Cyprus-Forum.com

[christos1]

This should settle the argument.

Tukey and Russia were easily the worst offenders in a league table of European Court of Human Rights judgments for 2007, released Wednesday by the court's president.

Some 319 judgments finding at least one violation were issued against Ankara, eight of which concerned "torture" and 23 "inhuman or degrading treatment," according to the court's report.

Moscow was a clear second with 175 violations, followed by Ukraine (108) and Poland (101).

The majority of Russian complaints concerned war-torn Chechnya.

President Jean-Paul Costa said Russia's refusal to ratify a package of measures aimed at filtering off inadmissible complaints, termed Protocol 14, was also hampering case-load reduction.

The growth of litigation, as well as European Union enlargement, has seen the number of complaints filed shoot up dramatically since the court's inception in 1959.

The overall number of complaints filed in 2007 rose by 15 percent to 103,000, of which almost 42,000 were taken up resulting in some 1,500 arrests.

That was "a sharply-reduced figure," said Costa, as against the previous year's tally, due to "the desire of judges to concentrate on (only) the most complex cases".

Thirty-six of France's 39 violations concerned the approach of that country's judiciary, the table also noted.

To file a complaint to the court, an individual or organisation must have exhausted all national appeals procedures including supreme or constitutional courts, its website states.

Judgments are final and binding on states contracted to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, drawn up within the Council of Europe and entered into force in September 1953.

These states go beyond the European Union's current 27 members.

http://www.eubusiness.com/news-eu/1201123021.97

Final Verdict: Turkey the worst by far.

There was a link that i posted about 40 minutes ago that stated something similar to what you posted. BTW Great find

When it is compared on population basis. Greece has 4x more human rights violations than Turkey.

Thats math only a Turk can invent. Countries spanning different continents have recognized the Armenian, Greek, Cypriot genocide and war crimes as well as the suffering of the Kurdish people. An Israeli general summed it up best when he stated that Israel's hands werent clean but it wasnt Turkey who should be lecturing Israel. Remember that story 2 weeks ago? I can post the link if you want.

Greece, a so-called European country with a population of 13m has abt 500 cases on ECHR; Turkey with a population of 75m have around 1000 cases on ECHR. Shame on so-called European country Greece which was accepted to join EU for the sake of keeping her in NATO.

Absurd....you have 1000 case spanning only a few years. And your population of 75 million consists of 20 million Kurdish Turks.

[christos1]

This should settle the argument.

Tukey and Russia were easily the worst offenders in a league table of European Court of Human Rights judgments for 2007, released Wednesday by the court's president.

Some 319 judgments finding at least one violation were issued against Ankara, eight of which concerned "torture" and 23 "inhuman or degrading treatment," according to the court's report.

Moscow was a clear second with 175 violations, followed by Ukraine (108) and Poland (101).

The majority of Russian complaints concerned war-torn Chechnya.

President Jean-Paul Costa said Russia's refusal to ratify a package of measures aimed at filtering off inadmissible complaints, termed Protocol 14, was also hampering case-load reduction.

The growth of litigation, as well as European Union enlargement, has seen the number of complaints filed shoot up dramatically since the court's inception in 1959.

The overall number of complaints filed in 2007 rose by 15 percent to 103,000, of which almost 42,000 were taken up resulting in some 1,500 arrests.

That was "a sharply-reduced figure," said Costa, as against the previous year's tally, due to "the desire of judges to concentrate on (only) the most complex cases".

Thirty-six of France's 39 violations concerned the approach of that country's judiciary, the table also noted.

To file a complaint to the court, an individual or organisation must have exhausted all national appeals procedures including supreme or constitutional courts, its website states.

Judgments are final and binding on states contracted to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, drawn up within the Council of Europe and entered into force in September 1953.

These states go beyond the European Union's current 27 members.

http://www.eubusiness.com/news-eu/1201123021.97

Final Verdict: Turkey the worst by far.

There was a link that i posted about 40 minutes ago that stated something similar to what you posted. BTW Great find

When it is compared on population basis. Greece has 4x more human rights violations than Turkey.

Thats math only a Turk can invent. Countries spanning different continents have recognized the Armenian, Greek, Cypriot genocide and war crimes as well as the suffering of the Kurdish people. An Israeli general summed it up best when he stated that Israel's hands werent clean but it wasnt Turkey who should be lecturing Israel. Remember that story 2 weeks ago? I can post the link if you want.

Greece, a so-called European country with a population of 13m has abt 500 cases on ECHR; Turkey with a population of 75m have around 1000 cases on ECHR. Shame on so-called European country Greece which was accepted to join EU for the sake of keeping her in NATO.

Absurd....you have 1000 case spanning only a few years. And your population of 75 million consists of 20 million Kurdish Turks.

In fact, there are tens of thousands of Greek Cypriot refugees who have or plan to take their case to ECHR. We are just talking about Cyprus alone.

[insan]

I have urged the Cypriots to look at India, Burma and Ceylon, and to trust that the principles of the British Commonwealth, the principles which are its lifeblood, would triumph in the end. I have told them that self-determination would come more quickly if they trusted to persuasion instead of force. I have urged the dangers of the wounds now being inflicted upon Cyprus, which may take long years to heal.

What have they replied? That the British Government will not listen to reason, that nothing but force is any good. They say that for three long years they appealed to the Government to discuss it with them, and the Greek Government did the same. They got "No" and "No" and "Never" for an answer.

Does the Secretary of State remember the Prime Minister saying "There is no Cyprus question" in 1953 and again in 1954? Does he remember his predecessor saying in 1954 that he could imagine no more disastrous policy for Cyprus than to hand it over to an unstable Power like Greece? Deeply wounding words both 361 to the Cypriots and to the Greeks. Does he remember one Minister of State arguing at the General Assembly of the United Nations that Cyprus was a matter of purely British domestic jurisdiction with which no other country was concerned? Does he remember another Minister of State saying that ambiguous "Never "—now half withdrawn—which seemed then to close for them the hope that the principles of the Commonwealth would one day be applied? "No" and "Never" were the answer right up to April, 1955.

Then, alas, some of the Cypriot leaders changed their policy. They quote today some words written not long ago by a right hon. Member of this House : It is the primary right of men to die and to kill for the land they live in and to punish with exceptional severity all members of their own race who have warmed their hands at the invaders' hearth. That was published by the right hon. Gentleman the Member for Woodford (Sir W. Churchill) in May, 1956. That is a terrible doctrine for the century in which we live. But it is accepted. That is why when we speak of "terrorists," the Greeks speak of "patriots" and other nations call them "partisans."

E.O.K.A. claims that force has given results. In April, 1955, they began to shoot. Within four months the Government's doctrine of domestic jurisdiction had gone out of the window. There was an international conference in the Foreign Office to which the Greek and Turkish Governments were called. In the conference "Never" was changed to "Sometime," a notable victory for force. However, no agreement for action could be made, and so E.O.K.A.'s shooting still went on. After three more months of violence, negotiations between the Government and Makarios were begun. They led to the Secretary of State's visit to the island and his talks with the Archbishop. He had only one before he broke off the negotiations and came home.

There is nothing that undermines more the morale of the British Service man than to have a stupid pamphlet of this kind put in his hands, which persuades him that he is the servant of a Government which thinks like this. If we send people abroad in the execution of a policy of the Government, we want to make the policy look as intelligent as possible, though I admit that it is difficult in this case. What have we here? The pamphlet states that Turkey— …trusts the stability and loyalty of Great Britain as an ally and is happy to have her in Cyprus. She is doubtful of the stability of Greece, suspicious of her panhellenic ambitions, and is strongly opposed to letting Greece, which she fears may be a potentially 439 neutralist or even Communist country, take over an island only 40 miles from the south coast of Turkey and in a position to dominate the ports of Mersin and Iskenderun. Turkey has not yet forgotten Greek efforts, starting in the 19th century, to recreate the Byzantine Empire and to gain possession of the old Byzantine capital of Constantinople. I believe that it has been written by the right hon. Member for Woodford (Sir W. Churchill). It is very much like his history.

In the next page we are told : Other reasons apart, there are, in fact, solid economic reasons for Cypriots to remain in the British Commonwealth rather than be annexed by Greece. Greece is neither a rich nor a stable country. This is the country which is to re-establish the old Byzantine Empire. Why should we undermine the morale of our people with a document like that? We have not only behaved unconstitutionally, but stupidly. If you are to spend money unlawfully, try to spend it intelligently. It is a monstrous piece of work.

This document also gives another piece of information which, of course, completely supports what was said by my hon. Friend the Member for Holborn and St. Pancras, South (Mrs. L. Jeger) and which was contradicted by the right hon. Gentleman. My hon. Friend said that the reason why we want to stay in Cyprus and not make it a N.A.T.O. base is because what we want is activated by our own purposes, which are not necessarily the purposes of N.A.T.O. That was denied. Well, listen to this. I suppose the right hon. Gentleman is responsible for this. I hope he is not, because it is not good enough, even for him. It says here : The next reason is that we have in the Middle East a number of important special obligations apart from our general N.A.T.O. obligations.

Hon. Members Hear, hear.

§ Mr. Bevan But the right hon. Gentleman has just denied that.

Let hon. Members face this ; that we have said, and Greece has said, that Greece is quite prepared to facilitate a N.A.T.O. base on the island. We could have it at any time we like and, so far as we can gather, for as long as we like. It has also been said by Archbishop Makarios that the Cypriots are prepared to agree to anything which may be necessary 440 to secure the security of the base. So that, so far as we are concerned, so far as concerns all our obligations, all our international obligations under the Charter, all our obligations under N.A.T.O. could be satisfied by a base on the island of Cyprus with the agreement of the Cypriots and of Greece.

§ Mr. H. Fraser What about the Tripartite Agreement?

§ Mr. Bevan When we talk about the Tripartite Agreement, we are discussing an act of aggression and the Charter is invoked, and we are in the position of invoking it at once, and N.A.T.O. and the United States and France would be immediately involved in a tripartite undertaking.

The whole point is that yesterday right hon. and hon. Gentlemen opposite found that it was not possible to "go it alone." Now they are insisting upon maintaining this situation in Cyprus in order to have a chance of doing what they could not do yesterday—" go it alone." If anybody is suggesting that, if we made an arrangement of that sort, we should have to meet with the active, armed hostility of Turkey, what are they saying when they say that? They are saying that the structure of N.A.T.O. is so flimsy, is such a ramshackle affair, and is so liable to fall apart at any moment, that even with a base on Cyprus, held by the United States and Great Britain, we would not be able to prevent Turkey from attacking it.

What a statement. Do hon. Gentlemen on the Government benches sincerely believe that Turkey would conduct an armed attack on the island of Cyprus, with Britain, the United States and other allied nations in possession of a base on the island? I have never heard such juvenile rubbish in all my life. Yet we have emphasised all the time, and we would wish that Government supporters would give their minds to it, that it is possible for us to obtain all we need from Cyprus with the consent of the Cyprus people.

It embraces the whole Christian world, and is called the Christian World. In its issue of 30th August, it admitted that in its previous number it had suggested that the Archbishop should be brought back, but in this article of 30th August, it said : Makarios was engaged in serious negotiations with the British Government to find a way of giving Cyprus self-government in an extremely complicated situation. It goes on : There was always hope of a peaceful and agreed settlement of the whole question of Cyprus. Yet while discussing these matters over the conference table, the Archbishop was secretly planning acts of violence and murder against the nationals of the Power which was treating him with respect and courtesy as a recognised plenipotentiary. It goes on further to say : No excuse is possible for this utterly uncivilised and wicked behaviour. Archbishop Makarios can no longer be regarded as a possible negotiator on the Cypriot side. The question has been raised as to whether the Archbishop should be brought to trial for his active participation in the activities of E.O.K.A. This is a comparatively small matter. It is enough for the present that this misguided ecclesiastic is under lock and key. But the Cypriot people have a duty—a duty to themselves—to find a negotiator who is not. like the Archbishop, unrepentantly guilty of treacherous bloodshed.

I should like to sum up. I cannot agree with the views of those who try to show that brutal murderers are patriots. To commit the sort of crimes that are constantly committed in Cyprus is nothing less than savage murder—the crime of a young fellow countryman being taken by a couple of thugs from his bed and shot in front of his wife ; or the shooting of a man in hospital by his own fellow countrymen when he has gone to see his new-born baby. For a small group of men to intimidate vast numbers of their compatriots and prevent them from ever saying what is in their minds also seems, to my way of thinking, to fail completely

450
§ to create an atmosphere in which political advancement can be achieved.

§ Therefore, E.O.K.A. must be destroyed. E.O.K.A. will be destroyed, despite the doubts which the right hon. Gentleman places on our ability or our will to rule. At the same time, we shall press ahead with the preparation of this new constitution. I am quite certain that the House has also listened to what my right hon. Friend reiterated about the principle of self-determination. That principle has been accepted by Her Majesty's Government, and it is only present conditions which are making it impossible for us to make any further progress in that direction. Much as right hon. and hon. Gentlemen opposite disapprove of our policy, we are convinced that we are pursuing the right methods in order to achieve a peaceful solution in Cyprus.

§ I am asking the House this afternoon to support the Government, and by doing so to pay a tribute to Sir John Harding and to his troops, his administrators and his police who are working under him. In spite of the criticisms that have been made of our policy, these people are tireless in their efforts, and their efforts are the same as ours, which are to bring back peace and happiness to the people of Cyprus.

§ Question put, That this House do now adjourn :—

§ The House divided : Ayes 243, Noes 308.

http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/comm ... /14/cyprus

a lot more to read abt Cyprus from Brits perspective.

http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/search/cyprus

[insan]

As far as the island itself was concerned, it escaped the war except for limited air raids. As it had twenty-five years earlier, it became important as a supply and training base and as a naval station, but this time its use as an air base made it particularly significant to the overall Allied cause. Patriotism and a common enemy did not entirely erase enosis in the minds of Greek Cypriots, and propagandists remained active during the entire war, particularly in London, where they hoped to gain friends and influence lawmakers. Hopes were sometimes raised by the British government during the period when Britain and Greece were practically alone in the field against the Axis. British foreign secretary Anthony Eden, for example, hinted that the Cyprus problem would be resolved when the war had been won. Churchill, then prime minister, also made some vague allusions to the postwar settlement of the problem. The wartime governor of the island stated without equivocation that enosis was not being considered, but it is probable that the Greek Cypriots heard only those voices that they wanted to hear.

http://countrystudies.us/cyprus/10.htm

[christos1]

http://www.onlinewomeninpolitics.org/ar ... ey_vaw.htm

Turkey 'fails to protect women'
Turkish women
Many courts blame women, the report says
Amnesty International has severely criticised the Turkish government and judiciary for their failure to act over violence against women.

The human rights group's latest report claims up to a half of all women in Turkey have been victims of violence.

Amnesty says changes have been made to the legal system but shocking failures to uphold the law continue.

Turkey is waiting for the European Union to decide to set a date for talks about its possible entry into the EU.

There has been no direct response so far from the Turkish government about the report.

But a member of the parliamentary human rights committee, Ahmet Farouk Umshal, denied the problem was widespread - and said it was by no means confined to Turkey.

Honour killings

The BBC's Jonny Dymond, in Istanbul, says the Amnesty report paints an almost unimaginably bleak picture of women's lives in Turkey.

Citing study after study it suggests that the level of violence against women here is considerably higher than around the world, he says.

It is says at least a third and possibly up to 50% have suffered violence.


A culture of violence can place women in double jeopardy, both as victims of violence and because they are denied effective access to justice
Amnesty International

"Violence against women by family members spans the spectrum from depriving women of economic necessities through verbal and psychological violence, to beatings, sexual violence and killings," the reports says.

"Violence against women is widely tolerated and even endorsed by community leaders and at the highest levels of the government and judiciary."

Examples include a man strangling his own daughter because she has been raped and a judge reducing a rapist's sentence when he promises to marry his victim.

The report is filled with accounts of young women forced into marriage, or everyday violence, of an environment of intimidation and, at its worst, of so-called "honour killings," where family members kill women who have had extra-marital relationships or who have been raped.

Fear

A women's rights activist from Diyarbakir told Amnesty: "Excuses for beating women at home include 'staring out of a window for a long period', 'saying hello to male friends on the street', 'if the telephone rings and there's no one on the other end', and 'spending too long talking to shopkeepers'."

The Turkish police are criticised for failing to investigate alleged violence and the courts continue to blame women who have been attacked, raped or killed.

Amnesty does not suggest that violence against women is peculiar to Turkey, but it says that a culture of violence can place women in double jeopardy.

It says they are both victims and they are denied effective access to justice.

Amnesty urged the Turkish government to ensure that shelters were available for victims of domestic violence, and called on prosecutors and police investigators to pursue the culprits of attacks on women.

[insan]

Intelligence Information No 21 from Gen. V. Zikulov to T.Zhivkov re: Situation in Cyprus and Greece
Date:
03/22/1974 Source:
Central State Archive, Sofia, Fond 378-B, Record 866, File 10

HERE (TUK) – THE FIRST SECRETARY OF THE CC [CENTRAL COMMITTEE] OF THE BCP [BULGARIAN COMMUNIST PARTY]
AND CHAIRMAN OF THE STATE COUNCIL
COMRADE TODOR ZHIVKOV


INFORMATION

No. 21

On the situation in Cyprus and Greece


Recently, several new developments are observed in the situation in Cyprus and Greece.

In Cyprus they are characterized by the following:

- The National Guard of Cyprus, which is led by a Greek command squad, is reinforced with a new contingent of officers, sergeants and soldiers, who have arrived from Greece and are meant to occupy some important positions. This squad is expected to replace the tank-crews in the [National] guard;

- The arming of the illegal organization “EOKA-2” [EOKA-B] continues, which tells that it will not only not be disbanded, but is also preparing for more active steps (deistvia) against the government of Makarios.

- The former leader of the organization Karusos, who defended the position that the organization should fight the government with political means only, has been replaced with the Greek colonel from the reserve Dertilis, who served in the diversion-intelligence unit in Greece;

- The Greek government exerted pressure on Makarios and carried out a propaganda campaign for the reinstitution of holy rank (san) for the former bishops of Paphos, Kyrenia and Limassol, who have been removed from office, aimed at creating disunity among the Greek-Cypriot population on church-related matters;

- According to some reports (niakoi danni), the Greek and the Turkish governments, without consulting (bez da suglasuvat s) the government of Cyprus, have reached an agreement regarding part of the contested issues about the local administrative governance in Cyprus and the participation of the Greek and the Turkish communities in it. According to Makarios, great concessions were made to the Turkish side, and because of that he [Makarios] considers the agreement unacceptable.

http://www.wilsoncenter.org/index.cfm?t ... 0Relations

[christos1]

According to "Turkish Daily News", the European Court of Human Rights ruled that Turkey had violated the rights of a Turkish citizen who was the first conscientious objector in the country to openly declare his refusal to perform compulsory military service for reasons of conscience. In the matter of the complaint filed by Osman Murat Ulka, the Strasbourg-based court decided that Turkey had violated Article 3 of the European Convention on Human rights and charged Turkey to pay 11,000 euros in financial compensation

full story here:
http://www.newser.com/archive-world-new ... ector.html

[christos1]

Turkey: Rising Police Violence Goes Unpunished

December 5, 2008

http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2008/12/05/t ... unpunished

[insan]

SECRET
Copy No 1
TO: CC BCP FIRST SECRETARY AND
CHAIRMAN OF THE STATE COUNCIL, COMRADE TODOR ZHIVKOV


INFORMATION No 15

We received information that in the last days of February this year, the Turkish Land Forces Headquarters has issued an order to the 1st Turkish Army (Istanbul) to prepare within twenty days an operations plan for an offensive operation against Greece under the code name Kaluch (Sword).

In previous years (1967 and 1968) when relations between the two countries had been strained on the Cyprus question, the Turkish Military Headquarters had prepared another operations plan, under the code-name Kalkan (Shield), intended for possible military operations against Greece and Cyprus.

The preparation of the Kaluch plan is possibly either a constituent part of the Kalkan plan or a thoroughly new plan. It is intended for the preparation and action of Turkish Land Forces in the event of new complications on the Cyprus question as well as in the event of further strains of the existing contradictions between the two countries over the exploration of oil-fields in the Eastern part of the Aegean Sea.
As it is known, lately both Greece and Turkey have each started oil fields exploration separately in the Aegean sea close to the Asia Minor coast. Since the islands in close proximity to the coast are dominated by Greece, the two countries renewed the dispute exactly on their maritime borders.


DEPUTY CHIEF OF THE GENERAL STAFF AND
CHIEF OF THE INTELLIGENCE DEPARTMENT

LT. GEN. ZIKULOV



No 0483/1.3.1974
Printed in 1 copy.
Copied in 24 copies.


[SOURCE: Central State Archive, Sofia, Fond 378-B, File 866/15; Translated by Vanja Petkova, Edited by Dr. Jordan Baev]

http://www.wilsoncenter.org/index.cfm?t ... 0Relations

[christos1]

SECRET
Copy No 1
TO: CC BCP FIRST SECRETARY AND
CHAIRMAN OF THE STATE COUNCIL, COMRADE TODOR ZHIVKOV


INFORMATION No 15

We received information that in the last days of February this year, the Turkish Land Forces Headquarters has issued an order to the 1st Turkish Army (Istanbul) to prepare within twenty days an operations plan for an offensive operation against Greece under the code name Kaluch (Sword).

In previous years (1967 and 1968) when relations between the two countries had been strained on the Cyprus question, the Turkish Military Headquarters had prepared another operations plan, under the code-name Kalkan (Shield), intended for possible military operations against Greece and Cyprus.

More on the Turkish military below
http://www.atour.com/~aahgn/news/20010115ac.html
Source Boston Globe

Turkish Kurdistan is a rugged, mountainous region, and helicopters have proved essential in the army's scorched-earth campaign. So far, more than 3,000 Kurdish villages have been burned, depriving the guerrillas of logistical support. Estimates of civilian Kurds displaced by the war range from 500,000 to 2 million. It has been a dirty war, and both sides have been guilty of atrocities.