Cyprus-Forum.com

[Agios Amvrosios]

Yestreday Erdogan said:

``there is no `Kurdish minority` in Turkey. Kurdish people is one of the components forming our country. The most important thing is to understand each other. We should not allow those who try to divide our country.``

The ethnic Kurds of Turkey are seen as less than "a minority", Why aren't they entitled to "political equality" expressed in the form of a break away ethnically pure Kurdish state?


How are the Kurds different to the Turks of Cyprus. Greek Cypriots will accept ethnic segregation when it is accepted in Turkey.

[efe]

10% of bulgarian population is turkish. so turks in bulgaria should claim land? no..

same with kurds in turkey.

cypres on the other hand is a different story because the reason cyprus is a state on its own is due to the fact that it was formed by two equal societies. In 1960 unitary state of ROC was formed by both nations and it was supposrted by Turkey & Greece. However it didnt last for 3 years, therefore the only solution now is bizonality.

[Piratis]

excuses. There are clear double standards.

May I add that the Kurds own a specific region in Turkey while TCs do not.

The Bulgarian state and the Greek state etc were all formed after the Ottomans left, they didn't exist as states before. The only difference is that in Cyprus they forced on us things that they didn't force on other former Ottoman occupied nations when those nations were liberated. The TCs in cyprus are no different (in this respect) with the Turks of Greece or Bulgaria or Romania.

[efe]

so you say cyprus is greek and turks are just there and should respect the greek ownership of the island.

cry all you want but this wont happen. yes turks in cyprus are just like turks in bulgaria however you cant change the fact that the country of Cyprus was formed due to the fact that there are two equal nations on the island. if you go too far, we even have the right to claim the whole territory of cyprus since it was leased by britain and never returned back. (which ofcourse i dont support)

i also have kurdish blood in me and i know the situation alittle more than you do i believe. yes. kurds in turkey are densely populated in southeastern portion of ROT. they fought together during WW1 to form our current-day republic. according to international agreements, there are three minorities in Turkey, armenians, greeks, jews. Kurds are not minority, they are the majority in this case. (i know this kinds of sounds like word gaming)

i agree turks and kurds are two different races and calling everybody turkish is ignorant, but in todays Turkey saying that you are Turkish is like saying you are American (Black American, Chinese american, Greek American). This is where the confusion is coming from.

[efe]

PS: laz people (of greek decent) own a specific region too (North) just to inform you. Hatay is mostly of arabic decent. they were a seperate country until 1940's when they held a referandum and joined to ROT. (this is why syria still claims that hatay belongs to them). izmit and sakarya (east of istanbul) is mostly georgians.

[Piratis]

efe, the double standards are clear.

i agree turks and kurds are two different races and calling everybody turkish is ignorant, but in todays Turkey saying that you are Turkish is like saying you are American (Black American, Chinese american, Greek American). This is where the confusion is coming from.

Saying you are Cypriot is the same (Greek Cypriot, Turkish Cypriot etc). So whats the difference in this respect?
Actually while all Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots use the "Cypriot" part when they define themselves, much fewer percentage of Kurds define themselves as Kurdish Turks.

[turkcyp]

May I add that the Kurds own a specific region in Turkey while TCs do not.

I have corrected this for you before but you seem to ignore the facts. The areas Kurds claim as part of Kurdistan in Turkey is not solely owned by Kurds. Do you think everybody in the southeast of Turkey is Kurd. Southeast of Turkey is mixed exactly like Cyprus, but not even two ethnicities but three Turks, Kurds, and Arabs.

Majority of Kurdish population in Turkey lives in these areas. That is true. But this even does not mean that they are majority in all of those areas. And Furthermore where do you draw the line of borders? What constitutes border. I can draw you maps in Cyprus as well where clearly TCs were tha majority. Take for example, north of Nicosia. The regions had been always been majority of TCs. According to you TCs can have their own country in that tiny region. (There are smaller countries in the world). But the fact remains is that TCs did not have right to have their own country in that region. Roght of self-determination is not equal to rioght of secesion. (same true for GCs as well) You get my point. What makes one map more important than the other?

Having said all of these TCs, Kurds, GCs all have self-determination rights. But none of them so far has earned the accepatance of the international community ti turn those self-determination rights into right of secesion from an existing state with borders.

You guys had never do any research on issues, but simply stick to the same line even though it is proven that the facts does not support your analysis.

[castleRock]

Kurdish are not different from Turkish. They are politically equal so that most of ministers in the cabinet are Kurdish. For example minister of internal affairs Abdülkadir Aksu is Kurdish. Another example former prime minister and former president of Turkey Turgut ozal was kurdish.

[Piratis]

Judging from what the Turkish army did in Cyprus with the settlers I wouldn't expect them to leave any area in Turkey to be inhabited just by Kurds.

The point is that Kurds have been inhabiting that area for several 100s years, and they have always been the majority there.

The Turks in Bulgaria is the example that match most closely the case of Turkish Cypriots, and not the Kurds, the Chechens or the Basques who are people that were traditionally concentrated in a specific region in which they formed the great majority.

[Piratis]

Kurdish are not different from Turkish. They are politically equal so that most of ministers in the cabinet are Kurdish. For example minister of internal affairs Abdülkadir Aksu is Kurdish. Another example former prime minister and former president of Turkey Turgut ozal was kurdish.

So why you do not accept the same for Cyprus? All Cypriots to be politically equal is what we are asking!!

Actually I am not asking for TCs to get what Kurds get, because that would be way too unfair for the TCs since the truth is that Kurds in turkey get way less than what they should.

It would be fair for the TCs to get way more than that, things like Turkish as official language, guaranteed and boosted representation in the government, veto power in important matters etc. Such things Turkey wouldn't even think for a second to give to the Kurds (even if Kurds are 20% of the population which is more than TCs)