The Aftermath of the Turkish Intervention 1974-77

ukturk



Joined: 01/09/2007
Posts: 1920


Message Posted:
20/10/2007 21:16

hi there guys,

one of the best unbiased books on cyprus i have read has to be

Cyprus...War and Adaptation, i managed to find one of the segments of this book titled Turkish Cyprus: Aftermath of the Intervention 1974-77 written by a psychiatrist Vamik Volkan even thou he is a turk gives a informative unbiased insight in to when the war began and was present six months after the turkish community setteled in the south how the turkish cypriots dealt with it (good/bad) also given new land and possesions, he also visits a year later and three years later to see how north cyprus as a republic has come on.

i have provided a link for you all to read it is a very educational read for people who are new to the subject and who already know!!!!



http://www.cyprus-conflict.net/www.cyprus-conflict.net/volkan.html



have a read if you are interested and post me back on what you think!!!!!!

regards

ukturk

dy1259


Joined: 10/08/2007
Posts: 280


Message Posted:
20/10/2007 23:04

Erkan,

Thought is was interesting and informative-lots there I didn't know of. I also found some of it very sad.

dodger



Joined: 29/07/2007
Posts: 1228


Message Posted:
21/10/2007 13:51

erkan,

excellent read,totally non biased opinion of the conflict,perhaps it should be sent on to the producer of the inside out programme.

ukturk



Joined: 01/09/2007
Posts: 1920


Message Posted:
21/10/2007 13:56

hi donna

i knew you would be the first to read and answer my post (dont think anyone else is interested)

i know what you mean very sad what the turks went thru even resorted down to loting after living like sewer rats ok the greeks went thru some hardships but not at the hands of terroerists but by the army (i know what i would prefer) if you are intrested ive got loads more stuff on this stuff you prob have not seen or read like letters from denktash to makarios and more segments written by professor volkan etc etc just post me and ill be happy to send you these via email

warm regards

erkan

p.s quite surprised none of our other forum members took a inetrest in this subject

ukturk



Joined: 01/09/2007
Posts: 1920


Message Posted:
21/10/2007 14:01

thanks paul

long time no hear

i knew you would be interested in this too like i said to donna got loads more stuff on these subject but not sure will post them cos i dont think there are many people interested in it but if you want ill email you with it just post me and ill send you

and you are right should send it but i know what they will say 'thanks but no thanks too true for our liking'

dodger



Joined: 29/07/2007
Posts: 1228


Message Posted:
21/10/2007 14:07

busy decorating mate thats why ive not been on,also a major de-frag needed on p.c.feel free to email me any stuff you have erkan i find it all very interestng.in years to come we may move out and i think you should have some knowledge of a place were you are going to live.

MCSTEVIET



Joined: 11/05/2007
Posts: 699


Message Posted:
21/10/2007 15:03

UKTURK,



Not true that no-one else is interested.



I went to the link last night, but I thought I needed to be awake to do it justice.



I will view it with interest when I've got 15 mins to spare.



Probable at work 2morrow.



MC

lovelife


Joined: 07/07/2007
Posts: 182


Message Posted:
21/10/2007 17:05

I do not think that it necessarily true that people are not interested, but it is not an article that can be read quickly it takes a while to read and digest what happened. Yes I have read it.



If you have more info that depicts what happened, then provide the links, if people are interested then it is up to them to read it for themselves.



More information gives people a better insight to what happened to the island and its people, and readers can make their own minds up, and if we ever need to write to authorities for whatever reason, then the more knowledge we have the better.

jetl3on


Joined: 10/08/2007
Posts: 65


Message Posted:
21/10/2007 20:20

http://www.britains-smallwars.com/cyprus/index.html

ukturk



Joined: 01/09/2007
Posts: 1920


Message Posted:
21/10/2007 22:30

hi guys

sorry i did not mean to say dont i meant didit (as in did not)!!!!

lovelife i always provide links to anything i post but with this subject most of the info i have saved on my computer and cant post and the only way is to send via email so just gives us a post and ill gladly pass it on

i could not agree with you more the more info to better the education and in turn to get more of an understanding

regards

livethedream


Joined: 12/04/2007
Posts: 316


Message Posted:
22/10/2007 07:53

V. interesting. Heard a lot from my mother-in-law but good to read a version written without personal feelings to distort things. Thanks

ilovecyprus



Joined: 08/05/2007
Posts: 1010


Message Posted:
22/10/2007 12:43

Hi ukturk



I will definately read this when I have a chance. Keep this sort of stuff coming.



Last week in Cyprus I actually met an English guy who was stationed in Nicosia during the conflict in 1974. It was interesting to hear his account of events. His troop was told to hold Nicosia airport for 24hours. Most of the time he didn't know who was shooting at him, be that his own comrades, Greek or Turkish troops. All he could do was to fire back at those who were shooting at him. He would see bodies fall but had no idea who they were.

Interestingly one of my neighbours in Lapta was stationed in Cyprus in 1959. He told me about some of the scuffles he had with EOKA. Apparently the Brits lost 19 men when he was out there.

ukturk



Joined: 01/09/2007
Posts: 1920


Message Posted:
22/10/2007 13:22

hi there ilovecyprus

i hope you enjoyed your winter hols (it is considered winter season now!!!!) even thou it was prob hot L.O.L

the british you are going on about were probabley fighting with the greek eoka terrorists because when there was civil unrest between the greeks and they were fighting among themselves and also taking it out on the turks and british who in turn employed turk cypriots as local police enforcers at this time the british and the turks were working side by side before the turkish army came in, thanks i will defo keep this kind of info coming



p.s i hope you have not got the holiday blues!!!!

regards

Susie


Joined: 06/06/2007
Posts: 83


Message Posted:
22/10/2007 14:27

will read article. i am very interested in these things, but i have to concentrate so need to allow a bit more time... can't do it while answering 'phone and eating a sandwich at desk!

ukturk



Joined: 01/09/2007
Posts: 1920


Message Posted:
22/10/2007 14:48

hi susie

no worries so your not multi tasking then!!!!!! L.O.L

only joking have a read and tell me what you think

like i said i got loads more stuff to share

regards

lovelife


Joined: 07/07/2007
Posts: 182


Message Posted:
22/10/2007 16:00

I was talking to my father-in-law (now 80) and he was telling me as a young man serving in the navy as a radio operator his ship came to Cyprus in the late 50's (possibly 1959)

As he had quite dark hair and skin,and was told not to shave for several days as he was given an assingment to dress in local clothes and was positioned on street corners posing as a 'drunk' armed with a bottle of alcohol(in fact it was cold tea) and a tobacco tin which contained his radio, his assignment was to radio in if he saw any unrest, he often saw groups of EOKA driving around in open trucks with guns in full view.

ukturk



Joined: 01/09/2007
Posts: 1920


Message Posted:
23/10/2007 20:55

hi lovelife

what a great story he must have some great stories to tell!!!!!

they are the best people to gather info from see if he has got any more and post them

regards

ukturk



Joined: 01/09/2007
Posts: 1920


Message Posted:
23/10/2007 21:15

hi guys ive managed to get the official views of both governments on the events of july and august 74 you will see how the greek side jumped from independence in 1960 to the events of July 20 skipping the history of enforced turkish cypriot enclaves (1964-74) and the coup against Makarios.

you see the greek cypriots claim that the cyprus problem was caused by the landing of turkish troops in 1974 and if they would withdraw, the problem would be solved. This is a totally wrong the problem began in 1960 and the landing of turkish troops was the consequence not the cause of the problem



even greek cypriot people wanted turkey help In her memoirs greek cypriot MP rina katselli, said on the 16th July 74 Is Makarios alive Is he dead, The Makarios supporters arrested, the EOKA-B supporters freed i did not shed a tear, why should i? Did the stupidity and fanaticism deserve a tear? There are some who beg Turkey to intervene. They prefer the intervention of Turkey." 18th July 74 my God! everyone is frozen with fear the old man who asked for the body of his son was shot on the spot the tortures and executions at the central prison everyone is frozen with horror nothing is sacred to these people, and they call themselves Greeks! we must not keep that name any longer.

ukturk



Joined: 01/09/2007
Posts: 1920


Message Posted:
23/10/2007 21:18

ok firstly the view of the greek cypriot government



The Turkish army invaded Cyprus on 20 July 1974.

Turkey announced that the invasion was a "peace-keeping operation" to restore the constitutional order disrupted when a Greek military coup overthrew the Cyprus government. Turkey claimed she was acting in compliance with the terms of the 1960 Treaty of Guarantee.

The invading forces landed off the northern coast of the island around Kyrenia. By the time a cease fire was agreed three days later, Turkish troops held 3% of the territory of Cyprus. Five thousand Greek Cypriots had fled their homes.

Following the invasion, the junta which was in power in Greece at the time, collapsed and Mr Constantine Karamanlis was recalled from self-imposed exile in Paris to form a new government. In Cyprus, Nicos Samson, the man whom the junta had set up as President, surrendered power to the President of the House of Representatives, Mr Glafcos Clerides, pending the return of the island's constitutionally elected President, Archbishop Makarios, who had fled abroad to escape being killed during the coup.

Two unproductive conferences in Geneva followed, the first between Britain, Greece and Turkey and the second with the additional attendance of Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot representatives. Throughout this time Turkish troops steadily expanded their area of control.

On 14 August, despite the fact that talks were still being held in Geneva and just as agreement was about to be reached, the Turkish army mounted a second full-scale offensive, thereby belying Turkey's original pretext that it was invading in order to restore constitutional order, in view of the fact that constitutional order had already been restored.

By the end of the offensive, Turkey increased its hold to include the booming tourist resort of Famagusta and the rich citrus-growing area of Morphou. All in all 37% of the area of Cyprus came under Turkish military occupation, an area Turkey still holds today, despite international condemnation.

The advance halted on a line which was almost precisely the one proposed by Turkey as the demarcation of partition in 1965. This line has come to be known as the Attila line, named after the military codename "Attila" which Turkey gave to the invasion operation, thereby identifying it with the chieftain of the Huns known as "the scourge of God".

As a result, 200.000 Greek Cypriots were made refugees in their own country and 70% of the economic potential of Cyprus came under military occupation. Moreover, thousands of people, including civilians, were killed or ill-treated by the Turkish invaders.

There are still 1.619 Greek Cypriots missing as a result of the Turkish invasion, many of whom were held in Turkish custody. Following the invasion the Turkish government embarked on a policy of bringing in large numbers of Anatolian settlers into the occupied areas, while at the same time systematically expelling the legal Greek Cypriot inhabitants from their homes. Currently about 500 mostly elderly people remain enclaved in the occupied area.

On 1 November 1974, the UN General Assembly unanimously passed the first of countless resolutions calling all states to respect the sovereignty, independence, territorial integrity and non-alignment of the Republic of Cyprus. It urged the speedy withdrawal of all foreign troops, the continuation of intercommunal talks and that urgent efforts be taken to ensure the safe return of refugees to their homes.



The Turkish invasion and subsequent occupation resulted in the following:

About 37% of the territory of the Republic of Cyprus - i.e. the northern part of the island, where 70% of its natural resources are concentrated - is under Turkish occupation.

200.000 Greek Cypriots - one third of the population - have been displaced from the occupied northern sector where they had constituted 80% of the inhabitants.

The population of Greek and Turkish Cypriots, who for 300 years had lived together intermingled throughout the island, was now artificially separated.

The ascertainment of the fate of the missing persons is still pending.

By the end of 1974 about 12,000 people were enclaved in their occupied villages living under conditions of oppression, harassment and deprivation. Less than 500 Greek Cypriots and 173 Maronites remain (June 1998 figures).

35,000 Turkish soldiers, armed with the latest weapons and supported by land and sea, are stationed in the occupied area, making it, according to the UN Secretary-General, "one of the most militarised regions of the world".

Over 90.000 Turks have been brought over from Turkey to colonise the occupied area thus changing the demography of the island and controlling the political situation.

The "Attila line" ("Operation Attila" was the code-name Turkey gave to the invasion of Cyprus) artificially divides the island and its people and prevents Cypriots from moving freely throughout their country.

In an effort to consolidate the de facto situation, the "Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus" was unilaterally declared in 1983 in the occupied area, a pseudostate recognised only by Turkey and entirely dependent on it.

According to Turkish-Cypriot newspapers, over one third of Turkish Cypriots emigrated from the occupied area between 1974-1995 because of the economic, social and moral deprivation which prevails there. As a result the Turkish Cypriots who remain are today outnumbered by the Turkish troops together with the colonists.

The illegal regime in the occupied area is deliberately and methodically trying to eradicate every trace of a 9.000 year old cultural and historical heritage. All Greek place-names have been replaced by Turkish ones. Churches, monuments, cemeteries and archaeological sites have been destroyed, desecrated or looted.

ukturk



Joined: 01/09/2007
Posts: 1920


Message Posted:
23/10/2007 21:24

ok now the turkish cypriot government view and also TRUE facts and quotes from external sources

In 1971 General Grivas returned to Cyprus to form EOKA-B, which was again committed to making Cyprus a wholly Greek island and annexing it to Greece. In a speech to the Greek Cypriot armed forces (Quoted in "New Cyprus" May 1987), Grivas said. "The Greek forces from Greece have come to Cyprus in order to impose the will of the Greeks of Cyprus upon the Turks. We want ENOSIS but the Turks are against it. We shall impose our will. We are strong and we shall do so."



Greek Invasion

By 15th July 1974 a powerful force of mainland Greek troops had assembled in Cyprus and with their backing the Greek Cypriot National Guard overthrew Makarios and installed Nicos Sampson as "President." On 22nd July Washington Star News reported: "Bodies littered the streets and there were mass burials... People told by Makarios to lay down their guns were shot by the National Guard."

Turkish Cypriots appealed to the Guarantor powers for help, but only Turkey was willing to make any effective response. The Greek newspaper Eleftherotipia published an interview with Nicos Sampson on 26th February 1981 in which he said "Had Turkey not intervened I would not only have proclaimed ENOSIS - I would have annihilated the Turks in Cyprus."



In his book "The Way the Wind Blows" former British Prime Minister, Sir Alec Douglas-Home said "I was convinced that if Archbishop Makarios could not bring himself to treat the Turkish Cypriots as human beings he was inviting the invasion and partition of the island."

US Under-Secretary of State, George Ball, said "Makarios central interest was to block off Turkish intervention so that he and his Greek Cypriots could go on happily massacring Turkish Cypriots"

"Turkish Cypriots, who had suffered from physical attacks since 1963, called on the guarantor powers to prevent a Greek conquest of the island. When Britain did nothing Turkey invaded Cyprus and occupied its northern part." (Daily Telegraph 15.8.96)

Turkey (at that time led by the Social Democrat Prime Minister Bülent Ecevit) sent troops to Cyprus on 20th July 1974.

"On 20th July 1974 Turkey intervened under Article IV of the Treaty of Guarantee" - (UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office doc. CPS/75. Jan., 1987).

"Turkey exercised its right of intervention in accordance with Article IV of the Guarantee Treaty of 1960." (Resolution 573, Standing Committee of the Consultative Assembly of the Council of Europe, 29th July 1974).

The 1976 UK House of Commons Select Committee on Cyprus found (HC 331 1975/76 para.22), that Turkey had proposed joint Anglo-Turkish action under the Treaty of Guarantee. On 14th August 1974 (Daily Telegraph 15th August) Prime Minister Ecevit confirmed that he had indeed traveled to London to urge Anglo-Turkish intervention. However the then Labour Government in Britain refused to take any effective action, even though they had troops and aircraft available in their Sovereign Bases in Cyprus.

They argued that Britain was under no duty to take military action, but Article II provided that Britain would guarantee the state of affairs established by the 1960 Constitution, which it manifestly failed to do. The Select Committee concluded that "Britain had a legal right to intervene, she had a moral obligation to intervene. She did not intervene for reasons which the (Labour) Government refuses to give."

During the fighting with Turkish troops between 20th July and 16th August 1974 many Greek Cypriots died in combat. So far as possible their bodies were recovered and identified by Turkish forces. There were very few deaths of Greek Cypriots civilians.



The balance of probabilities is therefore that of those Greek Cypriots still listed as missing most were killed during the Sampson coup of 15th - 20th July 1974, and that others died in combat. Some are in mass graves such as those described by Father Papatsestos, and the remainder have no known grave. Those killed in the fighting with the Turkish army would not have died if the Greek Cypriots and Greece had not tried to annihilate the Turkish Cypriots and annex the island to Greece, and the blame for their deaths must rest firmly upon their own leadership.

In July 1974, after the first phase of the Turkish intervention, an international conference was held at Geneva between Turkey, Greece and Britain. It was agreed that Greek and Greek Cypriot forces would leave all the Turkish Cypriot enclaves, but showing their customary disregard for international agreements they proceeded instead to murder almost the entire civilian population of six Turkish Cypriot enclaves in both the north and south of the island, and despite the presence in Cyprus of UN troops.

It is argued that even if the first phase of the Turkish intervention was legal the extension of the area under Turkish control in the second phase from 14th August to 16th August 1974 was illegal. The German newspaper Die Zeit wrote on 30th August 1974 "the massacre of Turkish Cypriots in Paphos and Famagusta is the proof of how justified the Turkish were to undertake their (August) intervention".



More Massacres of Turkish Cypriots



In the village of Tokhni on 14th August 1974 all the Turkish Cypriot men between the ages of 13 and 74, except for eighteen who managed to escape, were taken away and shot. (Times, Guardian, 21st August)

In Zyyi on the same day all the Turkish-Cypriot men aged between 19 and 38 were taken away by Greek-Cypriots and were never seen again. On the same day Greek-Cypriots opened fire in the Turkish-Cypriot neighbourhood of Paphos killing men, women, and children indiscriminately. On 23rd July 1974 the Washington Post reported "In a Greek raid on a small Turkish village near Limassol 36 people out of a population of 200 were killed. The Greeks said that they had been given orders to kill the inhabitants of the Turkish villages before the Turkish forces arrived." (See also Times, Guardian, 23rd July).

"The Greeks began to shell the Turkish quarter on Saturday, refugees said. Kazan DerviÕs, a Turkish Cypriot girl aged 15, said she had been staying with her uncle. The (Greek Cypriot) National Guard came into the Turkish sector and shooting began. She saw her uncle and other relatives taken away as prisoners, and later heard her uncle had been shot." (Times 23.7.74)

Before my uncle was taken away by the soldiers, he shouted to me to run away. I ran to the streets, and the soldiers were shooting all the time. I went into a house and I saw a woman being attacked by soldiers. They were raping her. Then they shot her in front of my eyes. I ran away again and Turkish Cypriot men and women looked after me. They were escaping as well. They broke holes in the sides of houses, so we could get away without going into the streets. There were lots of women and children screaming, and soldiers were firing at us all the time."



On 28th July the New York Times reported that 14 Turkish-Cypriot men had been shot in Alaminos. On 24th July 1974 "France Soir" reported "The Greeks burned Turkish mosques and set fire to Turkish homes in the villages around Famagusta. Defenceless Turkish villagers who have no weapons live in an atmosphere of terror and they evacuate their homes and go and live in tere a shame to humanity."



On 22nd July Turkish Prime Minister Ecevit called upon the UN to "stop the genocide of Turkish-Cypriots" and declared "Turkey has accepted a cease-fire, but will not allow Turkish-Cypriots to be massacred" (Times 23rd July). At the beginning of the Second Geneva Conference he said "A solution which is not based on geographical separation will not work. It is out of the question for us to entrust the safety of the Turkish Cypriots to the Greeks, who cannot even rule themselves. The areas around the Turkish forces are being mined, and the Turkish Cypriot villages are still under siege."



The UK House of Commons Select Committee on Cyprus reported in 1976 "the second phase of military operations was inevitable in the view of your committee as the position reached by Turkish forces at the time of the first ceasefire was untenable militarily"

Sir Anthony Kershaw MP explained the situation as follows in his speech on 23rd October 1990:

"In order to protect the Turkish Cypriots, Turkey intervened in exercise of her rights under article 4 of the 1960 Treaty of Guarantee. No one has ever suggested that was illegal but they have gone on to say that the continuing use of troops, not to restore the 1960 Constitution but to enforce partition was illegal.

But does this not ignore the reality of the situation? In law it is said that the Turks were invoking the Guarantee; but to say that they were obliged to work for no result except the restoration of the 1960 Constitution is absurd. That Constitution had ceased to exist. The reconciliation of the law with the actual political situation, or indeed with ordinary common sense, was becoming more difficult. The Turks came to protect the lives of the Turkish Cypriots and they had good reason to know that the restoration of the 1960 Constitution was not the way to do that. The only way to do that was with troops on the ground."



"Turkey intervened to protect the lives and property of the Turkish-Cypriots, and to its credit it has done just that. In the 12 years since, there have been no killings and no massacres" Lord Willis (Lab.) House of Lords 17th December 1986 (Hansard, col.223)

ukturk



Joined: 01/09/2007
Posts: 1920


Message Posted:
23/10/2007 21:35

now guys after you have read both views on the problem of cyprus what one sounds like sense and what one is patchy made up no back up from external sources!!!

again i have a copy of a article on 28th February 1976 in the greek cypriot press Father Papatsestos said: "It is a rather hard thing to say, but it is true that the Turkish intervention saved us from a merciless internecine war. The Sampson regime had prepared a list of all Makarios supporters, and they would have slaughtered them all." Many of the people saved by Turkey are members of the present Greek Cypriot leadership

and this is coming from one of the biggest priests in the greek cpriot church and he has no reason to lie does he!!!!

sorry about the long posts i find these quotes very educational for people who want to learn of the history of cyprus and the problem

post me and tell me what you think

regards

ukturk



Joined: 01/09/2007
Posts: 1920


Message Posted:
23/10/2007 21:43

hi again

before anyone asks i got these views direct from the horse mouth (as they say)

the greek view From the Republic of Cyprus Public Information Office



and the turkish view From the Government of Turkeys Foreign Ministry

dodger



Joined: 29/07/2007
Posts: 1228


Message Posted:
23/10/2007 21:52

best ever erkan,totally rivetting stuff,be careful of r.s.i. though,thanks for the photos mate.

ukturk



Joined: 01/09/2007
Posts: 1920


Message Posted:
23/10/2007 22:01

thanks mate

you read that fast that took me best part of a day to edit from originals and then to write on word then paste it on to the forum

your right i should change my profile job from secret service they mite think im a spy !!!!

no worries on the photos

regards

erkan

dy1259


Joined: 10/08/2007
Posts: 280


Message Posted:
23/10/2007 22:09

Erkan as usual you have excelled yourself. Fully informative. Both copied and pasted-my ammunition.

dodger



Joined: 29/07/2007
Posts: 1228


Message Posted:
23/10/2007 22:09

where do you find the time to write as you do,have you thought of putting it all together and writing a book or am i insulting you by saying that as you have already written many best sellers and ukturk is just a pseudonim for james herbert,

keep writing mate,

paul.

ukturk



Joined: 01/09/2007
Posts: 1920


Message Posted:
23/10/2007 22:27

hi guys

thanks for your comments

donna i know where you going with this info to that english bloke who thinks he knows it all and is a greek cypriot supporter on that forum you told me about hit them hard with it please post me a link once you have posted it please

paul i sit infront of computers read and type all day long at work the boss cant say nothing cos i am the boss l.o.l. you know something i was actually thinking of putting a book together but would not know how to go about it

james herbert i wish more like j.r hartley (the yellow pages advert from years ago!!!) L.O.L

lovelife


Joined: 07/07/2007
Posts: 182


Message Posted:
24/10/2007 11:36

Ukturk



Very informative and if Turkey was recognized under the treaty of Guarantee that it intervened to save the TC people, why are the embargoes still in place? is it because Turkey left military there?



I will ask my father in law if he has anymore stories to tell me as you say it is interesting to hear from people who lived it.

dy1259


Joined: 10/08/2007
Posts: 280


Message Posted:
24/10/2007 12:04

Hi Erkan,

I'll use the info. as and when but might you post them onto the other forums?



I should imagine the person you referred to would attempt to discredit the TC version of events! I'm not sure he's English, could be British origin but I suspect (could be wrong) he has some familial link to GCs.

ukturk



Joined: 01/09/2007
Posts: 1920


Message Posted:
24/10/2007 13:32

hi there all

lovelife these embargoes imposed on north cyprus dont have the authority of any UN Security Council Resolution under Article 41 of the UN Charter. but due to the confusing UN Resolution 186, passed on 4 March 1964, the Greek Cypriots have been able to legitimise their status as the sole recognised authority on the island of Cyprus and deny Turkish Cypriots their legal, political and basic human rights.

with the greeks always lobbying they have made sure the embargoes they have applied to North Cyprus is adhered worldwide and the impact is as comprehensive as any UN sanctioned embargo.



below lovelife i have provided a link to my other subject thread i started on which you might have not noticed have a read on it this is also very educational

http://www.cyprus44.com/forums/show-message.asp?messageID=718



regards to you all who have taken an intrest in this subject

ilovecyprus



Joined: 08/05/2007
Posts: 1010


Message Posted:
24/10/2007 15:42

Thanks Erkan

Absolutely informative as ever. Thanks



dy1259, I presume you are referring to the infamous mm. I believe he is of Irish descent. Psychologically, I think the unification of Cyprus represents the unification of southern and Northern Ireland to him.

Personally I wouldn't bother arguing with him. He is never going to change his mind and in any case he is no match for Erolz

dy1259


Joined: 10/08/2007
Posts: 280


Message Posted:
24/10/2007 15:52

ILC. LOL. the Ireland reference. Thing is we can't leave it all to Erolz though I agree he's doing a brilliant job all by himself. It's nice to know that people out there agree with you and don't believe the perennial lies/misinformation from GCs.

ilovecyprus



Joined: 08/05/2007
Posts: 1010


Message Posted:
24/10/2007 16:13

Hi dy1259

Just to add to my post. This is a real guess but I think mm holds the English responsible for Ireland and see's the English as messing up Cyprus. Could be very wrong of course.



Yes, you are right, the more people who have erolz's knowledge the more the TC's can fight their cause and make people aware of the true situation.

Personally though I think everyone on that forum should just ignore mm, that way he has noone to argue with.

dy1259


Joined: 10/08/2007
Posts: 280


Message Posted:
24/10/2007 16:44

Hi ILC, you are so right about ignoring the person... if everyone did it or if I thought he would then just go away but he won't. People like him need to be answered/argued against thus exposing their pro GCyp. fabrication and propaganda. For too long now the international community has heard/listened to only one side, the GCs. TCs/expats armed with knowledge/facts are then able, as you say, to make everyone aware of the truth. Besides, I had such fun with the gender thingy (I know not a good example of intelligent debate or even to do with Cyprus). LOL.

ukturk



Joined: 01/09/2007
Posts: 1920


Message Posted:
24/10/2007 17:23

hi d..... and ilc (l.o.l) had you worried there donna

yes mm thats the idiot i was going on about on the other forum im just waiting for him to post something totaley inaccurate then im goin to blast him with some of the info i know and belive you me when i give him some hard true facts he wont know how to respond not alone be idotic

donna i must say i totaley loved your comments towards him and this other pathetic excuse of a man scarmanga who does he think he is something out of a james bond movie well not even james bond can help him

http://trnc4real.proboards106.com/index.cgi?board=general&action=display&thread=1191517753



i love cyprus have a look at this see how donna cuts them down to size i did not think she was like that L.O.L (yes i do when we first posted on turkey and north cyprus religion situation)

take care

dy1259


Joined: 10/08/2007
Posts: 280


Message Posted:
24/10/2007 17:30

Hi E......., oh you're not worried are you!!LOL!



Ah yes, Erkan, our first cyber introduction-the religious situation. Don't get me started on that one again! Long live ATATURK (and no headscarves). LOL. What's happened to Alasatian?

ilovecyprus



Joined: 08/05/2007
Posts: 1010


Message Posted:
24/10/2007 17:45

yeah, that scara is a pain in the butt too

dodger



Joined: 29/07/2007
Posts: 1228


Message Posted:
24/10/2007 20:02

j.r. hartley was that the advert were the old man came into a shop and asked for a book by j.r. hartley and he was actually the author.i would have you down as more of a tollkien (excuse the spelling) get the book written and you may make more money then j.r. ewin.

ukturk



Joined: 01/09/2007
Posts: 1920


Message Posted:
24/10/2007 22:02

hi guys

ok donna i wont go in to that again were friends now and god bless the father of the turks dont know if you know the 29th of this month is cumhuriyet bayram (independance day) when Ataturk freed turkey from the greeks if it was not for him us turks would be speaking greek, ahh alasatain i think he was like zorro come in done his job and rode of in to the sunset on his horse

L.O.L

paul yeah you are right he was the guy who asked for his own book so you think im more of a j r tolkien what you saying im the lord of the ring i hope your not being rude there (what i said about me knowing a anil resturant)

L.O.L

ilc talking about anil (look at great name for a supermarket) yeah that scaramanga is one big one

regards

ukturk



Joined: 01/09/2007
Posts: 1920


Message Posted:
24/10/2007 23:16

hi again guys

below ive provided a link to the bbc news website on a feature called on this day this link is the 30th july 1974 it provides a bit of background to that month but also there are people giving their eye witness accounts into that month a few turks stories a few more greek stories (as usual) and some stories from british army soldiers take a look tell me what you think



http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/witness/july/20/newsid_3880000/3880605.stm

dy1259


Joined: 10/08/2007
Posts: 280


Message Posted:
25/10/2007 00:14

It confirms what I thought: The TCs feel safer/happier without the GCs and the GCs feel safer/happier without the TCs therefore continued partition/two states Cyprus is the best solution.



Noted the 'balance' weighed more towards the GCs-what's new?

dy1259


Joined: 10/08/2007
Posts: 280


Message Posted:
25/10/2007 19:18

Michael Stephen, an international lawyer, former Tory MP wrote the following balanced account on Cyprus (it is sympathetic to TCs):

It is a long read but worth it.



Written evidence submitted by Michael Stephen[107]

WHY IS CYPRUS DIVIDED?



It is necessary to know what happened in Cyprus between the foundation of the Republic in 1960 and the Turkish intervention in 1974, not for historical interest but in order to determine whether the political status of the Greek Cypriot Administration today, and its acceptance by the world is justified. If the Turkish Cypriots had simply withdrawn from the institutions of the Republic in 1964 with no reasonable excuse, and if the Turkish army had invaded in 1974 without any legal right or humanitarian justification, then perhaps the world would be right to treat the Greek Cypriot Administration as if it were the Government of Cyprus. The truth of the matter is however very different.





This is an important question, because the ability of the Greek Cypriot Administration to enforce an embargo on Turkish Cypriot trade, sport, and communications derives from their acceptance by other countries and institutions as if they were the lawful government of all Cyprus.





The former British Prime Minister, Sir Alec Douglas-Home said in his memoirs[108] he had been convinced that if the Greek Cypriots could not treat the Turkish Cypriots as human beings they were inviting the invasion and partition of the island.





The American Under-Secretary of State, George Ball, said in his own memoirs[109], that the central interest of the Greek Cypriot leader, Makarios, "was to block off Turkish intervention so that he and his Greek Cypriots could go on happily massacring Turkish Cypriots. Obviously we would never permit that." The fact is however that neither the US, the UK, the UN, nor anyone, other than Turkey ever took effective action to prevent it.





The most remarkable feature of the Cyprus question is the extent to which the Greek Cypriots have been able to repudiate solemn international agreements[110] and violate the human rights of the Turkish Cypriots on a massive scale and yet by a quite astonishing feat of public relations, have secured for themselves acceptance as the government of all Cyprus and have persuaded the world that they, and not the Turkish Cypriots, are the injured party. The consequence of this is that they have been able to extract one-sided resolutions from the United Nations and other international organisations, and have been able to secure court judgments which have been immensely damaging to the Turkish Cypriots and have placed the Turkish Cypriots under a crippling embargo on their international trade and communications.





For more than 40 years the Turkish Cypriots and their government have been faced with one of the hardest tasks in the whole range of international affairs—how to get the world to change its mind after it has got hold of the wrong end of the stick and clung to it year after year.





The Greek Cypriots claim that the Cyprus problem was caused by the landing of Turkish troops in 1974 and that if only they would withdraw, the problem would be solved. This is a serious misconception, for the landing of Turkish troops was the consequence, not the cause, of the problem. Moreover, there were in fact two military actions in 1974; the first was by Greece and the Greek Cypriots, which caused the second by Turkey.





In the view of Greek Cypriot journalist, Aleccos Constantinides[111] the Greek Cypriot political parties DIKO and EDEK "are acting as if the Cyprus problem began and ended in 1974. They refrain from talking about the previous coups. The first coup was not in 1974, but only a few years after we had attained our independence (in 1960). Had it not been for the first coup there would not have been the 1974 coup."





Another Greek Cypriot journalist, Stavros Angelides, wrote in Fileleftheros on 16 September 1990 "With the passage of time we the Greek Cypriots forget, or wilfully disregard, the events which led to the present situation in Cyprus. We forget our faults and we ask all the more emphatically everybody else to deliver to us justice as we understand it. We talk in generalities and in vague terms about UN Resolutions, and actually mean those which favour us. The others, such as Resolution 649 are not fair—we do not want them—let them go to hell."





The independence negotiations in Zurich and London were long and difficult, but in 1960 it was agreed by way of compromise between all five participants; Britain, Greece, Turkey, the Turkish Cypriots, and the Greek Cypriots; that the new Republic of Cyprus would be a bi-communal Republic with a single territory but a unique Constitution which embodied an agreed political partnership between Greek and Turkish Cypriots, and which prohibited the political or economic union of Cyprus with any other State.





The bi-communal structure was fundamental to the 1960 accords, on the basis of which the Republic of Cyprus achieved independence, and recognition as a sovereign state from the international community. Accordingly, from its very inception the Republic of Cyprus was never a unitary state in which there is only one electorate with a majority and minority. The two peoples of Cyprus were political equals and each existed as a political entity, just as both large and small states exist within the structure of the European Union. They did not however have the same constitutional rights because the agreements took into account the fact that there were more Greek Cypriots than Turkish Cypriots.





UN Secretary-General Annan acknowledged in his plan for a Cyprus settlement[112] that "the relationship between the Turkish Cypriots and the Greek Cypriots is not one of majority and minority but of political equality where neither side may claim authority or jurisdiction over the other."





The Turkish Cypriot people, knowing that they could not enforce the agreement themselves, would never have agreed to join the 1960 Republic if the Greek Cypriots had not also accepted a Treaty of Guarantee which gave Turkey a legal right to intervene, with troops if necessary. The parties to the Treaty were the United Kingdom, Turkey, Greece, and the Republic of Cyprus itself. The Turkish Cypriots had seen what happened to the Turkish people of Crete under Greek hegemony, and knew that there would be no future for them in Cyprus without a Turkish military guarantee.





Independence was formally granted on 16 August 1960.





At the conclusion of the negotiations the Greek Cypriot leader, Archbishop Makarios, said "Sending cordial good wishes to all the Greeks and Turks of Cyprus, I greet with joy the Agreement reached and proclaim with confidence that this day will be the beginning of a new period of progress and prosperity for our country". However, it soon became clear that the Greek Cypriots did not intend to abide by the Constitution, and that their entry into that solemn legal obligation with the Turkish Cypriots in 1960 had been a deception. On 28 July 1960 President Makarios said "the agreements do not form the goal—they are the present and not the future. The Greek Cypriot people will continue their national cause and shape their future in accordance with THEIR will.





In a speech on 4 September 1962, at Panayia, Makarios said "Until this Turkish community forming part of the Turkish race which has been the terrible enemy of Hellenism is expelled, the duty of the heroes of EOKA[113] can never be considered as terminated." It would be difficult to imagine a more vindictive, racist, policy than this. It is also a Greek expansionist policy—the very charge which the Greek Cypriots laid against Turkey when Turkey intervened twelve years later to put an end to it.





George Ball[114] quotes Adlai Stevenson as saying that Makarios, was "a wicked, unreliable conniver, who concealed his venality under the sanctimonious vestments of a religious leader" and comments that "In the years I had known Adlai I had never heard him speak of anyone with such vitriol."





Article 173 of the Cyprus Constitution provided for separate municipalities for Turkish Cypriots in the five main towns. The Greek Cypriots refused to obey this mandatory provision and in order to encourage them to do so the Turkish Cypriots said they would not vote for some of the Government's taxation proposals. The Greek Cypriots remained intransigent, so the Turkish Cypriots took the matter to the Supreme Constitutional Court of Cyprus. The court comprised one Greek Cypriot judge, one Turkish Cypriot judge, and a neutral President.





In February 1963 Archbishop Makarios declared on behalf of the Greek Cypriots that if the Court ruled against them they would ignore it[115] On 25 April 1963 the Court did rule against them[116] and they did ignore it. The President of the Court (a German citizen) resigned and the rule of law in Cyprus collapsed.





In November 1963 the Greek Cypriots went further, and demanded the abolition of eight of the basic articles which had been included in the 1960 Agreement for the protection of the Turkish Cypriots. The aim was to reduce the Turkish Cypriot people to the status of a mere minority, wholly subject to the control of the Greek Cypriots, pending their ultimate expulsion from the island. The Greek Cypriots had prepared a written plan for this purpose, called the Akritas Plan.





Glafcos Clerides, later the Greek Cypriot President, wrote his memoirs, entitled "Cyprus—My Deposition" in four volumes, published by Alithia publishing company, Nicosia, 1989-91. In these memoirs he admits that there was no need for constitutional amendments. According to him, "Makarios, at the head of the bi-communal state of Cyprus, had decided to proceed, stage by stage, to the unilateral abrogation of the rights granted to the Turkish community by the Zurich and London Agreements and to reduce its political status to a minority, using prematurely, the excuse of the unworkability of certain provisions of the constitution."





He goes on to say that "An honest evaluation of the situation during the period 1960-63, divorced from propaganda would lead to the conclusion that there was no need to press for constitutional amendments". Nevertheless according to Clerides, Makarios "refused to accept practical solutions failing short of constitutional amendments"





Clerides admits that "the delicate period of 1960-63, when both communities were questioning the sincerity of the other over their real commitment to independence, was not the proper time to request constitutional amendments on the grounds that the constitution was unworkable, when in fact unworkability could not be established".





Greek Cypriots claim that constitutional amendments were inevitable because the Turkish Cypriots abused their veto power, but according to Clerides: "The veto powers were not used either by the President or the Vice President on any law or decision of the House of Representatives . . .





Furthermore, he says "there was no difficulty in promulgating the decisions of the Council of Ministers and the laws of the House of Representatives."





Clerides continued: "If the Turkish Cypriots resist "unilateral amendments of the Constitution" where their rights would be abrogated, the forces of the Minister of Interior will use force to "put down the uprising". Lt General George Karayiannis (the mainland Greek Army Officer then in command of the Cyprus Army) told Ethnikos Kiryx, an Athens Daily, on 13 June 1965 that "President Makarios decided (a) to proceed to organise the Greek Cypriots for battle and arm them, and (b) to proceed with the revision of the Constitution, including the cancellation of the [Turkish Cypriot] Vice-President's Veto."





"When the Turkish Cypriots objected to the amendment of the constitution Makarios put his plan into effect, and the Greek Cypriot attack began in December 1963"—(Lt Gen Karayiannis)[117] The General is referring to the "Akritas" plan, which was the blueprint for the annihilation of the Turkish Cypriots and the annexation of the island to Greece.









At Christmas 1963 the Greek Cypriot militia attacked Turkish Cypriot communities across the island, and very many men, women, and children were killed. 270 of their mosques, shrines and other places of worship were desecrated.





On 28 December 1963 the Daily Express carried the following report from Cyprus: "We went tonight into the sealed-off Turkish Cypriot Quarter of Nicosia in which 200 to 300 people had been slaughtered in the last five days. We were the first Western reporters there and we have seen sights too frightful to be described in print. Horror so extreme that the people seemed stunned beyond tears."





On 31 December 1963 The Guardian reported: "It is nonsense to claim, as the Greek Cypriots do, that all casualties were caused by fighting between armed men of both sides. On Christmas Eve many Turkish Cypriot people were brutally attacked and murdered in their suburban homes, including the wife and children of a doctor—allegedly by a group of forty men, many in army boots and greatcoats." Although the Turkish Cypriots fought back as best they could, and killed some militia, there were no massacres of Greek Cypriot civilians.





On 1 January 1964 the Daily Herald reported: "When I came across the Turkish Cypriot homes they were an appalling sight. Apart from the walls they just did not exist. I doubt if a napalm attack could have created more devastation. Under roofs which had caved in I found a twisted mass of bed springs, children's cots, and grey ashes of what had once been tables, chairs and wardrobes. In the neighbouring village of Ayios Vassilios I counted 16 wrecked and burned out homes. They were all Turkish Cypriot. In neither village did I find a scrap of damage to any Greek Cypriot house."





On 2 January 1964 the Daily Telegraph wrote "The Greek Cypriot community should not assume that the British military presence can or should secure them against Turkish intervention if they persecute the Turkish Cypriots. We must not be a shelter for double-crossers." Britain did not however make any serious attempt to stop the Greek Cypriots.





On 12 January 1964 the British High Commission in Nicosia wrote to London[118] "The Greek (Cypriot) police are led by extremists who provoked the fighting and deliberately engaged in atrocities. They have recruited into their ranks as "special constables" gun-happy young thugs. They threaten to try and punish any Turkish Cypriot police who wish to return to the Cyprus Government. . . . . . . . Makarios assured us there will be no attack. His assurance is as worthless as previous assurances have proved."





The British Government noted[119] that George Ball "thought that Makarios' aim was to get the Cyprus problem into the UN orbit where the slogan of self-determination, supported by the communist bloc and the neutralists, could exert pressure towards the establishment of an independent unitary state, where he could do what he liked with the Turkish Cypriots."





On 14 January 1964 the Daily Telegraph reported that the Turkish Cypriot inhabitants of Ayios Vassilios had been massacred on 26 December 1963, and reported their exhumation from a mass grave in the presence of the Red Cross. A further massacre of Turkish Cypriots, at Limassol, was reported by The Observer on 16 February 1964, and there were many more. On 17 February 1964 the Washington Post reported that "Greek Cypriot fanatics appear bent on a policy of genocide." The Greek Cypriot Minister of the Interior admitted[120] that he had controlled the attack in Limassol himself.





British troops in Cyprus at the time did what they could to protect the Turkish Cypriots, and their efforts are remembered to this day, but the scale and ferocity of the Greek Cypriot attacks, and lack of political will in London, made their task impossible. On 6 February 1964 a British patrol found armed Greek Cypriot police attacking the Turkish Cypriots of Ayios Sozomenos, but they were unable to stop the attack.





On 13 February 1964 the Greeks and Greek Cypriots attacked the Turkish Cypriot quarter of Limassol with tanks, killing 16 and injuring 35. On 15 February 1964 The Daily Telegraph reported: "It is a real military operation which the Greek Cypriots launched against the six thousand inhabitants of the Turkish Cypriot Quarter yesterday morning. A spokesman for the Greek Cypriot Government has recognised this officially. It is hard to conceive how Greek and Turkish Cypriots may seriously contemplate working together after all that has happened."





On 10 September 1964 the UN Secretary-General reported (UN doc. S/5950):





"UNFICYP carried out a detailed survey of all damage to properties throughout the island during the disturbances, . . . . . . . . . it shows that in 109 villages, most of them Turkish-Cypriot or mixed villages, 527 houses have been destroyed while 2,000 others have suffered damage from looting. In Ktima 38 houses and shops have been destroyed totally and 122 partially. In the Orphomita suburb of Nicosia, 50 houses have been totally destroyed while a further 240 have been partially destroyed there and in adjacent suburbs."





The UK House of Commons Select Committee on Foreign Affairs reviewed the Cyprus question in 1987[121] and reported unanimously that, "Although the Cyprus Government now claims to have been seeking to "operate the 1960 Constitution modified to the extent dictated by the necessities of the situation" this claim ignores the fact that both before and after the events of December 1963 the Makarios Government continued to advocate the cause of ENOSIS [annexation to Greece] and actively pursued the amendment of the Constitution and the related treaties to facilitate this ultimate objective".





The Committee continued : "Moreover in June 1967 the Greek Cypriot legislature unanimously passed a resolution in favour of ENOSIS, in blatant contravention of the 1960 Treaties and Constitution."[122]





Professor Ernst Forsthoff, the neutral President of the Supreme Constitutional Court of Cyprus until 1963 told Die Welt on 27 December 1963 "Makarios bears on his shoulders the sole responsibility of the recent tragic events. His aim is to deprive the Turkish community of their rights." In an interview with UPI press agency on 30 December 1963 he said: "All this happened because Makarios wanted to remove all constitutional rights from the Turkish Cypriots."





George Ball also recalls[123] that during his visit to Cyprus in the Spring of 1964, Sir Cyril Pickard, the British Under-secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations, "denounced the Archbishop in devastating language for the outrages inflicted on the Turkish Cypriots." Ball himself told the Greek Cypriot leader that "if he persisted in his cruel and reckless conduct Turkey would inevitably invade, and neither the US nor any other western power would raise a finger to stop them."





He further recalls[124] that "a massacre took place in Limassol on the south coast in which as I recall about 50 Turkish Cypriots were killed, in some cases by bulldozers crushing their flimsy homes. I said to Makarios sharply that such beastly actions had to stop." Fine words—but nothing was done. On his visit to Athens at that time George Ball records[125] that "Greek Prime Minister [George] Papandreou contended that the "turbulence" over Cyprus resulted only from Turkey's invasion threats. I told him that although I had heard all that before it simply was not true."





The United Nations not only failed to condemn the usurpation of the legal order in Cyprus by force, but actually rewarded it by treating the by then wholly Greek Cypriot administration as if it were the Government of Cyprus. This acceptance has continued to the present day, and reflects no credit upon the United Nations, nor upon Britain, the US and the other countries, including now the EU, who have acquiesced in it.





Despite the arrival of UN troops in Cyprus in March 1964 the Greek Cypriots had continued their attacks on Turkish Cypriot civilians. In June 1964 the position of the Turkish Cypriots became so serious that public opinion in Turkey felt that they could no longer stand by. They therefore warned that they would intervene under Article 4 of the Treaty of Guarantee[126]





On 7 August 1964 the Greek Cypriots attacked Turkish Cypriot villages, provoking the Turkish government to send four warplanes to attack the Greek Cypriot village of Polis. On 8 August thirty Turkish jets flew low over Greek Cypriot towns on the north coast, and on 9 August, sixty-four Turkish planes flew low over north-west Cyprus.





On 12 August the US Ambassador to Greece was instructed to urge the Greek government to stop the attacks on Turkish Cypriots, and Kruschev told the Greek Cypriots that they could expect no support from the Soviet Union[127] Finally the Greek Cypriots desisted, but had it not been for these warning flights there would have been few Turkish Cypriots left alive. They were saved by the Turkish Air Force, not by the UN.





Turkey did not land troops, because they were threatened by a letter from US President Johnson on 5 June 1964 that if Turkey were invaded by the Soviets America would not comply with its NATO obligation to defend them. This was an arrogant, illegal, and empty threat, for America's responsibility under the North Atlantic Treaty was clear, and there is no possibility that America's own strategic interests could permit a Soviet takeover of Turkey or the Dardanelles. The threat was nevertheless enough to postpone Turkish intervention for another ten years.





The Turkish Cypriots were forced to withdraw into defended enclaves, and it was therefore in January 1964, not in 1974, that Cyprus was divided. On 14 January 1964 "Il Giorno" of Italy reported: "Right now we are witnessing the exodus of Turkish Cypriots from the villages. Thousands of people abandoning homes, land, herds. Greek Cypriot terrorism is relentless. This time the rhetoric of the Hellenes and the statues of Plato do not cover up their barbaric and ferocious behaviour." The Turkish Cypriots had to establish an elected authority to govern themselves whilst confined in their enclaves.





Britain and the US have, in their own interests, encouraged the world to treat the Greek Cypriots alone as the government of all Cyprus, despite Britain's own acknowledgement[128] that "Cyprus Government" could mean only a government which acts with the concurrence of its Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot members. There has been no concurrence since 1963, and there is no "doctrine of necessity" which allows one partner to assault and terrorise the other and then claim the right to run the State alone. The Greek Cypriots have been asking the Turkish Cypriots to go back since 1967, but on terms which abrogate their basic rights and which they could not possibly accept. The Greek Cypriots have no incentive to settle so long as they continue to be treated as the "Government of Cyprus," and enabled to keep the Turkish Cypriots for so long as they please under an embargo[129] against their trade and communications without any authority under Chapter VII of the UN Charter





When in 1983 the Turkish Cypriots declared their own Republic, Britain and the US, acted against them at the UN. They promoted Security Council Resolutions 541 and 550, which purported to declare the Declaration of Independence "legally invalid," and called upon states not to recognise the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. However, the Security Council failed to examine the legal basis for that proposition. It has never been specified whether the constitutional law of Cyprus or international law is said to be the basis of such "illegality." It has never been explained how the 1960 constitution, having been repudiated and expressly abrogated by the Greek Cypriots as long ago as 1963, could still be binding upon the Turkish Cypriots in 1983.





Although the UK Government deals with the Greek Cypriot Administration as if they were the lawful Government of Cyprus, it does not formally recognise them as such. On 25 April 1980 the Secretary of State for Foreign & Commonwealth Affairs made the following statement in the House of Lords[130]: "We have conducted a re-examination of British policy and practice concerning the recognition of Governments. This has included a comparison with the practice of our partners and allies. On the basis of this review we have decided that we shall no longer accord recognition to Governments. The British Government recognises States in accordance with common international doctrine."





On 30 July 1980 the Minister of State reiterated[131] that "the British Government recognises States, not Governments" and this was affirmed again on 12th November 1987[132] The United States takes the same position. Accordingly, if the British and US Governments recognise States not Governments, neither the Greek Cypriot nor the Turkish Cypriot administration is recognised by them as the Government of Cyprus.





Security Council Resolutions 541 and 550 seek to discourage the recognition of more than one State in Cyprus, but they do not purport to confer recognition upon the Greek Cypriot Administration as the government of that State.





On 12 August 1964 the UK Representative to the UN wrote to his government as follows:







"What is our policy and true feelings about the future of Cyprus and about Makarios? Judging from the English newspapers and many others, the feeling is very strong indeed against Makarios and his so-called government and nothing would please the British people more than to see him toppled and the Cyprus problem solved by the direct dealings between the Turks and the Greeks. Sometimes it seems that the obsession of some people with "the Commonwealth" blinds us to everything else and it would be high treason to take a more active line against Makarios and his henchmen. At other times the dominant feature seems to be concern lest active opposition against Makarios should lead to direct conflict with the [Greek] Cypriots and end up with our losing our military bases."

After 1963 Turkish Cypriot MPs, judges, and other officials were intimidated or prevented by force from carrying out their duties. The UK House of Commons Select Committee said[133] "The effect of the crisis of December 1963 was to deliver control of the formal organs of Government into the hands of the Greek Cypriots alone. Claiming to be acting in accordance with "the doctrine of necessity" the Greek Cypriot members of the House of Representatives enacted a series of laws which provided for the operation of the organs of government without Turkish Cypriot participation."





The Select Committee continued at para. 29 "Equally damaging from the Turkish Cypriot point of view was what they considered to be their effective exclusion from representation at, and participation in, the international fora where their case could have been deployed . . . . . . . . . . . . ." "An official Turkish Cypriot presence in the international political scene virtually disappeared overnight." It is not therefore surprising that the world has been persuaded to the Greek Cypriot point of view.











More than 300 Turkish Cypriots are still missing without trace from these massacres of 1963-64. These dreadful events were not the responsibility of "the Greek Colonels" (who were not then in power) nor an unrepresentative handful of Greek Cypriot extremists. The persecution of the Turkish Cypriots was an act of policy on the part of the Greek Cypriot political and religious leadership, which has to this day made no serious attempt to bring the murderers to justice.





Instead they have denied the facts and claimed that there were just a few spordic killings for which both sides were equally to blame. As recently as September 2004 the Greek Cypriot Administration claimed that there had been no massacres at all of Turkish Cypriots. This was received with disbelief even by the Greek Cypriot Cyprus Mail. A Greek Cypriot journalist, Antonis Angastionotis, concerned that the truth had been kept from the Greek Cypriot people for so long, has made a documentary film entitled "The Voice of Blood" which shows the attempted genocide carried out against the Turkish Cypriots by Greek Cypriots in the villages of Murataga-Sandallar-Atly«lar and Taskent in 1974. It is unlikely that this documentary will be shown on greek television.





The Greek Cypriot attitude is both sad and foolish. They will never convince the Turkish Cypriots that the massacres did not happen, and until they admit that they did happen, and seek forgiveness, the process of reconciliation cannot begin. There are good people in Southern Cyprus who would be willing to do that, but there are others in powerful positions there who will never admit the truth lest it should undermine the wholly unjustified political position which they have built for the Greek Cypriot Administration in the world.





The UK Commons Select Committee found[134] that, "There is little doubt that much of the violence which the Turkish Cypriots claim led to the total or partial destruction of 103 Turkish villages and the displacement of about a quarter of the total Turkish Cypriot population, was either directly inspired by, or certainly connived at, by the Greek Cypriot leadership".





The UN Secretary-General reported to the Security Council[135] "When the disturbances broke out in December 1963 and continued during the first part of 1964 thousands of Turkish-Cypriots fled their homes, taking with them only what they could drive or carry, and sought refuge in safer villages and areas." In September 1964 the Secretary-General reported to the Security Council[136] "In addition to losses incurred in agriculture and in industry during the first part of the year, the Turkish Cypriot community had lost other s