Turkey’s illegal occupation of Cyprus, compared with Turkey’s position on Gaza
18 Ιουλίου 2010
A.P. photo/ Peter Karadjias -- At grave of cousin killed during coup against Archbishop Makarios
In the Republic of Cyprus, Greeks and Turks got along poorly. Each nationality committed crimes against the other. In 1974, more radical Greeks tried to make a union with Greece [which made the Turks there feel that their security was in danger.] In response, Turkey invaded Cyprus. Cyrpriot armed forces were no match. The Turkish air force bombed Famagusta, seized it, looted part of it, and they sealed off the wealthy tourist section, to this day. The Greeks fled to the southern part of the island.
Turkey seized half the capital, Nicosia. It erected a wall in between. “The wall of occupation running through central Nicosia does not attract ‘solidarity’ protesters or leftist professors from the West. They are too busy denouncing and attacking Israel for building a security fence around Jerusalem, a fence to keep the Palestinian (Arab) suicide bombers from mass-murdering Jewish children.” Besides, they know they would face harsh imprisonment.
Even Turkey does not recognize the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. Many UN resolutions demand that Turkey evacuate and return stolen property. Turkey ignores the resolutions. Turkey, however, denounces Israel for ignoring world public opinion.
Turkey accuses Israel of occupying territory, but Turkey occupies half of Cyprus. Turkey challenges Israel’s blockade of Gaza, but itself closed off sections of Famagusta. Turkey demands that Israel let descendants of Arab refugees into Israel, but does not let into its portion of Cyprus the Greeks whom it frightened out.
“Since its brutal invasion, Turkey has moved countless thousands of its own citizens and regular troops onto northern Cyprus. This is the very same Turkey that venomously denounces Israel when it builds “settlements” in the suburbs of Jerusalem for Jewish civilians on lands they have purchased legally.”
Turkey demands self-determination for western Palestinian Arabs, but does not allow ”Turkish Kurds, Armenians, Assyrians, Greeks, Bulgarians, Azeris and others to exercise any of it, even in the form of limited language autonomy.“
Turkey denounces Israel for allegedly repressing Arab human rights, but Israeli Arabs have more freedom than do Turks in Turkey. Minorities in Turkey have been forcibly Turkified. Censorship is rife.
“The state of human rights in Turkey, according to numerous human rights NGOs, continues to be atrocious. Women in Turkey are mistreated; until very recently women students applying to universities had to pass a virginity test. The Turkish military police routinely kill civilians. Journalists have been assassinated. Islamofascism is growing stronger and local Islamic fundamentalist terrorists filled the [top deck of the ] Gaza ‘peace flotilla’ sponsored by Turkey. Those are the terrorists whose suppression by Israel has now become the focus of Turkey’s demand for an Israeli apology.” (Prof. Steven Plaut, 7/14/10.)
