From: efstse@epsilon.eecs.nwu.edu
Subject: Re: Newspaper Vartan front page headline: "FUCK OFF CLINTON" !!
Originator: efstse@epsilon.eecs.nwu.edu
Organization: eecs.nwu
Date: Sun, 15 Nov 1992 17:06:49 GMT

In article <1992Nov14.113520.28226@cis.uab.edu> bayram@cis.uab.edu (Zeki Bayram) writes:
>
>A few points to this mis-informed individual:
>
>...
>
>- CLINTON would do good to look at ALL sides of the Cyprus problem.
>  Looking at a CONSEQUENCE (i.e. the Turkish intervention in Cyprus in
>  1974) without taking into account THE REASONS for the intervention,
>  and the GOOD that has come out of the intervention for the Turkish
>  Cypriots who had been made to suffer great injustices by the
>  Greeks before the intervention, would at best be looking at the
>  problem SUPERFICIALLY. 
>
>GO EDUCATE YOURSELF.
>
>-Zeki Bayram

Dear Zeki and the rest of the readers:

I will explain that no GOOD has come out of the Turkish invasion in Cyprus.
It is the responsibility of the new USA president to help in solving the
Cyprus problem once and for all. Something that Reagan or Bush failed to do.

The Cyprus conflict is not an intercommunal problem as the Turkish proclaim,
but instead an international crisis demanding the immediate attention of all
peoples of the world to become familiar with the conflict and urge their
governments to push for a resolution to secure the stability of the world.

I will list and explain what I consider to be the most important elements of
this conflict to help support my argument that it is an international conflict
and definitely an existing threat to wider conflict.

Those reasons are:

I. The mandatory solutions passed by the United Nations.

II. The displacement of 200,000 Greek-Cypriot refugees from their ancestral
homeland.

III. The policy of segregation and the deplorable system of apartheid as the
policy of the invader.

IV. Missing Cypriots persons since the invasion of 1974.

V. Turkish aims were not to protect the Turkish minorities, but the expansion
of Turkish territory.

I. On July 20, 1974, 40,000 Turkish troops landed on the island assisted by
Turkish air and naval forces, displacing 40% of the Greek-Cypriot population
and seizing 40% of the territory of the Republic of Cyprus.

During its twenty-ninth session in November, 1974, the U.N. General Assembly
adopted Resolution 3212 whose key provisions calls for the respect of the
sovereignty, independence, territorial integrity and non-alignment of the
Republic of Cyprus, for the speedy withdrawal of all foreign armed forces
from the Republic, the cessation of all foreign interference, and for the
taking of urgent measures for the return of refugees to their homes in safety.
In March 1975, The Security Council adopted resolution 367 calling,
inter alia, for the urgent and effective implementation of resolution 3212 of
the General Assembly.
Turkey ignored both resolutions 3212 and 367 and many other adopted
resolutions of the United Nations and the European Parliament.

II. Some 200,000 people, 40% of the entire Greek-Cypriot population, were
dislodged from their homes by Turkish troops. As a result they streamed to
the Government controlled area, homeless and destitute, sleeping in the open
for several weeks. While the Turkish troops looted and appropriated
Greek-Cypriot property, factory, and businesses running into billions of
pounds, the Government with its remaining resources plus international relief
aid, had to help the displaced families survive.  More importantly, these
people suffered and are still suffering a psychological trauma, whose lives
were literally shattered in a day. In direct violation of the European
Convention for the protection of Human Rights and the Fundamental Freedoms,
and the U.N. resolutions on Cyprus, Turkish troops, stationed along the
military demarcation line, prevent the refugees from returning to their homes
and prohibit their freedom of movement.

III. Segregation, so reminiscent of the deplorable system of APARTHEID has
been imposed without shame as the policy of the invader in its effort to
dissect and annex the occupied part of Cyprus. Division of the territory and
the segregation of people, at present the official policy of Turkey, are
carried out in Cyprus before the eyes of a bewildered Europe and a world
community that has repeatedly declared its condemnation of such policies.
How is this possible where segregation is contrary to every democratic idea?
After the Gulf Was there were pronouncements to enforce law and order
internationally. Does this not mean Cyprus? The tragedy of Cyprus poses an
agonizing dilemma and a challenge for the U.N. and the international world
community, testing its ability to fulfill its mission and its usefulness. 
If the United Nations, its members, and the international community do not
take measures to enforce its unanimously adopted resolutions, then the trend 
of being at the mercy of bully states will effect our world. If we reward the
Turkish position we will be giving another blow to the dreams and hopes of
the international community.

IV. The fate of the missing persons in Cyprus could perhaps be described as
the most painful of all. Altogether, 1,619 Greek Cypriots-including civilians,
women and children who were alive and in the hands of the Turks well after the
cessation of hostilities, have since disappeared without a trace. There is 
indisputable evidence that most of those who never returned were detained by
Turkish soldiers or armed Turkish-Cypriots civilians after the invasion was
over. The Turkish authorities themselves had issued lists of Greek-Cypriot
prisoners of war but subsequently some of these people were never released
and no explanation on the part of Turkey has been given. The International
Committee of the Red Cross (I.C.R.C.) had people listed either as prisoners
of war or enclaved persons in the Turkish controlled areas but who never
returned. Greek-Cypriot prisoners who had sent messages over the illegal
Turkish-Cypriot radio "Bayrak" and those identified in photographs in Turkish
newspapers are still missing.

The United Nations General Assembly adopted the first resolution on missing
persons in 1975, "reaffirming the basic human need of the families to be
informed about missing relatives." The Turkish-Cypriots have persistently
refused to co-operate in this purely humanitarian issue and only seven years 
later, in April 1981, did the Turkish-Cypriots agree to the establishment of
a committee to investigate the fate of the missing persons as called for by 
the 1978 resolution. According to a press release of February 11, 1986, the
Committee had under investigation 108 Greek cases of which so far has failed
to produce evidence on a single case.

V. The invasion of July 20, 1974 was executed under the Treaty of Guarantee,
whereby the said three powers (Greece, Turkey and Britain) were given the
right of joint or even unilateral action for the purpose of RE-ESTABLISHING
THE STATE OF AFFAIRS created by the treaty. In the seventeen years since the
1974 invasion by Turkey, it is clearly evident that Turkey has been
strengthening her grip on the occupied part of the Republic of Cyprus through
the stationing of more than 35,000 troops and sophisticated military equipment.
Her political grip has been strengthened by the bridging from Anatolia of more
than 65,000 settlers strengthening partitionist elements and simultaneously
attempting to alter the demographic structure of Cyprus. On November 15, 1983,
the area of Cyprus under Turkish occupation passed a resolution for the
establishment of the "Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus" claiming to act
within the framework of "the right of the Turkish people for
self-determination". Mr. Denktash, (leader of the illegal Turkish Republic of
Cyprus) stated: "whether I believe it or not, whether I consider it right or
not, I do whatever Turkey says."

In 1965, the former Vice-President of the Republic, Dr. Kutchuk in an
interview with the Turkish Cypriot daily newspaper Halkin Sedsi said:
"Cyprus is another Alexandretta in the history of Turkey. The power of Turkey
will ensure an honourable life for the Turkish Cypriots in the same way as it
did in Alexandretta by annexing it and bringing it under Turkish domination."

In conclusion, through my five arguments one can hopefully see the significance
not only to understand the tragedy of Cyprus but to help seek a resolution to
the conflict. Many factors have been left out to keep this essay short. But to
the continuing aggression and occupation of a beautiful, historic and peaceful 
island situated in the strategic Mediterranean, destines to be a bridge of
understanding between the three continents that surround it-Asia, Africa, and
Europe, Cyprus continues to be the center of division and strife of a potential
source of wider conflict. The Cypriot crisis is NOT an intercommunal
difference, as the Turkish proclaim, but an issue of FOREIGN INVASION,
CONTINUING OCCUPATION, and MASSIVE VIOLATION of the people as a whole.
It is a military invasion and occupation of 40% of the territory of the
Republic, the inhuman expulsion of 200,000 people from their ancestral homes
and lands. It is not a conflict concerning Greece and Turkey, but also Great
Britain, the United Nations of which both are members, and a violation of
international law and a severe blow to the international communities who hope
and dream of a better world.

Food for thought from an "uneducated, misinformed individual".
In case you would like to take a look at the UN resolutions for the Turkish
invasion in Cyprus, just pay a short visit to your university library.

Regards

Maximos.
Xref: sparky alt.politics.clinton:17669 alt.rush-limbaugh:10284