5. OPPRESSION OF TURKISH CYPRIOTS.
As a result of the Turkish invasion of Cyprus and the continuing occupation of the northern part of the island, the rights and freedoms of the Turkish Cypriots were, and still are, violated.
According to several statements made by Turkish Cypriots who, either escaped from the Turkish occupied areas to the Government controlled areas or talked to foreign journalists, the Turkish armed forces have complete and exclusive control on the areas in question. Inspite of the efforts made by Turkey and the Turkish Cypriot leadership to persuade the foreign Governments and, generally, the world public opinion that there is a “democratically elected administration” in northern Cyprus, the fact is that all the powers, military, political, executive, even judicial, are in the hands of the occupying forces, acting in the exercise of authority given to them by Turkey. Denktash’s “administration” acts within the framework of the authority and power which the “security needs” permit.
The Turkish Cypriot population is bitterly disappointed by the Turkish Cypriot leadership and this disappointment is shown in several articles and statements, which have been appeared in the Turkish Cypriot press.
Since the appearance of the Turkish settlers in the occupied areas of Cyprus, criminality has been increased. The victims of this criminality are the Turkish Cypriots who realize with astonishment that the occupying forces and the Denktash’s regime tolerate the criminal actions of the mainland settlers.
In May 1978, two armed Turkish settlers stopped a group of Turkish Cypriot men and women returning home from work on their tractor and they dragged one of the young girls from the tractor, into the forest and raped her. Dr. Fazil Kuchuk, the former Turkish Cypriot Vice-President of the Republic of Cyprus, wrote an article about that incident in “Halkin Sesi” on 24.5.1978 and some extracts from that article are quoted:
“…. The incident was the product of “heroism” on the part of two persons who knew how to avail themselves of the facilities provided by the wrong and lame settlement policy being followed for the past 4 years. We have been writing for years and we have been asking the authorities to do something on this issue. Nobody heard us and as a result this paradise island has been turned into hell… We warned the officials once again. We told them that these newcomers would be a nuisance to our decent citizens: We told them to halt them before it becomes too late…. Moreover, new officials emerged who would protect these persons. They said: “You can not touch citizens of the Turkish Republic”. It meant that they would not work and we would feed and clothe them and do anything they wanted us to do. It was those who found this protection who started believing that they were perfectly legal and who strangled drivers, robed houses and exhibited unprecedented skill in theft….. The incident at Ayios Andronikos cannot be considered to be a simple police case. The Turkish Cypriots have not experienced such an incident since 1571 …. The surrender of government power to thugs can mean bringing us face to face with far more serious incidents in the future”.
On the following day, 25.5.1978, Dr. Fazil Kuchuk wrote another article in “Halkin Sesi”, commenting generally on the presence of the mainland settlers in the Turkish occupied areas of Cyprus:
“… People who are as impolite and uncivilized as to split in the face of the police should be sent back to their villages. The sooner they are sent back the sooner they will find the freedom they want and the sooner the Turkish Cypriot community … will find tranquility.”
The living conditions in the occupied areas of Cyprus were also described by a statement made by the “Turkish Cypriot Patriotic Women’s Association” at the end of May 1978. The statement said that under the present disorderly state, the women in the “Turkish Federated State of Cyprus” are suffering, are being exploited and derided upon more and more. The statement added that under the existing exploitation and systematic looting there could not be a prospect of happiness in the “Turkish Federated State of Cyprus” for families and children.
The above-mentioned examples show that the Turkish Cypriot community lives under oppression and, on several occasions, the human rights of the Turkish Cypriots have been violated. Reference is especially made to the rights of those Turkish Cypriots who were forcibly transferred by their leaders from their homes in the free areas, to the Turkish occupied part of Cyprus.
It was stated many times by Turkish Cypriots that if the Turkish troops were to be withdrawn, all the Turkish Cypriots having their homes in the Government controlled areas, would immediately return, since they have nothing to fear from their Greek Cypriot compatriots.
The great desire of the Turkish Cypriot population to live together again with the Greek Cypriots and to work for the common progress of the Republic of Cyprus, is shown, inter alia, in a message sent by the Turkish Cypriot Students to the 5th Congress of the Pancyprian Federation of Students and Young Scientists, held in Nicosia in August 1978. Some extracts from the message are quoted herebelow:
“But days will come when all the Cypriot students will unite and under the same roof, under the same leadership and in the same organization will fight for their democratic rights, rights which have not been respected so far.
“A common struggle by the students and people, Greeks and Turks, against the enemies of Cyprus is the only way to fight the beasts who are ready to massacre our small island. Only in this way will we achieve freedom, democracy and social progress in Cyprus.
“Only united we’ll be able to use our knowledge and experience for the prosperity and happiness of our island”.
This is enough evidence that Turkey, through its armed forces in Cyprus, violates the right of free movement within the territory of the State, the right of freedom of settlement, the right of owning property and many other rights of the Turkish Cypriots, insisting in her policy of artificial separation of the people of Cyprus, in order to achieve her dark aims.
