Turkish Cypriot Network

The Voice of Turkish Cypriots

Issue 47

November 2000 .

Letter to Kofi Annan

The following letter, expressing the views of the TCN was sent to the UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan before the start of the 5th round of talks in Geneva.

We the Turkish Cypriots living in Britain give our full support to the Turkish Cypriot negotiating team in the UN talks which resume in Geneva on 1st November.... more

Do the human rights apply to all the humans all the time?

As we go to the print, Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot sides, started the 5th round of the UN sponsored proximity talks.

Before the talks started, diplomatic sources claimed that... more

Secret file of Lissarides is missing
KIBRIS, a Turkish Cypriot newspaper, reported that the secret file of Vassos Lissarides held in the archives of the Greek secret services in Greece has been stolen. ...more

Greek Church is against a solution in Cyprus

In a statement after a meeting of the High Council of the Greek Orthodox Church on October 10, Christodoulos Archbishop of Greece announced that the Greek Church is against a solution in Cyprus... more

INDEPENDENCE DAY???
Greek Cypriots Continue to mislead the International Community. ..... more

Greek-Greek Cypriot Side escalates the Tensions

As Alvaro De Soto, the UN Secretary-General's special envoy visited Cyprus during the last week of October; the tensions between the two sides in Cyprus was at a new height.

It was reported that De Soto, was not very happy about the increased tensions between the sides. .... more

TURKISH CYPRIOT VIGIL LAUNCHES PHOTOGRAPH CAMPAIGN

HELP THE CHILDREN
The fund raising event, which was launched by TCN and the Association of Young Turkish Graduates and Professionals (AYTGP) on 8 July 2000 is still continuing. ...more

Turkish Cypriot Network

27 Old Gloucester St. London WC1N 3XX

Tel: 0708 0810439 Fax: 0870 284 8595

Letter to Kofi Annan

The following letter, expressing the views of the TCN was sent to the UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan before the start of the 5th round of talks in Geneva.

We the Turkish Cypriots living in Britain give our full support to the Turkish Cypriot negotiating team in the UN talks which resume in Geneva on 1st November.

We want a peaceful settlement with the Greek Cypriots on terms which safeguard the political, cultural, religious and economic identities of the two peoples of Cyprus and make it impossible for the Greek Cypriots ever again to seek to dominate the Turkish Cypriots and subject us again to ethnic cleansing and attempted genocide, as they did from 1963 to 1974. We believe that a confederation is the structure most likely to achieve these objectives.

We agree with the statement made by the UN Secretary-General on 12th September 2000 that each party represents its side and no one else and that the two parties are the political equal of each other.

This being so, we call upon the world to make the Greek Cypriots face up to reality and stop treating them as if they were the government of all Cyprus. We are convinced that there can be no progress in the talks until this is done.

We also call upon the world to put an end without further delay to the economic and diplomatic embargo against the Turkish Cypriots which depends entirely upon the fiction that the Greek Cypriot regime is the Government of Cyprus, which it is not and never has been.

We look forward to Cyprus membership of the EU after a comprehensive settlement in Cyprus endorsed by both its peoples in separate referendums, and which makes provision for the practical consequences of membership in the special circumstances of Cyprus. We have no doubt however that if the unilateral Greek Cypriot application is accepted by the EU it will be a disaster for Cyprus and will result in its permanent division.

Do the human rights apply to all the humans all the time?

As we go to the print, Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot sides, started the 5th round of the UN sponsored proximity talks.

Before the talks started, diplomatic sources claimed that Alvaro de Soto would present documents, to the sides, concerning the core issues of the Cyprus problem.

On the first day of the talks on November 1, De Soto said that they were engaging into the substance in a way that has not been done before. He further said that the issues under discussion were "extremely difficult".

As the sides started the talks, it was reported that both the leaders were pessimistic and did not think that anything would be achieved at this round of talks as the previous ones.

At the begging of the 4th round in New York, the statement of the UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, stressing that the sides were politically equal and the leaders only represent their own sides, was not welcomed by the Greek Cypriot side.

It is difficult to believe that there will be success at the and of this round of talks either. As in the last talks in 1997, the EU is involving itself in the affairs of Cyprus.

Since the involvement of the EU in the Cyprus affair, the EU never taken any decision on Cyprus, which was balanced. All their decisions favoured the Greek Cypriots. This is down to the fact that Greece is a member to the EU and therefore the decisions that the EU takes are always biased.

Whether the talks in Geneva are successful or not,the reality of the situation is, the Turkish Cypriots are still suffering under heavy embargoes. These unjust embargoes applied to our people dates back to 1963 and our people are still suffering, although they are the victim of the so-called Cyprus problem created by Greek-Greek Cypriot armed attacks. The incidents that took place at that time were officially documented in the UN reports that shows how our people suffered.

Although the victims of the Cyprus problem are the Turkish Cypriots and they never instigated any of the troubles, the UN, arguing that they have to get peace keeping troops into Cyprus to stop the Greeks killing the Turkish Cypritos, recognised the Greek Cypriot side as the legitimate government of Cyprus.

Over the years, this illegal regime of the Greek Cypriots became legal and recognised by the international community. In return the international community rewarded the Turkish Cypriots, the equal partner of the Republic of Cyprus, with unjust embargoes.

The Western countries continuously preach to the rest of the world about human rights but when it comes to the Turkish Cypriots, they believe that the Turkish Cypriots have to wait until a solution has been achieved for the Cyprus problem in order to have their human reghts restored.

Well we can bet our bottom dollar that the Greek Cypriots will not agree to anything that does not give them the full control of the island. They will not agree that the Turkish Cypriots are politically equal, as the UN resolutions stress.

Greek Cypriot aim is to become a member to the EU, they believe that under the EU rules, if they can manage to convince the Turkish Cypriots to join in with them, they will use the so called EU rules and regulations to achieve their dream of uniting Cyprus with Greece.

Mean while, the Turkish Cypriots carry on suffering under the inhumane embargoes. They cannot communicate with the rest of the world directly, they cannot travel directly to any part of the world, they cannot trade, they cannot take part in sporting activities and the Turkish Cypriot university students cannot take part in any educational programs of other universities of the world freely.

Where is justice in this?
Where are the human rights champions?
We thought the Human rights apply to all the humans all the time, not just to Greek Cypriots.

Lissarides, who took an active role in the attacks against the Turkish Cypriots during 1963 to 1974 is the leader of the Socialist Movement Party.

Greek deputy Alekos Hrisanthopoulos brought the incident to the attention of the Greek parliament and demanded an investigation.

It was also reported that this claim by Hrisanthopoulos caused concerns in Greece and Cyprus because there are worries that if the secret file numbered 00381 is made public, Lissarides' life could be in danger.

It is a well known fact that from 1950s to date, Lissarides had involvement with different terrorist organisations, which included EOKA, Arab organisations, ASALA and PKK.

Under the co-ordination of Lissarides these organisations, organised attacks on interests of Turkey, NATO, USA and Israel.

In 1976, Lissarides, who was the advisor to the Soviet Union concerning NATO's activities in the Eastern Mediterranean region, attended anti NATO rallies that took place in Athens and in Paris.

In the 80s and also in 1998, Greek Cypriot media claimed that Lissarides was also the representative of Kadafi in south Cyprus.

For example the company named "CYPRO-LIBYA" was established in south Cyprus which was used to supply weapons and money to terrorists who worked for Libya and Syria, which were used in attacks targeting the US and European interests. The weapons and false documents for the use of the terrorists were supplied through diplomatic couriers using the Greek Cypriot air lines.

Lissarides also took part and organised the murder of the Turkish Diplomat Sipahioglu in Athens in 1994. At that time Lissarides claimed that Georgiades Theophilas, who was involved with PKK, was killed by Turkish secret services and promised revenge. Later it came out that Theophilas was murdered by the Mafia.

It is also claimed that at present, Lissarides is involved in setting up a new Armenian terrorist organisation with the Armenians coming to south Cyprus from Armenia and that the foreign diplomats are aware of the situation.

It was also claimed that the retired Greek officers are training the members of this new Armenian terror group in south Cyprus.

Although, Lissarides' involvement with terrorists is well known, the secret file may reveal the identities of the Greek political figures that he is involved with. That is why this file caused so much worry both in Greece and in south Cyprus.

Greek Church is against a solution in Cyprus

In a statement after a meeting of the High Council of the Greek Orthodox Church on October 10, Christodoulos Archbishop of Greece announced that the Greek Church is against a solution in Cyprus.

The statement of the Archbishop said "our church is not qualified to propose solutions on foreign affairs issues. It feels, however, the weight of its historical responsibility and for this reason it is obliged to stress that a non-resolution of the Cyprus problem is comparatively better than a bad resolution".

Statement further said "the bad resolution is a confederation and according to experience diplomats in a confederal solution, all of north Cyprus and some of south Cyprus will be under the control of Turkey."

In answer to the statement of the Archbishop Christodoulos, Greek spokesman Dimitris Reppas said that the intervention of Archbishop on Cyprus issue as well as other interventions of the church leadership were not in line with the church's spiritual mission.

Commenting on the issue, Greek media said that it was unacceptable for the church to get involved in foreign politics and claimed that Christodoulos was acting like Makarios. Newspapers also said this was the "new surprise of the Church".

Defending the statement of the church, Metropolitan Anthimos said "church was expressing its concerns on the issue not political views."

During the conflict between the Greek church and the Greek government concerning the changes to the identity cards that the government wanted to make, church showed its strength by organising demonstration, where up to a million people attended.

With this new outburst, Greek church is simply telling the Greek government not to accept a compromise solution on Cyprus issue, which will not give the full control of Cyprus to the Greeks.

INDEPENDENCE DAY???
Greek Cypriots Continue to mislead the International Community.

Greek Cypriots celebrated October 1, as the anniversary of the founding of Cyprus Republic, although the republic was established on 16 August 1960. October 1, is the date where the AKRITAS plan was designed.

On this day the illegal Greek Cypriot army displayed their latest weapons donated from Greece.

With no shame Clerides asked co-operation from Turkish Cypriots. The very people he and his cronies tried to annihilate as was foreseen by the AKRITAS plan.

. Greek-Greek Cypriot Side escalates the Tensions

As Alvaro De Soto, the UN Secretary-General's special envoy visited Cyprus during the last week of October; the tensions between the two sides in Cyprus was at a new height.

It was reported that De Soto, was not very happy about the increased tensions between the sides.

As the world media was commenting on, how the rapprochement between Turkey and Greece was moving on at a steady but sure pace, first problem came during the 'Destined Glory 2000' NATO exercises in Turkey.

Escalation of tensions started when Greece, yet again ignoring the international agreements, wanted to fly her fighter planes over the demilitarised Aegean islands of Lemnos (heavily fortified by Greece) and Ikaria.

Turkey insists that according to the Lausanne Agreement of 1923 the Aegean islands of Lemnos and Ikaria are "demilitarised zones", where Greece denies this claim.

Although NATO changed the flight plans of the exercises upon Ankara's request that the islands should be excluded, Greece ordered two of her fighter planes to fly over the islands. The planes were intercepted by the Turkish air force.

Reacting to the incident and putting across the Greek argument that these islands are under Greek sovereignty and Greece has the right to do whatever she wishes, Greek Foreign Minister George Papandreou stressed that the European Union, which accepted Turkey as a candidate last year, wanted Greek-Turkish relations to be based on the "respect of sovereign rights, peaceful resolution of disputes and respect for international law."

On October 26, Washington Post reported that after the initial disagreements, "Greece then threatened to pull out, but Nato's supreme commander in Europe, US Air Force Gen. Joseph W. Ralston, helped broker a truce. Although it was agreed that Greek fighter jets would stop flying over the islands, sources said, the flights continued anyway."

Washington Post further reported that "Some political analysts and news reports said the dispute may have been fuelled by hard-liners in Greece, notably the country's defense minister, Akis Tsohatzopoulos, who is seen as opposing Turkey's admission to the EU. A report on the steps that Turkey needs to take for EU admittance is to be released in a few weeks, and Greece wants a section instructing Turkey to resolve its differences with Greece on Greek terms, analysts said."

Diplomatic sources believed that it was actually Greek defence minister Tshatzopoulos who ordered the flights on the islands and he deliberately went to Cyprus during the Nikiforos-Toksotis exercises.

The second incident came during the Greek-Greek Cypriot military exercises that was taking place in south Cyprus at the same time as Destined Glory 2000, where Greek- Greek Cypriot forces staged an imaginary occupation of the TRNC.

As well as Greek soldiers, Greek Navy and 6 Greek fighter planes took part in the exercises, where two of the F-16s that took part in the exercises landed on the Andreas Papandreou military air base in Paphos.

These Greek F-16s, the first to land on the island since 1995, remained on the base overnight, causing strong reaction from the Turkish side.

Further more, after the exercises two Turkish reconnaissance planes were locked on to from Greek Cypriot TOR M1 missile radar, which made the matters worse.

Greek Cypriot radio reported that Turkish fighter jets were forced to return to air bases in Turkey after they were locked onto from Greek Cypriot Paphos air base by TOR M1 rocket radar.

After the exercises, Greek Cypriot side officially opened the Andreas Papandreou air base in Paphos, attended by Greek Defence Minister Akis Tsohatzopoulos and Greek Cypriot leader Glafcos Clerides.

Clerides, speaking at the ceremony, said; "Cyprus-Greece joint defence pact between Greece and Cyprus is of great strategic significance to the island's defence, and at the same time reinforces the Greek Cypriot side's negotiating position in its efforts to find a solution to the Cyprus problem through peaceful means."

He also said that south Cyprus would continue to arm itself and thanked Greece for its military support, noting that Athens had given Cyprus military hardware worth £400 million over the past four years. As if to confirm Clerides' announcement, right after the military exercises in Cyprus, Politis, a Greek Cypriot newspaper reported that Greece will be sending more military hardware to south Cyprus, which includes two gun boats equipped with missiles and twelve 155 mm canons.

Denktash, the TRNC President commenting on the incident called on the Greek Cypriots to stop escalating the tension. Referring to the threatening act of the Greek Cypriot side he said, "You can't lock your radar on Turkish planes, which means an act of war if you're not careful." He also warned the Greek Cypriots over the use by Greek planes of Paphos air base and warned that an "arms race" on the island would benefit nobody.

Reason for escalating the Tensions

One has to consider carefully why all of a sudden the escalation of the tensions by the Greek-Greek Cypriot side? Why open the military air base in south Cyprus after 5 years?

Also on the part of Greece, why first agree to stop the flights on the disputed islands and than break the agreement?

We have to look for the answer in the relation between the EU and Turkey. The so-called road map for Turkey's accession to EU will be announced on November 8, and it seems like that the document prepared by the EU officials does not include the preconditions that Cyprus and the Aegean problems should be solved before the accession negotiations can start.

Showing the two incidents that increased the tension in the region, Greece is preparing to demand from the EU that the so-called road map of Turkey's EU membership includes solving the Cyprus and the Aegean problems by Turkey i.e. Turkey must give concessions to Greece on these two matters.

Greek FM George Papandreou, hiding behind the EU, on the one hand says that the EU wanted Greek-Turkish relations to be based on the respect of sovereign rights, peaceful resolution of disputes and respect for international law and on the other, Greece sends military hardware worth over £400 millions to Cyprus. Hardly a peaceful resolution of the problem.

Also his claim that Turkey should respect international law is absurd because it is Greece, who does not recognise the international treaties that were suppose to govern the relations between the two countries. As in the case of 1923 Lausanne agreements, concerning the Aegean, and as in the case of 1959 London and Zurich agreements concerning Cyprus.

Was it not Makarios who tried to change 13 of the articles of the Cyprus constitution, which protected the rights of the Turkish Cypriots, that caused all the problems in Cyprus? Was it not Greece that invaded Cyprus first in 1964 and than in 1974 breaking the agreements she had signed.

If we look at the comments made by Greek-Greek Cypriot politicians and their media, they argue that the Turks do not respect the international laws and agreements. However the reality is completely opposite, if studied with open mind, it will be clear that it is actually Greece that does not respect the international law.

Also, what should concern us and the whole of the international community, is the mentality of the Greek Cypriot leader, where he thinks by building up his armed forces he can bring a peaceful resolution to the Cyprus problem. This mentality and the behaviour of the Greek-Greek Cypriot partnership show that they do not want peace between the two sides. United Nations should take notice of this.

TURKISH CYPRIOT VIGIL LAUNCHES PHOTOGRAPH CAMPAIGN

The Turkish Cypriot organisation Vigil for Justice, which has been holding a vigil outside Downing Street, central London for the past 10 months, seeks to hammer home the message that Britain's biased policies in Cyprus is hurting the lives of 200,000 people living north of the buffer zone. The Vigil has launched a new campaign calling on Turkish Cypriots living in North Cyprus to donate photographs of themselves, which the group will display as part of their protest.

The photographs are to be placed underneath the big, bold banner of "RECOGNISE OUR IDENTITY, OUR RIGHTS AND OUR STATE" which is intended to send a clear message to British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Foreign Secretary Robin Cook that Turkish Cypriots will no longer tolerate being treated like second class citizens in their own country. Gursel Ismail, one of the original members of the Vigil stated, "When we first came to Downing Street back in November, we were armed with just some banners. Since that time we have made a more permanent home for ourselves and are looking to make a bigger impact on the thousands of people who pass by the Vigil everyday. Having pictures of the very people affected by these outrageous and inhumane embargoes will make it far easier for us to explain why Britain must adopt a more even-handed approach to Cyprus.

" Situated on one of the busiest stretches of road in London, the Vigil is impossible to miss with its flags, protest boards and a tent which sits four people. Located as it is near Trafalgar Square, the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben, the Vigil is seen by MPs, foreign diplomats, journalists, businesspeople, workers, tourists and thousands of other commuters everyday. Sertac Bahri, a young Turkish Cypriot member of the Vigil, believes "It is without doubt the most successful campaign in the UK to date in trying to expose the plight of the Turkish Cypriots to the British public."

The Vigil organisers are confident their Photograph Campaign will be successful. With the major media in North Cyprus, such as Kibris newspaper (the biggest selling daily newspaper) and Bayrak Radyo Televizyon (the state-owned radio and television corporation), pledging to give widespread coverage to the campaign, the organisers believe they will be able to collect enough photographs to fill a 20ft board.

The Photograph Campaign will last for one month, until the end of October 2000. Turkish Cypriots wanting to support the campaign should send their photos together with a note stating the names and ages of those in the photos, and any messages they would like to relay to the world via the Vigil organisers to the following address:

VIGIL FOTOGRAF KAMPANYASI, P.K. 840, LEFKOSA (for those outside of North Cyprus ONLY, please add) NORTH CYPRUS, via MERSIN 10, TURKEY

Since the Greek Cypriots seized power in December 1963, Turkish Cypriots have had to endure economic, social and political embargoes, which have effectively denied them direct contact with the rest of the world. Today all communications, travel and trade between North Cyprus and international community is conducted via Turkey.

Due to the lack of recognition of their rights and State, Turkish Cypriots are not represented in any international political or economic bodies, nor are they able to participate in social and cultural events, including sports.

Vigil for Justice has been stationed opposite Downing Street since 22 November 1999 in order to make peaceful protest against Guarantor Britain's failure to fulfil its moral and legal obligations to the Turkish Cypriots. The Vigil's organisers aim to raise awareness amongst the decision-makers in Britain (politicians, policy makers, businesspeople, the media, etc.) that Turkish Cypriots, like their Greek Cypriot neighbours, deserve the respect and recognition of their identity, rights and State.

As far as the organisers know, the Vigil is the only demonstration in London that occurs 24 hours a day. Which means that at any given time, there will be at least one person manning the tent.

For more details, please contact:

ataman@btinternet.com

ipekh@excite.com

HELP THE CHILDREN
The fund raising event, which was launched by TCN and the Association of Young Turkish Graduates and Professionals (AYTGP) on 8 July 2000 is still continuing.

SOS Village, which is situated at the outskirts of capital Nicosia, provides protection and home comfort to the children who are in need. The village consist of 11 houses and other facilities. There are 62 children residing in the village at present.

In each house there are around six children and a trained worker, where the children calls her mum. Also helping the mum there is an aunt.

Apart from the children's homes, there are Youth Houses situated in Kyrenia. Where 22 children over the age of 15 resides.

So far the campaign has raised about £3000. After a slow down period due to the holidays, we are restarting the campaign.

We need our people's help to raise more money for the children in the SOS Village We should not forget that these children are the most needy in our country. Please help the children.

If you want to help please contact TCN or go to TURK BANKASI and ask to make a donation into the account number below. Any donations to this account will directly go to the SOS Village

Account no: 7092674
Please Circulate and support this campaign.