Turks'
role in Cyprus was to prevent illegal annexation
[Published in] St.Louis Post-Dispatch Saturday, July 2,
2002] - In response to the July 19 letter, "Cyprus occupation"
by Nick Karakas: It is a fact there was an intervention by
the Turkish military on the island of Cyprus on July 20, 1974.
However, depending from which shore one views the situation,
some may prefer to call it "liberation" instead of "occupation."
This
intervention followed by a few days a planned coup by the
Greek junta in Athens to annex the Republic of Cyprus to Greece
to realize "Enosis" (union with Greece).
Turks
had all the legality on their side, as a guarantor nation,
to step in and stop the illegal Greek annexation of the island
state.
Between
1963 and 1974, the Greek Orthodox majority of the island tried
to ethnically cleanse the Cypriot Turks, killing hundreds,
and driving tens of thousands of them out of the island to
seek refuge in England and/or mainland Turkey. The president
of Cyprus was an Orthodox priest, Archbishop Makarios. Despite
being a man of cloth, he condoned those brutalities.
The
fact is there is no brutality going on in Cyprus today. Cyprus
has never been more at peace during the past half century.
The disturbing facts of life can be found in the southern,
Greek sector of the island in the form of money laundering,
the presence of the Russian mafia, safe houses for assorted
Middle Eastern terrorists and intimidation of tourists who
may want to visit the Turkish sector in the north of the island.
Let
us hope that discussions among the parties involved will bring
about a solution in the form of two states under a national
umbrella for Cyprus.
Erkin
Baker — Missouri
***
It
is now the EU's turn
[Published in] Financial Times August 8, 2002 - Sir, I was
heartened by the recognition you have given to the reforms
approved by the Turkish parliament ("Turkey's turn", August
6) but I beg to disagree with the conclusion you have reached.
After
recognizing that these reforms are important and that the
political establishment in Ankara is serious about full European
Union membership, it would be misleading to conclude that
further ambiguity would be in the interests of both Turkey
and the EU. Ambiguity, or trying to build a case for treating
Turkey's candidacy on a different platform, would simply be
counter-productive and would fundamentally undercut the EU's
credibility in the eyes of the large majority of the Turkish
population that supports EU accession. That majority rightly
believes that meaning what you say and keeping your word are
among the values we collectively share.
It
would be much more sensible for Brussels this autumn to give
the clear response that Turkey is seeking - a precise date
to start negotiations. This would be the real incentive and
reassurance for further reform. It is now the EU's turn to
make clear that it is serious as well, and I believe it will
respond positively in the knowledge that Turkish membership
will bring benefits to both sides.
Korkmaz
Haktanir
Turkish Ambassador to London
Turkish
Embassy
***
Greek
Responsibility in Cyprus
Letters to the Editor, The Washington Post - To
the Editor: Greek Cypriot Press Counselor Miltos Militiadou's
August 9, 2002 letter ("The Future of Cyprus") turns Cypriot
history on its head. Three impeccable sources prove that Greeks
and Greek Cypriots are morally and legally responsible for
the division of Cyprus.
A
March 21, 1979 decision of the Athens Court of Appeal declared:
"The Turkish military intervention in Cyprus...was legal.
The real culprits ...are the Greek Officers who engineered
and staged a coup and prepared the conditions for this intervention."
Greek
Cypriot President Nicos Sampson, after the 1974 coup, later
lamented in a February 26, 1981 interview with an Athens newspaper
that "if the Turks did not launch the operation, we could
not only succeed in ENOSIS (union with Greece), but also eradicate
the Turks from the Island."
Finally,
The Washington Post itself gave proof of endemic Greek Cypriot
villainy towards Turkish Cypriots in a February 17, 1964 on-the-scene
news report: "Greek Cypriot fanatics appear bent on a policy
of genocide [against Turkish Cypriots]."
Instead
of denial, the Greek Cypriot administration first needs to
admit this responsibility, if it ever wants to gain the trust
of Turkish Cypriots again.
Sincerely,
Guler
Koknar
Executive Director
Assembly of Turkish American Associations
Washington,
DC
***
Kurdled
article
PKK leader "enjoyed the privilege of a publicly paid
college education at one of Turkey’s most prestigious
universities"
[Published
in] The Washington Times, July 14, 2002- The
article "Kurds cautious on independence" (World,
July 10) distorts the facts about Turkey’s Kurdish population.
First, Ozdem Sanberk, retired Turkish Ambassador and the current
director of the Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation
was not the spokesman of Turkey at the reported conference.
Mr. Sanberk underlined this fact at the outset of his remarks.
Second,
Mr. Sanberk did not "insist" that "Turkey protects
its own Kurds", as misinterpreted in the article. Mr.
Sanberk’s remarks were, verbatim: "Our understanding
of nationality is based on citizenship rather than ethnicity.Turkey
is a democratic country in which everybody has a single vote.We
are proud of our Turkish nationals of Kurdish origin that
always had served in Turkish parliament and in the Government
since the establishment of the Turkish Republic".
As
for the statement that Abdullah Ocalan was a "Kurdish
leader who led a 15-year battle for autonomy in eastern Turkey"
and "did not even know his own language", it is
wrong on both counts.
Ocalan
has only led the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), a most brutal
terrorist organization whose bloody campaign cost Turkey more
than 30,000 lives, mostly Kurdish. The PKK has been consistently
listed by the US State Department as an international terrorist
organization, a label finally confirmed this year by the EuropeanUnion
as well.
That
Ocalan does not speak Kurdish must be mainly because his mother
is Turkish and he enjoyed the privilege of a publicly paid
college education at one of Turkey’s most prestigious
universities.
Guler
Koknar
Executive Director
Assembly of Turkish American Associations
Washington, DC
