| |
Our adventures in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus continue....
  
On the basis that I am nothing, if not fair, I have to include this e-mail received this week and no Lewis, you don't have to suggest that I would not dare put this in the site and anyway you just lost your bet. How much was it......and unlike "anorak" you are happy to declare your identity, thank you for that.
" Hello Frank, I felt I had to respond to your comments regarding "Anorak" The whole mess actually started in 1570 when the Ottomans invaded Cyprus. The island was promised independence by Churchill during WW11 but Britain reneged its promise and the independence struggle started in 1955. The Greek Cypriots said they wanted ENOSIS and the Turkish Cypriots partition. In fact the demand for union with Greece was to most (but not all) Greek Cypriots little more than a rallying cry. Cyprus ended up with the most complex and undemocratic constitution of any former British colony. The Greeks were told to accept it or face partition, they had no choice but were determined not to be dominated by the 18% minority who used their veto in government to block important legislation. You must remember that Greeks have lived on Cyprus for more than 3000 years and the Turks turned up uninvited 400 years ago. This does not mean that the individual Turkish Cypriot has fewer rights than his Greek neighbour - but neither should he have any more. For the Turkish Cypriot leadership, in particular Denktash, it was important that they were seen as, and became, victims of the Greeks in order to provoke intervention from the mainland. I clearly remember after the 1974 invasion seeing Denktash on TV admitting that he was responsible for the bombing of a Turkish Cypriot building in Nicosi
a in the 1950s that had resulted in riots between the two sides. Outnumbered four to one and with the help of extreme elements from both sides on the island the Turkish Cypriots withdrew into enclaves - although in many mixed villages like my father's (Komi Kebir) they stayed despite the attempts of bribery. Your reference to genocide does not help, we can exchange horror stories about who did what to who until the cows come home. Have you ever heard of the Guenyeli massacre in 1958. Did you know that more than 100 abortions were carried out on the rape victims of the Turkish army after the invasion. Did you know that many of the Greek Cypriot POWs seen and filmed in Turkey were never seen again. There seems to be a feeling in the north that the Greeks deserved what they got and the punishment of throwing them out of their homes and selling surplus land to carpetbaggers is fair. The Turkish authorities refer to "exchange" land, but how can 40,000 Turkish Cypriots exchange their land with 180,000 Greek Cypriots? Eighteen percent of the population now occupy 36% of the land, how is that fair? The Greek Cypriots did not think the Annan Plan was fair so they rejected it, would it be acceptable for the Turks to keep 15% of the island? I'm afraid that the British desire to support the underdog often clouds their capacity for objectivity. May I refer you to a couple of books which you may find of interest - "Cyprus" by Christopher Hitchens and "An International Relations Debacle" by Claire Palley. Regards, Lewis Gerolemou P.S. I think you are a fair man but I bet you don't post this on your site! " At the end of the day, anything I put on the site in my own words, is clearly a personal opinion and nothing more, just as the opinion stated above is based on teachings in the south. I just find it very sad that two Cypriot peoples, whether they have been here 400 or 4,000 years can't sit down and have a civil conversation to resolve the issue. They speak two different languages and have two different religions, there are rights and wrongs on both sides, but they are human beings who should respect each others cultural differences etc and live in peace. Suggestion. Throw out the bloody politicians and let 20 ordinary people from each side sit down and come up with a solution. We all know that would never work as they would end up fighting about which 20 should represent each side. That is the first time I have ever been referred to as a carpetbagger and who knows we might have even bought in the south, if I had not been insulted by a Greek Cypriot at a property exhibition in London.
This evening, Joan and I went to Larnaca to collect Arie from a flight that came in from Amsterdam. It is a year now since we last saw this guy, whom we have known since he was 10 years old and is a little like a son to us. This was him at 13 years old, when he and some of the other kids in the village built their own canoes, with a little help from a club leader. We have seen him grow in to an adult, get married, have children of his own, get divorced and we have always had a close contact right from our early days in Holland together. Great to see him again and a lot of catching up to do. On our way home we stopped off at Ezic Chicken, as Arie remembered it from last year, but he was surprised when we where accosted as being the owners of frankandjoan.com in the restaurant. It is great that people still look and recall everything we put on the site, makes it all worth while.
|
|
