Tim Drayton wrote:Paphitis wrote:When I last visited the "trnc", I saw that every GC cemetery was turned into this:
I also noticed that most GC religious sites are like this:
I would like to make it clear that even as an atheist I deplore the desecration of all religious. I am well aware of the fate suffered by most Christian sites in the north and find this disgusting, as I believe do all responsible Turkish Cypriots. I also hate the tit-for-tat mentality that creeps into discussions like this, but the fact is that such acts are not one-sided. If you go to the place shown on the map as the Turkish-Cypriot Cemetry on 3rd Street in Polemidia, Limassol, you will witness the results of totally wanton and malicious vandalism. The whole place has literally been turned into a heap of rubble. Personally I can understand how Greek Cypriots rehoused there after the 1974 invasion might vent their anger on such a site, but the scale of destruction there far exceeds what could be caused by a purely random, spontaneous attack. Concrete gravestones have been pulled apart with such force that the internal metal reinforcements have been ripped out and strewn over the ground. This could only have been done using special equipment brought here for this specific purpose. Even more sickeningly, there are holes where the bodies were buried. In other words, the very remains of the deceased have been disinterred. I was sickened to the core by what I saw there.
I think everyone here deplores vandalism wherever it may be.
However, Halil's motives are much more sinister. He has been very active posting negative articles about Cyprus and Cypriots. His motives are to make us look like demons. The articles are also emotionally charged with hate, and throw many accusations against us, but lack evidence. The TC motives are not to cooperate in good faith and seek a solution to The Cyprus Problem. They will not compromise at all, which this will result in an unworkable state of affairs where their only objective is to legitimise their gains, and if they cannot achieve this, then work towards a Taiwanisation or Kosovo type recognition.
If Halil wishes to play these games he must realise that we also suffered far worse. Just about all our cultural and religious significant sites have been destroyed. The occupied areas have been Turkified beyond recognition. This is not tit for tat. We have the right to defend ourselves against unfair and unjust claims, whilst at the same time we do not deny any sympathy towards them if they have been dealt with unjustly. Sadly though, they are all too often "crying wolf" whilst 200,000 cannot return to their homes, most of our churches and cemeteries have been destroyed whilst we more often than not, tend to respect their mosques and cemeteries much more, apart from a couple of isolated cases which no one from our side is pleased about.
