Liberty, Freedom and Democracy for Cyprus
Op-Ed
Liberty, Freedom and Democracy for Cyprus
By Gene Rossides
February 7, 2005
President Bush in his eloquent inaugural called for liberty, freedom and democracy throughout the world. The President should apply these words and policy to Cyprus by calling for the immediate:
1. withdrawal from Cyprus of Turkeyʼs 35,000 invasion and occupation troops which threaten the Greek Cypriots;
2. removal from Cyprus of Turkeyʼs 100,000 plus illegal settlers/colonists and the halt to Turkey continuing colonization aimed at changing the demographics of Cyprus; and
3. tearing down of the Turkish Green Line barbed wire fence across the face of Cyprus which prevents freedom of movement of both the Greek and Turkish Cypriots.
Turkeyʼs illegal invasion of Cyprus in 1974 is the equivalent, as a matter of law, to Iraqʼs invasion of Kuwait in 1990. Turkey and Iraq both violated the UN Charter (Art. 2 (4)) and international law. In addition Turkey violated the NATO Treaty. The factual difference is that Turkey is a NATO ally and Iraq is not. Also Iraq and Kuwait have oil and Turkey does not.
President George H. W. Bush in 1990 mobilized world opinion and the United Nations and in January 1991 the U.S. led the effort under international law that halted and reversed Iraqʼs invasion of Kuwait.
President George W. Bush in 2005 should stop the double standard on the rule of law for Turkey and should apply the Eisenhower Doctrine: “There can be no peace without law. And there can be no law if we were to invoke one code of international conduct for those who oppose us and another for our friends.”
The Geneva Convention of 1949, section III, article 49, prohibits colonization by an occupying power. Article 49 states in its last paragraph: “The Occupying Power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies.” Today there are over 100,000 illegal Turkish colonists in Cyprus and Turkey is continuing its illegal colonization program with the aim of changing the demographics of Cyprus.
The Turkish Green Line barbed wire fence across Cyprus, together with Turkish troops and 100,000 illegal colonists, prevent the full liberty and freedom of the people of Cyprus--the Greek and Turkish Cypriots. The Green Line, together with Turkeyʼs troops and illegal colonists is also the cause of the Turkish Cypriots economic isolation. Remove Turkeyʼs troops, colonists and the Green Line and the Turkish Cypriots economic isolation will vanish.
The above points are clear and obvious. Why havenʼt they been recognized and applied? The answer is the State Departmentʼs double standard on the application of the rule of law to Turkey in 1974, and the active support the State Department gave to Turkey in the July 15, 1974 illegal Greek coup against President Makarios of Cyprus and the July 20, 1974 invasion of Cyprus by Turkey and the second wave of the invasion on August 14-16, 1974.
The State Departmentʼs actions and inactions in 1974 will forever stain the reputation of the then Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger who was in full charge of U.S. foreign policy at that time and deliberately violated the U.S. Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 by failing to halt immediately U.S. arms to Turkey as required by that basic U.S. law.
The State Department since that time to the present time has followed the same double standard on the application of the rule of law to Turkey and has actively tried to cover-up Kissingerʼs illegal conduct.
Instead of calling for the removal of (1) Turkish invasion and occupation troops from Cyprus, (2) the illegal colonists and (3) the illegal Turkish Green Line barbed wired fence, the State Department says they are part of the negotiations, which means, in effect, the State Departmentʼs support for Turkish aggression.
The State Departmentʼs “double speak” on Cyprus is right out of George Orwellʼs 1984.
Turkeyʼs aggression and occupation of 37% of Cyprus in 1974 with the massive destruction caused by Turkeyʼs armed forces; the 200,000 Greek Cypriot refugees forced from their homes; the bread basket agricultural area of Cyprus under Turkish occupation; and the killings of innocent Greek Cypriots and rapes of women from 12 to 71 on a substantial scale--left the Republic of Cyprus devastated and with huge problems.
The Greek Cypriot leadership responded to the challenge by basing their future on hard work and the rule of law—not on violence. They achieved an economic revival and miracle against huge odds. At practically every step of the way they encountered opposition from Turkey, Britain and the U.S. State Department, yet they persisted and succeeded and became a member state of the European Union!
In the meantime, the northern occupied part of Cyprus under the Turkish military control and Rauf Denktash, became known for lawlessness from drug smuggling to money laundering.
A free united Cyprus, without Turkish troops, Turkish colonists and the Green Line, and with a “constitutional democracy based on majority rule, the rule of law, and the protection of minority rights….free from the threat of war,” as proposed by Bush 41 in July 1988, would be in the best interest of the U.S. and of Israel as it would be (1) a beacon of liberty, freedom and democracy and (2) would prevent there ever being an extremist Muslim territory on Cyprus which could threaten Israel.
Gene Rossides is President
of the American Hellenic Institute and
former Assistant Secretary of the Treasury
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