Cyprus-Forum.com

[insan]

Recently we have seen the free movement of refugees on the island of Cyprus, once again as a result of a Turkish initiative.

During a recent visit to the capital of the Republic of Macedonia, I was witness to the keen emotions felt by the children of the Civil War of 1946-1949, the children who were driven from Greece during the hostilities and are now middle-aged men like ourselves.

These people are denied the right to return to their homeland, to return to the homes and fields of their forebears; some of them are even denied the right to make a simple visit to Greece.





http://www.florina.org/html/2003/2003_p ... atzas.html

[pantelis]

New York, March 31, 2005—The European Court for Human Rights ruled today that Turkish authorities did not conduct an effective investigation into the July 1996 murder of journalist Kutlu Adali in Cyprus and ordered the government to pay 20,000 euros (US $26,000) in damages to his wife.

Ilkay Adali sought damages in 1997 from the Turkish government, which maintains effective control over the renegade Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC). She claimed that Turkish or TRNC authorities ordered the killing, but the court said there was not enough evidence to conclude that security agents were involved in the murder.

Adali, a political columnist with the leftist daily Yeni Duzen who opposed the division of Cyprus, was shot to death outside his home in the island's divided capital of Nicosia on July 6, 1996. He had received work-related threats prior to his murder.

The court, based in Strasbourg, France, faulted the investigation. It concluded that there was "no real coordination or monitoring of the scene of the incident by the investigating authorities, the ballistic examination carried out by the authorities was insufficient, and the investigating authorities failed to take statements from key witnesses."

The court said authorities failed to "investigate the possibility that the murder ...had any link to his work as a journalist" and that much of the inquiry "was conducted only after the applicant's case before the European Court had been communicated to the Turkish government."

Officials at the Turkish embassy in Washington, D.C., and the Turkish mission in Strasbourg did not immediately return calls seeking comment. Alice Bouras, a spokeswoman for the court, told the Committee to Protect Journalists today that the government of Turkey has not indicated yet whether it would appeal the ruling.

The court is a pan-European body with authority to override domestic courts when they fail to address human rights abuses. A summary of the Adali ruling is available at: http://www.echr.coe.int/Eng/Press/PressReleases.html.

Some 35,000 Turkish troops are stationed in the self-proclaimed Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, founded after Turkey invaded the northern half of the Mediterranean island in 1974. The island remains divided into a more prosperous ethnic Greek section in the south and an isolated and impoverished ethnic Turkish sector in the north.

Nicosia is also divided in two, with one side controlled by the internationally recognized Greek-Cypriot authorities and the other by the Turkish government.

Turkish Cypriot nationalists who are opposed to reunification of the island periodically threaten journalists in northern Cyprus for advocating greater contact or integration with southern Cyprus.

Any comments on this one, Insan? Did you miss it?

[insan]

God damn all terrorists and violators. I don't deny any human rights violations took place in North or any other place on planet earth. To the contrary of this I stated them on this board more than 100 times. But you instead of condemning Greek government and GC administration about the human rights violations they committed and continuing to commit; you prefer to excuse it with something committed by a far right Turkish group.

I know that you have a very deep respect for Hellenic Ruling elite but please don't let your nationalism to blind you.

[pantelis]

Insan,
I have not seen a decent Greek government that has made me feel any respect for, yet. They were always pawns of the "great powers" and self-serving.
I don't care what the politicians do in Greece, as long as they don't mess with Cyprus. I am simply a Cypriot.
There are two problems in Cyprus right now; the Turkish army and British army. The one gives support to the other one, and the two together, guarantee the partition/division on the island. When you, and everyone else in Cyprus, realize what is going on, we would live peacefully together.

[Agios Amvrosios]

children who were driven from Greece

This episode in Greek History is called the "Paidomazoma".

My girlfriend's Grandmother and her Sisters was removed from her village outside of Florina during this time by the Communists. She was seven so she knew she was Greek and she was able to find her way back to Greece with her older sisters to her family. They then moved to Darwin Australia. The Movie "Eleni" starring John Malkovic deals with this episode of history. This film is based on the autobiographical book by Nicolas Gage.

Ive been told that a lot of bogus claims to get into Greece are based on the paidomazoma but many children have been unaccounted for so its a very difficult issue.

[insan]

Insan,
I have not seen a decent Greek government that has made me feel any respect for, yet. They were always pawns of the "great powers" and self-serving.
I don't care what the politicians do in Greece, as long as they don't mess with Cyprus. I am simply a Cypriot.
There are two problems in Cyprus right now; the Turkish army and British army. The one gives support to the other one, and the two together, guarantee the partition/division on the island. When you, and everyone else in Cyprus, realize what is going on, we would live peacefully together.

I think pro-western political parties of Cyprus have always been the "pawns of the great powers and self-serving; too. So where's the difference. You don't want the Turkish and Greek "pawns" but you want the GC and TC pawns in a GC dominated Cyprus. You forgot to mention 15.000 National Guard which is under command of 2000 Greek NCOs, 4000 Eldik and 70.000 GC reservists. With a nepotist point of view they don't disturb you at all. Would you obliged to ask TC community what do they think about it?


When you and everyone else in Cyprus, realize what is going on, we would live peacefuly together.

[Piratis]

Recently we have seen the free movement of refugees on the island of Cyprus, once again as a result of a Turkish initiative.

"once again as a result of a Turkish initiative"????
Oh really? No dear friend. We have made many initiatives long before that. The results? The turks either stopped the people to cross at gun point, beaten them up, or even killed them in order to stop them crossing to the occupied areas.

What other ridiculous things will insan tell us?

[MicAtCyp]

Recently we have seen the free movement of refugees on the island of Cyprus, once again as a result of a Turkish initiative.

The ones who were forbitting the free movement lifted their own forbitting.What a great initiative, what a champion of human rights indeed.Turkey the greatest !!