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[zan]

Embargoed have sent the letter below to Theresa Villiers MP. Please copy and send it to her endorsing what the letter says. The Embargoes must go.....


Theresa Villiers MP
163 High Street
Barnet
Hertfordshire
EN5 5SU
06 November 2007

Dear Mrs Villiers,

Open letter on behalf of human rights group Embargoed!, the British Council for Turkish Cypriot Associations (CTCA), and the Federation of Turkish Associations UK (FTA UK) about your ongoing bias against Turkish Cypriots

We note with concern your comments about the Cyprus conflict on your website and in articles covered by London’s Greek press. We are deeply disappointed and offended that while you are active on behalf of Greek Cypriots and claim to be a friend of ‘all Cypriots’, you make no effort to represent the needs and rights of Turkish Cypriots.

An example is the statement on your website (14/10/07) following your recent visit to Cyprus: "My meeting with the President, along with the other events I am attending during my visit to [South] Cyprus have shown me yet again the huge importance of finding a solution and ending the division of Cyprus which is so tragic for the people who were driven from their homes by the 1974 invasion.”

How is it that you make no mention about the suffering of Turkish Cypriots prior to 1974 – 50% were displaced between 1963 and the Turkish intervention in 1974. In 1964 alone, over 20,000 Turkish Cypriots were forced from their homes and nearly 400 were murdered – a period described by the Daily Telegraph as the "anti-Turkish Pogroms”.

In the past, you have stated that you want to "take the interest of both Greek and Turkish Cypriots into account". With respect, you have failed to live up to your words. Do you realise how hurtful it is to the Turkish Cypriot community for its suffering to be ignored? 1,810 Turkish Cypriots were murdered and yet you have nothing to say about them.

You have been a vociferous critic of Gordon Brown’s new envoy to Cyprus – the Rt. Hon. Joan Ryan MP – accusing her of bias. We wonder how you can consider yourself balanced? You have yet to visit North Cyprus, stand alongside Turkish Cypriot refugees (we note you are a regular attendee of Greek Cypriot protests for Morphou), meet their political representatives, or speak out against the outrageous international isolation of Turkish Cypriots – even though it has been three years since they voted for the reunification of the island.

While your dedication to helping Greek Cypriots resolve the issues affected by the Cyprus conflict is admirable, why is it that you cannot be similarly active for other Cypriots? Having met several of your Turkish Cypriot constituents, you are well aware that those living in North Cyprus continue to live under embargoes, their basic human rights denied for the past 44 years. Even simple things such as playing a friendly football match with international opposition is impossible, as is receiving the vital €259 million financial aid pledged by the EU, as all are blocked by the Greek Cypriot Government in South Cyprus. Sadly, you never speak out about these issues.

The tale of Cyprus is a shared tragedy with both sides suffering enormous pain. Rather than trying to bring the two sides together, events such as the overtly political and emotionally charged “Morphou rally” you attended deepens the gulf between the two Cypriot communities. The confrontational atmosphere resonates negatively with the current residents of Morphou – themselves refugees from the South – who become aggrieved that only one side’s rights and needs are championed.

If you genuinely wish to play a conciliatory role, we would encourage you to take a leaf out of Ms. Ryan’s book. Following her recent visit to both sides of the island, she asked that Cypriots learn to forgive and move on – as the rest of Europe has done following World War II. Using the tragedy of ‘yesteryear’ as the driving force in today’s relations means the ongoing demonisation of ‘The Other’, which reduces opportunities for a new set of positive, shared experiences in Cyprus that makes the continuation – not the end – of the division more likely. As many polls show, young Cypriots now view separation as the only viable solution – the legacy of decades of a “Them and Us” mentality that your actions and statements help perpetuate.

Your Conservative colleague MP David Burrowes is keen to be fair to all Cypriots, surely it is not beyond yourself, Brian Coleman and your fellow Barnet Tory councillors to do similarly? A more positive action, for example, would have been to take your fellow politicians to Guzelyurt/Morphou – a town that is twinned with your local council – to meet with the current residents, to learn about their issues and show equal solidarity over their past traumas. Such a balanced approach would encourage Greek and Turkish Cypriots to stop seeing each other as “the enemy”, but as neighbours who can overcome their problems if they learn to co-operate and compromise. After all we are in 2007, not 1963 or 1974, and a solution in Cyprus requires the rights and needs of both sides to be considered if it is ever to materialise.

In order for the UK’s Turkish speaking community – including those in your constituency – to have a clear and accurate understanding of your position on Cyprus, please inform us of your views on the following:

1) Do you accept that enormous crimes have been committed not just towards the Greek Cypriots by Turks/Turkish Cypriots, but also towards Turkish Cypriots by Greeks/Greek Cypriots?

2) Do you recognise that the authorities in the North are the democratically elected representatives of Turkish Cypriots?

3) Will you visit North Cyprus and meet with these representatives? Will you also raise issues about the rights and needs of Turkish Cypriots or will your reference about “Cypriots” continue only to be about Greek Cypriots?

4) Following their “yes” vote for the Annan plan for Cyprus unification – which was modelled on previous Cypriot backed UN plans for a bi-zonal, bi-commual federal solution – do you believe there is any justification for Turkish Cypriots to still be internationally isolated? Do you not think Turkish Cypriots have suffered enough?

Finally, Ms. Ryan has said the Cypriot diaspora has an important part to play in helping the two sides in Cyprus reconcile. We agree. As community groups collectively representing the different strands of UK Turkish Cypriots, we are ready and eager to engage with Greek Cypriots and others who have an interest in Cyprus. We would welcome the opportunity to meet with you and members of the UK Greek Cypriot community to exchange our ideas on Cyprus and to find ways to encourage greater interaction between the two Cypriot communities.

We look forward to your response at your earliest convenience.

Yours sincerely,







Email it to her from here: http://www.theresavilliers.co.uk/email/

[Piratis]

This is a great example of how Turks work.

Some fascist organization produces some propaganda and then it send it to all their subjects to just sign it and reproduce it in order to spam the decent people that resist their crimes.

I will answer "your" questions Zan:

1) Do you accept that enormous crimes have been committed not just towards the Greek Cypriots by Turks/Turkish Cypriots, but also towards Turkish Cypriots by Greeks/Greek Cypriots?

Both sides have committed crimes. However Turks were those that initiated the crimes and those that committed way more of them. Equating the share of blame between the victim Cyprus and the aggressor Turkey is what you are trying to pass with your propaganda but obviously far from the truth.

2) Do you recognise that the authorities in the North are the democratically elected representatives of Turkish Cypriots?

Those "authorities" are elected with the votes of at least as many Turkish settlers which were illegally brought to Cyprus by Turkey. Furthermore they do not really have any authority, since the ones who illegally rule the occupied areas are the Turkish generals and not them.

3) Will you visit North Cyprus and meet with these representatives? Will you also raise issues about the rights and needs of Turkish Cypriots or will your reference about “Cypriots” continue only to be about Greek Cypriots?

Does your organization also care about all Cypriots? If you did care about all Cypriots then you would support the end of the illegal occupation as the way to end the isolation of Turkish Cypriots and at the same time end the human rights violations against all other Cypriots. However you apparently support crimes and illegalities against the great majority of the Cypriot population, while you somehow think you should face no consequences for the crimes you support.

4) Following their “yes” vote for the Annan plan for Cyprus unification – which was modelled on previous Cypriot backed UN plans for a bi-zonal, bi-commual federal solution – do you believe there is any justification for Turkish Cypriots to still be internationally isolated? Do you not think Turkish Cypriots have suffered enough?

The Annan plan was just a proposal that came to existence exactly because Turks refused for decades to obey the UN resolutions and international law. Rejecting that proposal was the right of Greek Cypriots, while your illegal occupation is as illegal today as it has ever been.

What your fascist organization supports is that TCs should be allowed to continue with crimes and illegalities against GCs while facing no consequences. On the contrary what Theresa Villiers supports is the respect of the human rights of all Cypriots and the end of suffering of all Cypriots - and that includes the end of your isolation. That can happen with the end of the illegal Turkish occupation of Cyprus and the return to legality.

[shahmaran]

Somebody is profoundly in denial and needs a serious reality check, you can reapeat it all you like Piratis, it wont make it any more true

[Piratis]

What I repeat is the truth. If we don't have the truth and justice on our side then why is your occupation and pseudo state illegal? Because we are big and powerful with a lot of influence in international politics, or because the USA/UK are our close allies? No, Turkey might have a huge army and the AngloAmericans as their friends, but we have justice on our side and non of your propaganda can change this.

[Viewpoint]

Embargoed have sent the letter below to Theresa Villiers MP. Please copy and send it to her endorsing what the letter says. The Embargoes must go.....


Theresa Villiers MP
163 High Street
Barnet
Hertfordshire
EN5 5SU
06 November 2007

Dear Mrs Villiers,

Open letter on behalf of human rights group Embargoed!, the British Council for Turkish Cypriot Associations (CTCA), and the Federation of Turkish Associations UK (FTA UK) about your ongoing bias against Turkish Cypriots

We note with concern your comments about the Cyprus conflict on your website and in articles covered by London’s Greek press. We are deeply disappointed and offended that while you are active on behalf of Greek Cypriots and claim to be a friend of ‘all Cypriots’, you make no effort to represent the needs and rights of Turkish Cypriots.

An example is the statement on your website (14/10/07) following your recent visit to Cyprus: "My meeting with the President, along with the other events I am attending during my visit to [South] Cyprus have shown me yet again the huge importance of finding a solution and ending the division of Cyprus which is so tragic for the people who were driven from their homes by the 1974 invasion.”

How is it that you make no mention about the suffering of Turkish Cypriots prior to 1974 – 50% were displaced between 1963 and the Turkish intervention in 1974. In 1964 alone, over 20,000 Turkish Cypriots were forced from their homes and nearly 400 were murdered – a period described by the Daily Telegraph as the "anti-Turkish Pogroms”.

In the past, you have stated that you want to "take the interest of both Greek and Turkish Cypriots into account". With respect, you have failed to live up to your words. Do you realise how hurtful it is to the Turkish Cypriot community for its suffering to be ignored? 1,810 Turkish Cypriots were murdered and yet you have nothing to say about them.

You have been a vociferous critic of Gordon Brown’s new envoy to Cyprus – the Rt. Hon. Joan Ryan MP – accusing her of bias. We wonder how you can consider yourself balanced? You have yet to visit North Cyprus, stand alongside Turkish Cypriot refugees (we note you are a regular attendee of Greek Cypriot protests for Morphou), meet their political representatives, or speak out against the outrageous international isolation of Turkish Cypriots – even though it has been three years since they voted for the reunification of the island.

While your dedication to helping Greek Cypriots resolve the issues affected by the Cyprus conflict is admirable, why is it that you cannot be similarly active for other Cypriots? Having met several of your Turkish Cypriot constituents, you are well aware that those living in North Cyprus continue to live under embargoes, their basic human rights denied for the past 44 years. Even simple things such as playing a friendly football match with international opposition is impossible, as is receiving the vital €259 million financial aid pledged by the EU, as all are blocked by the Greek Cypriot Government in South Cyprus. Sadly, you never speak out about these issues.

The tale of Cyprus is a shared tragedy with both sides suffering enormous pain. Rather than trying to bring the two sides together, events such as the overtly political and emotionally charged “Morphou rally” you attended deepens the gulf between the two Cypriot communities. The confrontational atmosphere resonates negatively with the current residents of Morphou – themselves refugees from the South – who become aggrieved that only one side’s rights and needs are championed.

If you genuinely wish to play a conciliatory role, we would encourage you to take a leaf out of Ms. Ryan’s book. Following her recent visit to both sides of the island, she asked that Cypriots learn to forgive and move on – as the rest of Europe has done following World War II. Using the tragedy of ‘yesteryear’ as the driving force in today’s relations means the ongoing demonisation of ‘The Other’, which reduces opportunities for a new set of positive, shared experiences in Cyprus that makes the continuation – not the end – of the division more likely. As many polls show, young Cypriots now view separation as the only viable solution – the legacy of decades of a “Them and Us” mentality that your actions and statements help perpetuate.

Your Conservative colleague MP David Burrowes is keen to be fair to all Cypriots, surely it is not beyond yourself, Brian Coleman and your fellow Barnet Tory councillors to do similarly? A more positive action, for example, would have been to take your fellow politicians to Guzelyurt/Morphou – a town that is twinned with your local council – to meet with the current residents, to learn about their issues and show equal solidarity over their past traumas. Such a balanced approach would encourage Greek and Turkish Cypriots to stop seeing each other as “the enemy”, but as neighbours who can overcome their problems if they learn to co-operate and compromise. After all we are in 2007, not 1963 or 1974, and a solution in Cyprus requires the rights and needs of both sides to be considered if it is ever to materialise.

In order for the UK’s Turkish speaking community – including those in your constituency – to have a clear and accurate understanding of your position on Cyprus, please inform us of your views on the following:

1) Do you accept that enormous crimes have been committed not just towards the Greek Cypriots by Turks/Turkish Cypriots, but also towards Turkish Cypriots by Greeks/Greek Cypriots?

2) Do you recognise that the authorities in the North are the democratically elected representatives of Turkish Cypriots?

3) Will you visit North Cyprus and meet with these representatives? Will you also raise issues about the rights and needs of Turkish Cypriots or will your reference about “Cypriots” continue only to be about Greek Cypriots?

4) Following their “yes” vote for the Annan plan for Cyprus unification – which was modelled on previous Cypriot backed UN plans for a bi-zonal, bi-commual federal solution – do you believe there is any justification for Turkish Cypriots to still be internationally isolated? Do you not think Turkish Cypriots have suffered enough?

Finally, Ms. Ryan has said the Cypriot diaspora has an important part to play in helping the two sides in Cyprus reconcile. We agree. As community groups collectively representing the different strands of UK Turkish Cypriots, we are ready and eager to engage with Greek Cypriots and others who have an interest in Cyprus. We would welcome the opportunity to meet with you and members of the UK Greek Cypriot community to exchange our ideas on Cyprus and to find ways to encourage greater interaction between the two Cypriot communities.

We look forward to your response at your earliest convenience.

Yours sincerely,







Email it to her from here: http://www.theresavilliers.co.uk/email/

Excellent letter...thanks for posting it zan...glad to see everyone is doing their bit to make sure the world hears both sides of the story.

Would be very interesting to read her reply.

[Viewpoint]

This is a great example of how Turks work.

Some fascist organization produces some propaganda and then it send it to all their subjects to just sign it and reproduce it in order to spam the decent people that resist their crimes.

I will answer "your" questions Zan:

1) Do you accept that enormous crimes have been committed not just towards the Greek Cypriots by Turks/Turkish Cypriots, but also towards Turkish Cypriots by Greeks/Greek Cypriots?

Both sides have committed crimes. However Turks were those that initiated the crimes and those that committed way more of them. Equating the share of blame between the victim Cyprus and the aggressor Turkey is what you are trying to pass with your propaganda but obviously far from the truth.

2) Do you recognise that the authorities in the North are the democratically elected representatives of Turkish Cypriots?

Those "authorities" are elected with the votes of at least as many Turkish settlers which were illegally brought to Cyprus by Turkey. Furthermore they do not really have any authority, since the ones who illegally rule the occupied areas are the Turkish generals and not them.

3) Will you visit North Cyprus and meet with these representatives? Will you also raise issues about the rights and needs of Turkish Cypriots or will your reference about “Cypriots” continue only to be about Greek Cypriots?

Does your organization also care about all Cypriots? If you did care about all Cypriots then you would support the end of the illegal occupation as the way to end the isolation of Turkish Cypriots and at the same time end the human rights violations against all other Cypriots. However you apparently support crimes and illegalities against the great majority of the Cypriot population, while you somehow think you should face no consequences for the crimes you support.

4) Following their “yes” vote for the Annan plan for Cyprus unification – which was modelled on previous Cypriot backed UN plans for a bi-zonal, bi-commual federal solution – do you believe there is any justification for Turkish Cypriots to still be internationally isolated? Do you not think Turkish Cypriots have suffered enough?

The Annan plan was just a proposal that came to existence exactly because Turks refused for decades to obey the UN resolutions and international law. Rejecting that proposal was the right of Greek Cypriots, while your illegal occupation is as illegal today as it has ever been.

What your fascist organization supports is that TCs should be allowed to continue with crimes and illegalities against GCs while facing no consequences. On the contrary what Theresa Villiers supports is the respect of the human rights of all Cypriots and the end of suffering of all Cypriots - and that includes the end of your isolation. That can happen with the end of the illegal Turkish occupation of Cyprus and the return to legality.

Clutching at straws yet again, the clock is ticking and time will work in our favor, you can do anything about it by waking up to the fact that you have to compromise allowing us to share the island under a BBF with political equality of agree division.

[shahmaran]

What I repeat is the truth. If we don't have the truth and justice on our side then why is your occupation and pseudo state illegal? Because we are big and powerful with a lot of influence in international politics, or because the USA/UK are our close allies? No, Turkey might have a huge army and the AngloAmericans as their friends, but we have justice on our side and non of your propaganda can change this.

Well we dont share the same truth my friend, you dont seem to get it ever....

[Piratis]

Clutching at straws yet again, the clock is ticking and time will work in our favor

Keep dreaming. Our island will be liberated from foreign occupation. We had many like you in the long history of our island.

Well we dont share the same truth my friend, you dont seem to get it ever....

There is just one truth. You can't just invent some "truth" and manufacture history to excuse you stealing the land we have existed for 1000s of years.

[halil]

Thanks Zan,
me and my friends has done the protest massages . They were cheering you up .
you will get good support . They have to count TC's as well .

[MR-from-NG]

Clutching at straws yet again, the clock is ticking and time will work in our favor

Keep dreaming. Our island will be liberated from foreign occupation. We had many like you in the long history of our island.

Well we dont share the same truth my friend, you dont seem to get it ever....

There is just one truth. You can't just invent some "truth" and manufacture history to excuse you stealing the land we have existed for 1000s of years.

Piratis= Pissartist