BirKibrisli wrote:Murataga wrote:Firstly, there is nothing wrong about country inviting/hosting immigrants. This is economically, politically and strategically a methodology for moving forward in many countries (with the U.S.A. leading them) around the world and it is an absolute necessity for the TRNC given our special circumstances.
Secondly, as a person who has attended graduate school in the U.S.A., I can confidently tell you that thousands of people every year from around the world (including many of European heritage) get and education in the U.S. and choose to stay there afterwards. The root causes of this phenomenon are numerous and often much more complicated than what you try to make it sound above.
But since you brought it up: I would be very interested to compare the statistics of the return rate of TCs educated abroad once the embargo is lifted – an embargo which you know very well started way before the TRNC was established and way before 1974.
There is nothing wrong with having guest workers or migrants in one's country...But show me one other country in the world,Murataga,where the guest workers and migrants outnumber the natives 2 to 1...
And show me one country which gives their guest workers,who can just come into the country at will,without a passport or health or police checks,the vote....And gives away her people's political will....
There exists no other country that faces the military threat that we do and is subjected to the economical, political, geographical and sociological boundary conditions that we have. Having immigrants is a decision that governments throughout the world make as have our democratically elected governments. The specific needs and circumstances of the country dictate the details of the application of this policy.
BirKibrisli wrote:The embargo started way before 1974 as you say,but there is a sting in its tail...True, between 1963 and 68 the GCs were responsible for the embargo.. But Makarios lifted it in 1968,the TCs were free to move around the island at will...But this time the TCs applied the embargo to their own people....In the areas controlled by the TCs,no TC were allowed to leave the enclaves unless there was a very special reason to do so...So between 1968 and 74 we were responsible for our own embargo....
And lets not forget the "From Turk to Turk" campaign which began in 1957,and forbade any TC from doing business with a GC...We have to be fair,Murataga,when we talk about embargoes,the knife cuts both ways...
It seems to me that you are providing an adulterated description of the day when you state “Makarios lifted it in 1968,the TCs were free to move around the island at wil”". Let me try to elaborate:
After the military take-over in Greece, Makarios persuaded the generals that championing the ENOSIS cause would win them considerable public support in both Greece and Cyprus. These events were all taking place around the time when the GC House of Representatives Journal of June 27 1967, reported that, on June 26 the deputies had unanimously passed a resolution declaring that the struggle for ENOSIS would continue until the union of Cyprus with the motherland, Greece, was achieved:
"Interpreting the age-long aspirations of the Greeks of Cyprus, the House declares that despite any adverse circumstances it will not suspend the struggle being conducted with the support of all Greeks, until this struggle ends in success through the union of the whole and undivided Cyprus with the motherland, without any intermediary stage."
This was a time when TCs were getting hunted down like ducks, and those wondering out of the secure areas were never coming back (still finding bodies of those murdered by GCs paramilitaries). Turkish Cypriots were sacked from the civil service, the community suffered economically. The enclaves were surrounded on all sides by GC paramilitary guard-posts. Than came the Kophinou attack on top of all this to demonstrate the fiery spirit of the ENOSIS struggle and to prove to TCs that Turkey could do nothing about it. One positive outcome of the Kophinou crisis was the introduction of direct talks between the two communities. From 64 to 67, Makarios had consistently refused to meet the TC leaders unless they agreed to discuss minority rights within a Greek Cyprus.
I am telling you all this so you understand what the context of things were for the TCs and the difficulties that the TC adminstration faced to maintain the well-being of its people. Only after the Kophinou attack, (mainly due to extreme pressure from foreign governments) Makarios decided to remove the barricades and roadblocks surrounding the Turkish areas. After all, he had now consolidated his military position could afford to relax. TCs that traveled on the roads would, in any case, have to submit to GC police and military control. Even TC members of the Cyprus police force were confined to Turkish areas and could not travel on the roads under Greek control. Plus it was good for his P(ublic)R(elations) when he was talking to foreign governments. The freedom of movement which Makarios appeared to have so generously granted to the Turks was in effect an extension of his unconstitutional rule over them. The UN urged the TC side to reciprocate. The TC administration expressed willingness to do so, provided that the GCs traveling through the TC areas would agree to abide by local regulations in exactly the same way that TCs were expected to do when traveling in Greek areas. The GC side rejected the offer flat out.
The bottom line is that no administration with any sense of responsibility to its people would allow them to wonder into the Greek areas under the given circumstances – not from a security point of view, not from a human rights point of view and certainly not from a political rights point of view. So, no the embargo was not lifted, rather it was consolidated, and we just refused to yield.
