Cyprus-Forum.com

[christos1]

Cyprus: Portrait of a Christianity Obliterated

In the northern part of the island, occupied by Turkey, the churches have become stables or mosques. The diary of a trip beyond the wall

by Sandro Magister

http://www.jihadspin.com/php_forum/view ... 23667f799f

[insan]

Democracy and Conflict Management

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By
Timothy D. Sisk

August 2003


http://peacestudies.conflictresearch.or ... /?nid=1353

This one is especially dedicated for embryonic apes to read.

Majority rule can mean majority tyranny. Conflicts that are fought along identity lines in which there is a clear majority and minority (like Sri Lanka, Kosovo, or Northern Ireland) seem especially ill-suited to "normal" majority democracy because parties in conflict expect that political majorities will not respect the rights and interests of minorities. This is especially true when there is an expectation in society that voting will occur along ethnic lines, such that referenda, political parties, and election outcomes will be the outcome of polls that are essentially an "ethnic census."
The persistence of deep divisions. With so many conflicts today fuelled by ethnic or religious ideologies, the core issue over which the war is fought -- exclusively defined ethnic identity is a significant barrier to striking a democratic compromise. When absolute claims for self-determination and independence clash with inflexible positions on territorial integrity, as in Russia/Chechnya, there is little room for compromise on basic principles of democracy as an alternative to war. Democracy requires a basic consensus on a future of living together, which may be absent in many intractable conflicts today.

[christos1]

Democracy and Conflict Management

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By
Timothy D. Sisk

August 2003


http://peacestudies.conflictresearch.or ... /?nid=1353

This one is especially dedicated for embryonic apes to read.

Majority rule can mean majority tyranny.

The Kurds would whole heartedly agree with that statement above.

[christos1]

Ismail Cem, Turkey's Foreign Minister recently complained that the European Union had offered Turkey only a "third class ticket" on the train of accession to the European Union. Others would say that Turkey was extremely fortunate to have even been considered for membership given its appalling tradition of human rights abuses.

For the past two hundred years, Turkey has achieved what is undoubtedly one of the worst human rights records in the world. The Turks have ethnically cleansed or otherwise mistreated ethnic minorities within Turkey and the peoples of neighbouring countries.

These include the Armenians, Bulgarians, Cypriots, Greeks, Kurds, Romanians and the Serbs. Turkey has the unenviable record of having conducted the first genocide of the 20th century when from 1915 to 1918 one and a half million indigenous Armenians were annihilated.

Lately, the Turks have turned their attention to those of their own people who have the courage to speak out against human rights abuses in Turkey.

Killings, disappearances and torture of lawyers, journalists, trade unionists, intellectuals and others remain well documented and are frighteningly commonplace in modern day Turkey.

Amnesty international recently reported that Turkey is the 5th worst country in the world for torture in jails, whilst the US State Department reports that the human rights situation in Turkey continues to deteriorate despite the promises of the Turkish government. In its annual report to Congress on human rights the Clinton administration stated that Turkish security forces committed "serious human rights abuses" during 1997.

Today, Turkey wages a dirty war against the Kurds who are fighting for recognition of their identity, and the right to express their language and culture. Almost 30,000 Kurds, government forces and civilians have been sacrificed. Three million Kurds are now refugees, and 3,000 Kurdish villages have been razed to the ground by Turkish troops.

This policy of human rights violations and ethnic cleansing is just as evident in the occupied north of Cyprus.

Turkey invaded the Republic of Cyprus in 1974 under the most spurious circumstances, causing death, rape, torture and forced displacement of persons, acts which are well documented by the European Court of Human Rights.

Turkey has created an illegal apartheid regime in the occupied area forcibly separating the Greek Cypriots from the Turkish Cypriots, violating a fundamental tenet of the European Union - the principle of free movement.

The few remaining Greek Cypriots enclaved in the occupied north are subject to continuous attack, harassment and intimidation, relying on United Nations protection and hand-outs in order to survive. They are also denied the right to secondary education, in violation of international law and the UN Charter on Human Rights.

No one can treat the hapless Mr Cem or Turkey itself with any credibility for so long as Turkey persists with her atrocious tradition of human rights violations. Sadly history teaches us that Turkey's policy on human rights has not and is unlikely to change.

Lobby for Cyprus urges the European Union leaders not to pursue a policy of appeasement with Turkey.


Turkey fact file
Human rights violations in Turkey 1994 1995 1996 1997
(Jan-Nov)
Assassinations 292 89 78 103
Civilians killed by military 458 230 119 133
Disappearances 328 220 194 62
Deaths in custody 298 122 190 97
Killed in clashes 5,000 3,894 2,859 2,323
Torture cases 1,000 1,412 348 343
Number arrested 14,473 14,473 20,434 24,999
Number imprisoned 1,209 2,101 2,071 1,197
Journalists arrested ? 461 421 284
Bombed villages 191 184 109 119
Villages burnt down/evacuated 1,500 243 63 15

Cyprus fact file
Human rights violations by Turkey following its invasion of the Republic of Cyprus In 1974
200,000 Greek Cypriots were forcibly removed from their homes
6,000 civilians and non combatants were murdered or tortured to death
1,000 women and girls were raped
1,619 missing persons are still unaccounted for by Turkey. The Red Cross documented that many were sent as prisoners of war to Turkey
100,000 colonists were transplanted to the occupied area to alter the demographic composition of the island
more than 40,000 Turkish Cypriots have fled the occupied area unable to coexist with the colonists
over 800 churches have been looted, destroyed or turned into stables
Turkey continues to ignore more than 90 United Nations and Security Council resolutions calling for the respect of human rights in Cyprus and the restoration of the sovereignty of the Republic of Cyprus

[christos1]

Human Rights Violations in Cyprus by Turkey

http://www.scribd.com/doc/9380170/2008- ... -of-Cyprus

[christos1]

Turkey found guilty of violation of freedom of speech

http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show ... peech.html

[insan]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2005/jan/01/past.nationalarchives1

From the national archives: Tentative plans for a Cypriot ...

"The threat will not only consist of the Cyprus national guard, Greek national contingent, EOKA B [paramilitary Greek loyalists] ... there will be sizeable elements who will actively oppose us by resorting to guerrilla warfare."

The total strength of "Greek loyal forces" was estimated at 55,000, but "standards of training are poor".

The assessment concluded that three brigades - as many as 15,000 soldiers - would be needed.

Close air support would also be necessary, but added: "Bitter experience has shown us that even a small number of dedicated men from the local population can pin down an inordinately large force for an indefinite period and we might well end up by facing an open-ended and expensive situation, like in Northern Ireland.

"Our chances of ever fully subduing the island as a whole ... must be extremely low."

[insan]

Democracy and Conflict Management

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By
Timothy D. Sisk

August 2003


http://peacestudies.conflictresearch.or ... /?nid=1353

This one is especially dedicated for embryonic apes to read.

Majority rule can mean majority tyranny.

The Kurds would whole heartedly agree with that statement above.

The fact is that in Turkey, almost majority of the ruling elite consists of Kurds of Turkey.(MPs, Wealthy Kurdish businessman and huge horde owners in Anatolia.)

[christos1]

Chamber judgments concerning Turkey

http://www.echr.coe.int/Eng/Press/2004/ ... 101104.htm

[insan]

UN and US sources state that number of GC refugees was 140.000. Still 1600 missing? Gene Rossides outdated sources?