We demand Recognition of our Sovereignty and Equality  "Peace At Home, Peace With the World" 27 Old Gloucester St.London WC1 3XX

Dear Prime Minister,

We the Turkish-Turkish Cypriot community living in the UK, commend you and your government's stance on the Kosovo crisis.

We have no doubt that you noted the anti-NATO stance of many Greek and Greek Cypriot politicians and a great majority of their public and would like to draw your attention to one specific incident namely the football match that took place between the Greek team AEK and the Serbian team Belgrade Partizan in early April 1999.

ANA, the official Greek news agency reported on 7 April 1999 that “Taking part in the ‘peace charter’ are 156 people, 16 of whom are AEK players. Political party representatives will also be on hand.”

The effort to justify the support that the Greek team and the politicians were extending to the Serbs under the so called ‘peace charter’ was the most interesting part of this incident. Dimitris Melissanidis the president of AEK said:  “History is not written by itself. We write it. A Greek team is making a peace visit to the friendly people of Serbia. Sports and soccer are over and above politics. And this match is over and above any political expediency.”

Reading the words of Dimitris Melissanidis with amazement, we, the Turkish Cypriots can not help wondering why, if  “sports and soccer are over and above politics”, our sportsmen and sportswomen in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus are not allowed to take part in any international sports events?

Sir as you know, Turkish Cypriots have been suffering under the unjust embargoes imposed on them by the Greek Cypriot administration and other countries since 1963 following the destruction of the Republic of Cyprus by the Greek Cypriots.

As you will recall, during her recent visit to Cyprus, Minister Joyce Quin called on the Greek Cypriot administration to lift the embargoes it imposes on the Turkish Cypriots. Considering this suggestion by Ms Quin and the fact that Britain is a guarantor state, for the protection of the rights of the Turkish Cypriots, we ask you to take the initiative personally to lift the embargoes that Britain and the rest of the world imposes on the Turkish Cypriots.

We await your views and comments on this matter.

Greece's anti-NATO attitude displayed from the break-out of the KOSOVO Crises that has coincided with the 50th anniversary of NATO to the present time, has once again underlined the right position of Turkey vis-a-vis Greece.

Though the West does not agree, Greece has actually started a "Cold War" against the NATO allies by mobilising the ex-Communists and Orthodox Christians. It should not come as a surprise if this war is expanded by the inclusion of "terrorism" in it.

All sorts of attacks against NATO countries and their representatives, organised by Greece and her satellite South Cyprus, have clearly displayed this reality. While the US facilities in Athens constitute targets for terrorist assaults, no one can allege that a recent rocket offensive against the premises of the German Embassy is not a product of the insidious policy of Greece being pursued against NATO. One can expect further similar attacks.

Because Greece has been expelled from her surroundings for her hostile stance towards her allies, she had put on a false "pretty face" mask, pretending to be a peace angel but she is not successful in this either.

NATO allies, who still do not know Greece that well, should watch and listen to the early morning news bulletin broadcast by the Greek State TV Station ERT. What they will see and hear will remind them of the Nazi propaganda attacks against the Allies through radio broadcasting and of the subsequent propaganda war between USA and the former USSR. We see that the propaganda then conducted by the Nazi Germany and USSR has now been replaced with the pro-Serb propaganda pursued by Greece.

The news on Yugoslavia, broadcast by the Greek State, ‘ridicules NATO insolence’; there is no mention about the refugees from Kosovo; special propaganda-films prepared and sent by the Serbs are repeatedly screened. Moreover, unidentifiable dismembered bodies, fabricated stories of the nth NATO plane 'shot down', news supported with films that show the blood donations made by the Greek people to their Serbian brethren, babies who are crying out of their fears ‘about NATO's bombs’, ‘bombed’ churches, hospitals etc are daily shown and published by the Greek TV and press, in connection with Kosovo operation.

Greece, has become the spoilt child of EU and NATO, which has got representatives and a lobby within the US Senate.

It is beyond comprehension why  Greece is allowed to get away with her enemy like behaviour towards the establishments she is a member of.

We have no doubt that if it were Turkey doing the things that Greece is doing; she would have been punished long time ago. In 1974 Greece broke the international agreements and tried to annex Cyprus but it was Turkey who got subjected to embargoes for stopping the Greeks and stopping the massacre of thousands of Turkish and Greek Cypriots.

The events over the last years concerning Turkey and Greece showed that Turkey is no longer going to tolerate Greece's hostile stance towards Turkey.

However, it is no longer a question of how long Turkey is going to tolerate Greece, but is a question of as to how long the rest of the world is going to tolerate her hostile behaviour.

"Nicosia, Apr 22 (CNA) -- European Parliament Socialist Group leader, Pauline Green, has expressed support for NATO's position on Yugoslavia, but at the same time acknowledged that there was no similar international reaction in other areas such as Cyprus or in the plight of the Kurds in Turkey.

Replying to questions after calling on President Glafcos Clerides today, the British Euro MP said she did not want to prejudge the policy the new Turkish government will follow, noting however that the large percentage of the vote garnered by the nationalists is not a good omen. Green also admitted there is huge environmental damage caused by military weapons used in Yugoslavia and said this will have to be dealt with once the crisis is over.

Asked if the Socialist Group approves of what is happening in Yugoslavia, its leader said 'we do support the NATO position whilst of course abhorring deaths, whether they be Serb deaths or Kosovar deaths.'

'And also we're very aware that in supporting NATO action in defence of minorities, in this region in particular you have to be aware of the sensitivity that there are other minorities who have not been supported by the same international action.'

Expressing regret and noting her 'expertise and interest' in this region, Green said she recognises 'the things that are still wrong here, that have not been treated in the same way, Cyprus of course and the Kurds in Turkey.'

Green actively supports a settlement in Cyprus, divided since Turkish troops invaded and occupied 37 per cent of its territory in 1974. The majority of Greek Cypriots deplore the stance taken by NATO and the European Union in the Yugoslav crisis, because they feel that double standards are being followed.

Asked if she believes the outcome of elections in Turkey will affect efforts for a settlement in Cyprus, Green said 'I don't think any of us were happy to see the nationalists gain such a large percentage against the more democratic parties.'

'Nevertheless,' she added, 'I don't want to prejudge what sort of government it will be and what sort of policies they will have, but of course the omens are not good given the two or three biggest parties.' "
................
We see that the attitude of Pauline Green, the North London MEP, never changes. Her biased politics towards Turkey carries on.
We come to believe that Pauline Green is not confused or mistaken about the issues of terrorism and the human rights, but she is deliberately out to attack Turkey.

While she uses the so-called human rights issue against Turkey, she ignores the fact that Greece was the main supporter of the PKK terror organisation. Ocalan has spilled the beans; Greece is guilty of supporting terrorism and responsible for the death of 30,000 people in Turkey. Even though there is nothing left to hide, Pauline Green has nothing to say about Greece.

She ignores the hostile behaviour of Greece and South Cyprus towards NATO, which is noted by the international community and the media.

Green has the audacity to compare the Cyprus conflict to Kosovo exactly as the Greeks do and says  that she recognises "the things that are still wrong here, that have not been treated in the same way, Cyprus of course and the Kurds in Turkey."
She forgets that if it were not for Turkey, the Greeks would have massacred all the Turks on the island. We have no doubts about this because they managed to murder 3000 Greek Cypriots in 5 short days.

For us the Turkish Cypriots, "that have not been treated in the same way," means not bombed as the Serbs.

The day Pauline Green puts aside her anti Turkish stance and looks at events from an unbiased point  of view will definitely be a miraclious one.

Greek media accused of bias

From Dina Kyriakidou, in Athens

Greece: A ferocious war of words has erupted in the Greek press over its coverage of NATO's air strikes against Yugoslavia, largely seen in Greece as a villainous attack on an innocent people.

Some Greek journalists have accused their media of distorting the truth by painting Serbs as the main victims and largely ignoring the plight of the hundreds of thousands of Albanian refugees fleeing ethnic cleansing in Kosovo province.

"The war has been on for about a month and not a single Greek paper has made the refugees or ethnic cleansing its top front-page story," said journalist Takis Michas who works for the liberal daily Eleftherotypia.

Traditional Greek public sympathy towards fellow Orthodox Christian Serbia has been fanned by NATO's air strikes. A recent poll showed 96 per cent of those asked opposed the bombings.

The government has taken great pains to paint Greece as a country with a dual role - a NATO member and a Balkan nation opposing violence. But the press has been holding the Orthodox banner high, with TV channels giving emotive descriptions of "NATO's cynical war hawks" and the "slaughter of the innocent Serbs".

A former conservative minister, Mr Andreas Andrianopoulos, became the favourite punching bag of the press  after he contributed a column to the Wall Street Journal Europe on April 14th, listing what he said were several breaches of journalistic ethics.

"The Albanian refugees running from their homes in fear of Serb militias were implicitly portrayed as Serbian citizens escaping NATO bombs. Journalists holding pro-western views are seen as ‘traitors’ while Greek correspondents in Pristina have seen their dispatches totally altered by their editors at home."

Talk-show hosts questioned his motives and the Athens journalists' union, ESHEA, rushed to defend its members and attack Mr Andrianopoulos's article as "unacceptable and insulting".

"We believe that they are doing their job under difficult circumstances and the criticism is unfair," the president of ESHEA, Mr Nikos Kiaos, said. "None of them has told us they are being censored."
Mr Andrianopoulos is a scholar at the US Woodrow Wilson Centre. - (Reuters)

Oil For Milosevic and His Money in South Cyprus
May 25, 1999
FUEL Oil Flowing to Yugoslavia Despite NATO's Exertions

By RAYMOND BONNER

WASHINGTON -- As part of the campaign against President Slobodan Milosevic of Yugoslavia, the Clinton administration and NATO have tried to cut off his oil supply and his bank accounts.

It is a campaign that has not gone well, American and NATO officials say. Barges are filled with oil in Ukrainian ports and cross the Black Sea to chug up the Danube River through Bulgaria and Romania. To pay for it, Milosevic is using money he secreted in banks in Cyprus during the earlier period of sanctions against Yugoslavia, the officials said.

The administration and European governments have appealed to Ukraine to shut down the trade and they have asked Cyprus to freeze Milosevic's bank accounts, American and NATO officials say, but to no avail.

During his visit to Washington last week, Gen. Wesley Clark, NATO's commander, raised alarms about the oil shipments traveling up the Danube and said that action needed to be taken to stop them. He said this route was increasingly being used because NATO had been somewhat successful in choking off the supply coming into Montenegro.

American officials say that they do not have a good fix on the volume of oil Milosevic is getting through this route -- he is still getting some from ships unloading at Montenegrin ports -- but they say that it is Russian oil.

The deals are being arranged by middlemen who are making a tremendous profit because of the risks involved, the officials say.

Asked how much oil Milosevic was getting, one administration official said, "All he needs." Another official said that was an exaggeration, but he conceded that the Serbian leader was getting enough oil to keep his military machine going. A third official replied, simply, "Too much."

The Clinton administration and NATO have tried to deal with the matter quietly, fearing that making it a public issue could backfire.

When an oil embargo was last in effect against Yugoslavia, from 1992 until the signing of the Dayton peace accords in 1995, Bulgaria and Romania were major conduits for oil in violation of the sanctions. (Greek and Italian oil companies were major suppliers, with most of their oil moving through Albania, a route that has now been largely shut down.)

But Washington and European capitals expect to have more success now. The governments in Bulgaria and Romania have become more stable and have better-trained law enforcement agencies; above all, they have moved from their Communist pasts, expressing a strong desire to get into NATO and the European Union.

Still, Bulgaria and Romania have not been as cooperative as the administration would like.

The governments argue that they cannot interfere with traffic on the Danube because it is an international waterway covered by the Danube Convention of 1948, which calls for free movement of ships. But American officials dismiss those assertions, noting that the convention was signed by the Danube riparian states when they were part of the Soviet bloc; West Germany was the one Danube state that did not sign.

Above all, American and NATO officials say, the major problem is Ukraine, which is the source of the oil transportation.
Last week during meetings in Brussels, Belgium, Boris Tarasyuk, Ukraine's foreign minister, was cordially but firmly told that his country must stop the barges from loading up with oil in the Ukrainian ports, a NATO official said.

Tarasyuk countered with complaints about the economic damage Ukraine was suffering because of the war against Yugoslavia. He said that it had cost his country $220 million in lost trade, that Ukrainian ports alone had lost $12 million, and that a Danube shipping company in Ukraine was losing $313,000 a day. Who was going to compensate Ukraine for that, he demanded of the NATO diplomats.

The Clinton administration and NATO are not confident that they will prevail upon the Ukrainian government. Nearly 90 percent of the Ukrainian population is against the NATO bombing, according to recent polls there, an American official said. It is for this same reason that the administration does not feel that it can make a public issue out of Ukraine's lack of cooperation.

In Cyprus, too, the Clinton administration is worried about upsetting the government and so has not said anything publicly, but it is not happy that the Cypriots have refused to close the bank accounts belonging to Milosevic and to the Yugoslav government.

With its secretive banking laws, Cyprus has become a major money-laundering center, especially for Russian organized criminal operations, American and European law-enforcement officials say. European law enforcement officials say that many of the continent's cigarette-smuggling operations use Cyprus, including an operation in which one of Milosevic's sons is involved.

American officials say they do not know how much Milosevic has in these accounts, in part because finding his assets had never been a priority of the CIA, several officials said.

But however much is in them, the Cypriots argue that there is no basis for seizing the bank accounts because there are no United Nations sanctions against Yugoslavia. Most of the sanctions against Yugoslavia that were imposed in 1992 were lifted after the Dayton peace accords in 1995.

But back when the sanctions were in effect, Cyprus did not cooperate either. "They always found loopholes," an American official said.
 

Majority in Greece wants Clinton tried for war crimes.
Thursday, May 27, 1999

A majority of Greeks wants President Clinton to face war crimes charges for his role in the Kosovo conflict, while just 14 per cent want President Slobodan Milosevic tried, an opinion poll showed yesterday.

The poll showed 69.7 per cent of Greeks want Mr Clinton tried and 35.2 per cent want the British Prime Minister, Mr Blair, also charged over NATO's campaign of air strikes against Yugoslavia.

But only 14 per cent believe Mr Milosevic should face international sanctions for his role in the repression and expulsion of Kosovo's ethnic Albanian population.

The poll was carried out by the ICAP Institute, which questioned a representative sample of 1,000 Greeks between April 29th and May 5th.
Around 13 per cent also want to see the NATO commander, Gen Wesley Clark, tried for war crimes and 9.6 per cent the NATO Secretary General, Mr Javier Solana. Nearly 85 per cent attributed the NATO operation to a US "show of force" and only 2.5 per cent saw it as a reaction to "ethnic cleansing".
The poll published in Greek newspapers yesterday confirmed the overwhelming opposition of Greeks - 99.5 per cent - to the NATO action in Yugoslavia, which began on March 24th.

The Greek press gives full coverage to NATO "atrocities" while glossing over the fate of the hundreds of thousands of ethnic Albanian refugees. Greece - a NATO member - enjoys good relations with Serbia and the majority of its people are Eastern Orthodox Christians.

Faced with massive opposition at home, the Greek government has called for an end to the air campaign and for
priority to be given to a diplomatic push for peace.

Greece's ruling Panhellenic Socialist Movement (Pasok) has gained ground on the conservative opposition two weeks before the June European elections, but a large number of Greeks are still undecided, two opinion polls showed.

A Metron Analysis poll published in the daily, Ta Nea, yesterday gave Pasok 29.4 per cent support and the opposition New Democracy 31.4 per cent. Some 36 per cent of voters said they had faith in Pasok to manage the economy best, compared to 24.3 per cent who thought New Democracy would do a better job.

Another poll, by pollsters Opinion and published in Eleftherotypia, said Pasok had 27.4 per cent support and New Democracy 29.5 per cent, with 11.6 per cent still undecided.

Stephen Twigg, Labour MP for Enfield and Southgate spoke frankly to Gercek newspaper about his views on Cyprus, "THAT LETTER" and "THAT NIGHT"

Gercek: Let's begin with the article about you not declaring an interest in Cyprus and being referred to as 'naïve'.

Stephen Twigg: 'Naïve' was my own word.  Actually I did not declare -the error that I and twenty other people made- but I was the one that they chose to concentrate on, was that when signing the motion I hadn't put the letter 'R' after my name and the letter 'R' indicates that there is a linked point on the register of members interests, so I had declared, and not declaring is not serious, but what I hadn't remembered to do was to put 'R' after my name - a mistake which I'll never make again.

Gercek: You've been to the South of Cyprus; you went to the Morphou (Guzelyurt) elections?

Stephen Twigg: To the Rally.

Gercek: Do you know where Morphou is?

Stephen Twigg: I do.  It's not that far north of the Green line.  It's in the North.

Gercek: So why did you go to the Morphou Rally in the South?

Stephen Twigg: The Greek Cypriots that are from that side of the island, no longer living there, hold elections but the event that I went to was simply an opportunity for me to meet political leaders.  I went for three days and met Cypriot leaders.  I also met with other Cypriot leaders including Turkish Cypriot leaders here in London.  Actually I had a meeting last Saturday with Halil Çakir and there were others who I believe are involved with the CTCA. I've met with them three times. I also meet with the Turkish Cypriot Democracy Association and also in my constituency I have a large number of constituents who are from Cyprus and I meet with people whether Turkish or Greek.
Gercek: What about going to North Cyprus?
Stephen Twigg: [ Laughs ] I have this put to me all the time.

Gercek: So we'll put it to you again.

Stephen Twigg: You know as well as I do that to go to the North is a lot more contraversial than to go to the South.  The regime isn't recognised in the international community but the regime in the South is.  What I say to people is that I want to provide is a constructive and helpful role to get a settlement in Cyprus and at the moment going to the North is a red rag to most of my Greek Cypriot constituents.

Gercek: What about your Turkish Cypriot constituents?

Stephen Twigg: If I believe that I could, by going to the north, play a positive role and that may be possible, then that's something I have to think about doing. But all of the time I've got to be thinking  'am I playing a positive role, not for one group versus the other but for trying to find a settlement to the situation in Cyprus as a priority and I've said that absolutely, consistently to Turkish Cypriot organisations, and constituents in the Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot community.

Gercek: Can you not stop going to the South then, and deal with it from London as you do with the Turkish Cypriots?

Stephen Twigg: I take your point, I think that what I feel I'm doing is seeking to be fully aware of the situation on the island of Cyprus and to acquaint myself with that situation.  I think never to have gone at all wouldn't be helpful to that but I take the point that it's important that I'm fully aquainted of the political perspectives of not just the two communities but within those two communities and so far I've been seeking to do that in the ways that I have sought to do it, and perhaps now I think about how best to do that in the future both with the Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot Community.

Gercek: Why don't you go to the North and stop going to the South?
Stephen Twigg: I take your point.

Gercek: Have you got the full figures for the make up of Enfield?

Stephen Twigg: I have. The trouble is that it is actually quite hard to be confident of the figures but I don't regard this as an understatement.  It's how I can play a productive role in seeking a settlement to the situation.

Gercek: So far you are following the exact same steps as the man you took over from - Michael Portillo. He, too, went to the South and refused to go to the North, and come election time he, too, thought he had the Greeks with him - he didn't.  Ian Twinn followed the same route.  The constituency make up is more Turkish Cypriot than Greek Cypriot.

Stephen Twigg: In the borough as a whole there are, but I don't want to play this numbers game, but in my own constituency it's mainly Greek Cypriots but that is in no way going to deny a very substantial Turkish Cypriot community, a growing community and it is an important part of my constituency.  But if you want to talk about numbers as it stands there are actually more Greek Cypriot than Turkish Cypriots in my constituency.  That's not for me - what it's all about is seeking a settlement.

Gercek: 'Friends of Cyprus'?

Stephen Twigg: In the last meeting of the 'Friends of Cyprus' in Parliament we had a group of Cypriot students who are studying in British Universities about half Turkish and half Greek who were speaking about the situation.  These meetings provide an opportunity for real dialogue between Turkish and Greek Cypriots.  There simply isn't a platform of one perspective.

Gercek: What is your interest in Cyprus?

Stephen Twigg: I'm interested in Cyprus because, a) it's an important international issue, b) it's a part of Europe and it's to be a part of the European Union and c) I've a lot of Cypriots in my constituency.  I grew up in Enfield and Southgate and went to school with people who were from Cyprus and so it's been part of my upbringing.

Gercek: Easter Cards?  This is the letter.

Stephen Twigg: Aha... So this is how it leaked out!

Gercek: You have a fair number of Greek and Greek Cypriot constituents and Easter is very important.  But what about your Muslim constituents.  Did you send them Eid cards?

Stephen Twigg: This is one of the things that I am looking at; not only the Muslims.

Gercek: Did you send your British constituents Christmas cards?

Stephen Twigg: I do; not all the British but those that are Christian.  I also send the Jewish Chanukah cards and neither of those things, both of which I've done for two years now have ever excited any controversy whatsoever.  As you know the custom of sending Easter cards is a much more prevalent custom in orthodox religions than in any other branch of Christianity.  I didn't receive a single Easter card this year and I talked to most constituents who are Anglican or Catholic, they may have received a few.  What I want to do, and I've said this publicly, is I want to keep in touch with all the different sections in the community and one of the things I already had intended to do was to get in contact with my Turkish speaking particularly Turkish Cypriot constituents and arrange an event that they can attend to talk to me me about issues that concern them whether local, national or international issues which of course includes Cyprus itself.  So although I think the publicity around the Easter cards has been unfortunate this was not an isolated way of getting in touch with one section of the community.  It's part of a much broader attempt to keep in touch with all sections of the community in a different way.

Gercek: So have you sent any Eid cards?

Stephen Twigg: I haven't.  But I hadn't sent Easter cards last year or the year before.  It's the first time I tried something around a religious festival other than Christmas and Chanukah.  If sending Eid cards is the most appropriate way of contacting the Turkish Cypriot community it means that I'll do that.  But I suspect it isn't from what people have said to me in terms of the nature of the community and what's appropriate so I'm looking at other ways of doing that with a number of Turkish Cypriots.

Gercek: Have you joined "The Friends of Cyprus"?

Stephen Twigg: I attend - not all the time.

Gercek: The history of Cyprus.  How far back does it go?

Stephen Twigg: It goes back centuries.  The present situation didn't start in the seventies or sixties.  It goes back to before the sixties.  One thing I would say because you asked about the history and I obviously know why you asked the question and I do think it's important for me - just as an MP, if I didn't have a single Cypriot in my constituency, any MP but obviously particularly in my situation, to listen to all the different perspectives that do exist and to try to reach an informed judgement rather than taking on one group's or another group's point of view…  I don't think that would be healthy in terms of representation and actually coming to a solution that would work.

Gercek: Where are your origins from?

Stephen Twigg: [ Laughs ] The only non-English blood that I know of is Irish which sometimes is dark but normally not as Mediterranean looking as I am.  The only explanation is the Spanish Armada!  I have this sense that people think I'm hiding something in my background which I don't want people to know about!

Gercek: Do you have any unusual hobbies?

Stephen Twigg: I like Eastenders [ Laughs ]. My only regret is that I don't get any exercise anymore.

Gercek: They have a gym here    [In the House of Commons ] don't they?

Stephen Twigg: [ Laughs ] They do, yeah, but I'm not mad on the idea of going to the gym in front of loads of other MPs.  It just isn't a good idea!

Gercek: What was it like that night when you heard the result of the election on the stage?

Stephen Twigg: It was the most overwhelming moment or period of my life. For me to go back and represent the area that I was brought up in is really special and it was never something I envisaged.

President Denktash stressed that, comments by Clerides on the issue of EOKA should be well assessed. Recalling that the Greek Cypriot side wants demilitarisation and the abolition of the guarantee agreement, President Denktash said, "the Greek Cypriots, however, will secretly authorise every party leader to establish guerrilla armies, just as they did during the years between 1960 and 1963, and when the time comes will again attack us. This is what they mean by demilitarisation."

Pointing out that Clerides was trying to destroy the reality of the existence of two peoples on the island, President Denktash said, "a person who hides behind the false title of the "Republic of Cyprus", who deploys missiles on the island, who gives missiles to Greece, and spends millions of dollars on armament each year, cannot talk for peace."

Nothing that Turks exist on the island and that the current state has been achieved as a result of our struggle, President Denktash also said that, Clerides should abandon his armament efforts and his initiatives to take the Cyprus issue to international platforms.

© 1997, TURKISH CYPRIOT NETWORK. All rights reserved. For further information and comments please contact us. Address: 27 Old Gloucester Street, London WC1N 3XX. TEL: 0930 194 191(all calls charged at 50p per min) Email: tcn@tc-net.demon.co.uk