective, with all
the parties shouldering some of the responsibility for what is certain
to be a retreat.
Simitis on the other hand is opposed to such a meeting.
He would rather see Clerides on a one-to-one basis and leave the decision
about the missiles up to the president. It is understandable that the Prime
Minister does not want to be burdened with the high political cost that
a retreat would carry, especially as he had no say in the original decision
to purchase the missiles.
In the final analysis, the Clerides government's isolation,
now that it cannot even count on Athens' support, is complete. Clerides'
missile ploy, aimed at expediting a diplomatic breakthrough in the peace
efforts, has gone badly wrong. With the delivery date fast approaching
and no face-saving solutions on the horizon, Clerides will be forced to
take some very painful decisions. Will he take them, or will he lead us
into even more dangerous adventures with unforeseeable consequences? As
Clerides took the decision to bring the missiles and directly benefited
from it - by getting re-elected - he should now show the courage to accept
full responsibility for the ensuing fiasco.
After few other European countries warning their citizens about
taking holidays in South Cyprus because of the S300 missiles crisis, Norway
is also warning her citizens about holidays in South Cyprus. 
This time it is not the missiles but the frequent rape incidents
that took place in South Cyprus recently.
According to a major Norwegian daily, “VG”, tourists who
claim they have been raped while holidaying in Ayia Napa are being treated
as liars by Greek Cypriot police and are too frightened to report
sex crimes because Greek Cypriot police never take the rape claims seriously.
The article stressed that, South Cyprus can no longer
be termed a “paradise island” because Norwegian tourists are frequently
becoming the targets of sex attacks with little or no assistance from the
Greek Cypriot police, because “Greek Cypriot police never takes these rape
claims seriously. All such claims are treated as false, and as a
result foreign tourists refrain from reporting the sex attacks committed
against them.”
One Norwegian tour operator, Star Tours stated that, it
knows of rape claims by at least four Norwegian women who say they were
raped in Ayia Napa and how very little had been done by the Greek Cypriot
police to investigate the alleged rapes before closing the cases
altogether.
Furthermore, the Norwegian daily said that, “Greek
Cypriot police evaluate the stories as lies. They have a theory that tourists
make such allegations so they can claim expenses for their holiday”,
and quoted a Greek Cypriot police inspector as saying,
“why rape when it is so easy to find somebody to have sex with?”
The article has been circulated on the internet and the Norwegian
daily urged all Norwegian tour operators, to warn tourists about the serious
dangers of going to Ayia Napa.
TURKISH CYPRIOTS SUFFERED INHUMAN TREATMENT IN THE HANDS OF GREEK CYPRIOT AUTHORITIES:
Two Turkish Cypriots, Osman Kondoz and Mustafa Veli, who were
kidnapped and tortured by the Greek Cypriot authorities, on October 23,
1997 in the United Nations controlled buffer zone in the Kiracikoy area
in Cyprus were released on July 22. Kondoz and Veli were accused of smuggling
livestock and weapons and were arrested as a result of a scenario planned
by the Greek Cypriot police fostering feelings of vengeance and enmity.
Kondoz and Veli in a joint press statement after their
release stated that they had suffered inhuman treatment in the hands of
Greek Cypriot authorities. They said they were undressed and threatened
with having bottles pushed into their back sides and were thus forced to
sign a "confession" drafted by the Greek Cypriot police. Veli, showed the
wound marks on his back which were caused by the severe beatings he received
from the torture carried out against him by the Greek Cypriot police.
The Greek Cypriots students, the youth of
today the intellectuals of tomorrow of South Cyprus. The very people our
children our youth suppose to live together in future in a united Cyprus,
recently demonstrated on three occasions how well the Greek Cypriot authorities
and the Orthodox church trained their youth in their quest for ENOSIS.
These events, once again proved
that there is no future in a united Cyprus because the Greeks have not
given up the ENOSIS dream.
These events further show that the European
politicians are quite wrong in their unjustified pressure they are putting
on the Turkish Cypriots to make them accept the Greek Cypriot regime
as the legitimate government of Cyprus and give up their rights to sovereignty.
The news about the first event appeared
in the Greek Cypriot newspaper Cyprus Mail on 21 July 1998.
The newspaper reported that, hundreds
of Greek Cypriot students demonstrated on 20 July 1998 against a federal
solution to the Cyprus problem.
One of those participating in the mass
demonstration Marinos Charalambous, a student union leader declared
that, “the only element that can secure the survival of Cyprus' Hellenism
is union of the island with Greece.”
Students carried banners with the words,
“Federation is Turkification” and “Cyprus is Greek” were the
words chanted by hundreds of Greek Cypriots.
The second one was a statement by
the Joint Greek Cypriot Student Organisations, which appeared in the Greek
Cypriot daily Machi on 5 August 1998. Newspaper reported that Greek Cypriot
students once again announced that they believe a bi-communal, bi-zonal
federation is dangerous and that the only solution to the Cyprus problem
is to unite the island with Greece.
The Greek Cypriot students made
their statements following the ordinary meeting of the Joint Greek Cypriot
Student Organisations in favour of autonom Enosis.
In this context it was stressed
that, any negotiations directed towards achieving a bi-communal,
bi-zonal federal solution in Cyprus is bound to be unsuccessful
and is dangerous for Greek Cypriot existence.
The third event was the distribution
of a brochure jointly produced by the Greek-Greek Cypriot university student
federations all around the world. The front cover of the brochure, which
also includes the opinions of Greek, Greek Cypriot politicians, journalists
and academic staff, symbolises Turkey as a spider with Cyprus in its web,
and the slogan "No To The Federation Cancer" is used on the front
page.
The green light the EU gave to the
Greek Cypriots for membership is showing its effects, all the factions
of the Greek Cypriots are gradually showing their true intentions. Orthodox
Church, EOKA, Greek Cypriot politicians and now their youth are announcing
that they are against a federal solution. On one hand we have a community
that never wanted federation, on the other the Turkish Cypriots who lost
many years knowing that their neighbours never believed in a federal solution.
Let’s not forget the British and the EU
politicians that the Greeks have been taking for fools and making a good
job of it too.
On 17 August 1998, representatives of various Turkish Cypriot
associations and relatives of the Turkish Cypriots massacred in three Turkish
Cypriot villages of Atlilar, Murataga and Sandallar, have delivered
a wreath to the Foreign Office. A letter, addressed to the Foreign Secretary
Robin Cook along with a list containing the names and the ages of the 196
people murdered by Greeks and Greek Cypriots on 16 August 1974, was handed
to an official of the Foreign Office. The 196 are only the ones that were
found in North Cyprus, hundreds more are buried in mass graves in South
Cyprus, which the Greek Cypriot administration refuses to divulge any information
about.
Below is the copy of the letter addressed to Robin Cook.
Dear Sir,
Considering that there cannot be the slightest doubt over the
historical evidence regarding the organised and systematic murder of the
Turkish Cypriots in Cyprus by the Greeks and that the recognition of mistakes
and crimes of the past is a precondition for reconciliation between peoples
and that there cannot be peace without justice, either in Cyprus or anywhere
else.
Non-Recognition of the crimes committed by the Greek Cypriots
and Greeks against the Turkish Cypriots can only be an obstacle to peace
in Cyprus.
We call on the British Government to honour and accept its responsibilities
as Guarantor power of the 1960 Treaty of Guarantee to bring to justice
those responsible for the atrocities committed in Cyprus against the Turkish
Cypriots by the Greeks. A list of names and ages of the Turkish Cypriots
massacred in the three villages are enclosed.
We additionally demand that the European Parliament, United States
and the other guarantor power of Cyprus, Greece, to recognise the historic
reality of the 1963-74 genocide of the Turkish Cypriots. We demand that
the Greek government and the Greek Cypriot administration in South Cyprus
recognise the historic reality of the Genocide committed between 1963-74
by the Greeks and Greek Cypriots, so that justice may at last be achieved.
Those responsible must be punished for their crimes 
against
humanity.
We ask that the International press, the British government,
the Greek government, the European Parliament, the chairman of the European
Commission as well as the chairman of Human rights at The Hague to investigate,
bring to trial and punish those Greek and Greek Cypriots responsible for
the massacres of the Turkish Cypriot villagers of ATLILAR, MURATAGA and
SANDALLAR during August 1974.
Yours truly,
The relatives of the massacred Turkish Cypriots
ATLILAR, MURATAGA and SANDALLAR