by The Cypriot » Wed Oct 31, 2007 6:35 pm
Letter to Gordon Brown....
Dear Prime Minister
May we commend you on your recent commitment alongside the Prime Minister of Turkey to help end the isolation of Cypriots living in the occupied north of Cyprus. This is a worthy goal shared by everyone devoted to restoring the human rights and dignity of the island's long-suffering people as a whole.
With this in mind, we trust you reminded Mr Erdogan that it is of course Turkey who maintains over 40,000 troops on the island, in breach of dozens of UN Security Council resolutions that call for their immediate and unconditional withdrawal. We trust also you reminded him that it is of course Turkey who, in disregard of international law, has brought in tens of thousands of Turkish citizens to change the demography of the island and complicate any future settlement. These settlers now outnumber indigenous Cypriots, many of whom were compelled to leave the island in search of a better life. We trust that you made it clear to Mr Erdogan that the reversal of these two factors entirely in the hands of Turkey and her military is the only effective and practical way to end the isolation of Cypriots in the occupied north. Of course, it would also do wonders for Turkey's problematic EU accession progress. Mr Erdogan would have benefited from hearing all this from a valued partner like the UK.
In any event, you're surely aware that, as a guarantor of Cyprus's territorial integrity, the UK is obliged to press Turkey to end her occupation of Cyprus. The validity of the sovereign bases at Dhekelia and Akrotiri is otherwise put into question, seriously undermining the UK's strategic interests in the Eastern Mediterranean. With this in mind, we question the appropriateness of referring to the political entity in the north of the island as the 'Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus', albeit in inverted commas. This is an illegitimate entity whose proclamation in 1983 was roundly condemned by the international community, including the UK, as seriously damaging efforts to solve to the Cyprus problem. Perhaps this reference was an unfortunate oversight, in which case the UK's strategic interests would best be served by retracting.
We also question the appropriateness of promoting direct commercial, economic, political and cultural contacts with Turkey's self-declared regime in the north, against the express wishes of the internationally recognised government of the Republic of Cyprus - a fellow Commonwealth country and EU partner - who has legitimate fears that the upgrading of the occupied north may further undermine efforts to reunify the island. Re-unification on a just and viable basis remains the express wish of the vast majority of the indigenous Cypriot people taken as a whole and this wish ought always to be respected. Furthermore there are no contacts that cannot be constructed adequately under the auspices of the legitimate authority over the territory of Cyprus. It is only the presence of Turkey's overwhelming occupying forces in the north that prevents this.
While we understand the Labour government's desire to maintain good relations with an important regional power, this ought not be at the expense of the UK's vital strategic interests on Cyprus itself, nor at the expense of international law and, perhaps most importantly, this country's international standing and dignity.
As a final note, the interests of the Labour party may not be served by alienating some 300,000 UK citizens of Cypriot origin, many of whom were or are descended from subjects of the British Empire when it was the colonial power on the island. UK Cypriots are natural Labour supporters and hold the balance of power in a number of key marginal constituencies in north London and elsewhere. UK Cypriots are furthermore now a well established, resourceful, fully integrated and influential constituency within UK society whose views need to be fully reflected in the formulation of UK government policy, at home and abroad.
