Cyprus-Forum.com

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10.04.2009

Niyazi Kizilyurek

As the Turkish Cypriot community approaches the elections, let’s take a journey back in time. If you like you may say that we are entering into a ‘Turkish Cypriot Fairy Tale’.
When the Turkish army was seen on the horizon of Cyprus on 20th of July in 1974 five days after the coup, the Turkish Cypriots experienced joy like no other. ‘The day they have been waiting for,’ had finally arrived. While the Turkish Cypriots were celebrating, the Greek Cypriots were miserable, escaping to the south of the island. The Turkish Cypriots from the south were piling into the homes the Greek Cypriots were evacuating. Cyprus was then divided along the middle. A demographic division followed the geographical division after a while and within a year Turkish Cypriots were gathered on the north side of the island and the Greek Cypriots on the south side.

Cheerful childlike Turkish Cypriots

The majority of the Turkish Cypriots welcomed the Turkish intervention in Cyprus with excitement which turned into real holiday joy when they got to share the property left behind by the Greek Cypriots. Suddenly luxurious buildings, houses, factories, hotels became the property of Turkish Cypriots. It all happened so suddenly. The cheerful childlike Turkish Cypriots were dipping their hand into a goody bag and they were taking out the beautiful Greek Cypriot houses. Men gathered in the village squares, were telling each other about the prettiness of their new houses, showing their Greek Cypriot clothes they put on their backs and talking about who got how much pillage. Women were visiting each other’s houses and checking out houses to figure out who got what. Children were playing with their new toys in their new clothes on the streets. While there were Turkish flags raised on poles everywhere the Greek Cypriot’s pictures on the walls were taken down.

Turkish Federated State of Cyprus

The ‘property sharing’ which took place in total chaos, ensured that everyone embraced the new status quo in a very short time. The island was divided and the Greek Cypriots would never come back to the northern side of Cyprus. They could not. This idea was embraced by a majority at the very first stage. The Turkish Cypriots who used to be struggling in the ghettos before 1974 were now the new rich North Cyprus and the striking slogan of the newly established political parties was ‘We took it over with blood; we will build it with sweat’. Meanwhile ‘our brothers’ from Turkey were coming to settle down in North Cyprus as the new neighbours of Turkish Cypriots. In 1975 the first political step to nationalise North Cypriot was taken and the Turkish Federated State of Cyprus was declared.

Turkification

Nationalisation embraced every area of life. The Greek Cypriot villages and towns were being renamed in Turkish and Turkish Cypriots were choosing Turkish last names for themselves as was required by the new law. The north of Cyprus was gradually being turned into Turkish Cyprus; people were joining the process with enthusiasm. And an enthusiasm for the pillage was accompanying this enthusiasm as much as the sense of ‘revenge’. In this atmosphere the nationalist Turkish Cypriot leadership became the real promoters of the plunder and distributed the goodies to its supporters. In this way the political system was formed with politicians buying the support of the people and the community selling its votes to the highest bidder.


No unity

In 1976, Turkey and also all the political parties in the TFSC parliament on the request of Denktas reached and unanimity on a single possible solution to Cyprus problem as ‘Two regional, bicommunal federation’ but Denktas would never believe in a federal solution for a moment and would keep himself busy with his dream of partition. That is why the federation theory would always be a theory championed by the opposition parties; they were always looked down at because of it.
The ‘fairy tale world’ of post-1974 was gradually being replaced by a problematic world. The sea of pillage was ending but still could not be replaced with any production. There was not any development in employment either. That was why people were piling up in the state offices. There was not enough room for people in some state offices. The opposition was openly facing injustice in housing and employment policies. Meanwhile unity could not be managed to be built with the brothers from the ‘motherland’. The Turkish Cypriots were passing to a new stage where they were discovering their differences during this period of ‘identifying with Turkey’.


External migration

People from Turkey on the other hand did not find their brothers in Cyprus as they imagined in their national fantasies. The abstract ‘unity of brotherhood’ was leaving its place to a solid ‘dissimilarities’. Everything was pointing at the restless society of the future. The external migration that started under these circumstances was increasing. The ‘motherland’ was there in Cyprus but the number of the Turkish Cypriots in London was gradually increasing. Unemployment, partisanship and fears for future were putting people on the roads. Brothers from Turkey kept replacing the vacancies left by the emigrants. As the star of partition was glittering the Turkish Cypriot society was fading out. North Cyprus was now disconnected from the rest of the world, dependent on Turkey for everything and this came at a price. During this political, economic, ideological and cultural atmosphere, a new type of ‘Turkish Cypriot’ sensitivity that looked for a future out of partition started to flourish. At the heart of this sensitivity that was also reflected in the political movements was ‘rejecting neglect’ and ‘getting out of marginalisation’?

Post- national patriotism

Kutlu Adali an intellectual and writer-journalist who was one of the leading members in Cypriot-centric movements, was taken from his home in the middle of a night and shot dead in the middle of Nicosia, deepening the ongoing tension between the Turkish nationalism and Cypriot-centric approaches. As Turkish Cypriots were coming against the Partition policies with the raising of Cypriot-centric approaches, Cyprus was conceptualised as the common-homeland of Turkish and Greek Cypriots. For the first time on the island the seeds of post-national Cyprus-patriotism were planted. New dynamics appeared on the scene with the raising of post-national Cyprus-patriotism and Greek Cyprus heading towards European Union membership. The Cyprus dispute was once more showing up as internal affair of the West and the ‘unsettlement is the solution’ policies put into practice after 1974 were drifting into a bust, fast.

End to fairy tale

Meanwhile the ‘law’ that we forgot about within the fairy tale world of post-1974 began to knock on our door. The lawsuits in the European Human Rights Court instituted by Greek Cypriots also clearly showed us that the properties in the North of Cyprus do not belong to us and Turkey was forced to pay compensation. When Turkey’s intention on the way for an EU membership was added to this, the status-quo of the island formed in 1974, was opened to discussion. The ‘Europeanising’ of the Cyprus Problem brought the fact of ‘Cyprus’ to Turkish-EU relations.
Within this new context, the struggle by the solution seeking powers with the ‘participation status-quo’ supporters gained a new dimension. Various social and political powers of Turkey, who were left to the mercy of ‘Turkish Turkish’ nationalists and who had closed their ears to the struggle of the Turkish Cypriot opposition, were now sharing the common fate with them. Even if this sharing the common fate did not turn into a solid cooperation, a common interest occurred with the pro-EUs who preferred to support the EU in such an important issue for Turkey and this situation get the pro-solution powers that were ignored for years out of alienation. So their discussions became legitimate in the eyes of Turkish public.

An illegal world

As the tendency of EU membership in Turkey exceeded the intentions and turned into a will-power the Cyprus dispute, which was labelled as ‘big taboo’ and thought to be banned, was opened to discussion. And as it was discussed the ‘wall of Cyprus’ started to shake. At that point the name of hope on the both sides of the wall became to known as ‘European Union’. The hopes for peace in Cyprus were ranked high especially when Turkey was officially welcomed as EU candidate in the Helsinki summit and the membership of Cyprus was confirmed. In such an atmosphere the UN restarted the Cyprus talks, with the support of the EU and the US, in a process that ended in a referendum for the Annan Plan. However, the powers that wanted to block this dynamic process were busy too. The road of powers that were living among the Turkish Cypriots and saying ‘I took it, its mine’ and preferring to live in an illegal world, living with Turkish Cypriots on the Mesaoria Plain crossed with the powers in Turkey who wanted to block Turkey’s EU membership and establish an authoritarian regime. When the EU was experiencing the biggest enlargement in its history in 2002 and expected to take Turkish Cypriots on board, that boarding of the EU train to a peace in Cyprus was blocked.
In 2003 the pursuit for a coup in Turkey and sentencing the Cyprus dispute to an ‘unsettlement’ walked hand in hand. The anti-solution supporters and coup lovers in Cyprus shared the same kind of mentality and run for the same targets. Sentencing Cyprus to an ‘unsettlement’ became the day job of both parties.

Negotiation the only way

When the obstacles were overcome in 2004 and the referenda polls were placed it was too late. The hope for a solution was wasted by the single handedly EU member Greek Cypriot’s vote to reject the plan after 50 years of Cyprus dispute becoming an international issue and 40 years of the inter-communal conflicts. However voting for the Annan Plan was not enough to solve the problems of the Turkish Cypriot society. The international community showed at every opportunity that they do not want a separate state on the north side of Cyprus. The political establishment after 1974 in North Cyprus and the issues about properties could not become legitimate. Such a legitimisation will obviously not materialise before a settlement in Cyprus. The world is not buying the mentality of ‘I took it, it’s mine’. That is why exactly it is now a necessity more than ever before for Turkish Cypriots to solve the Cyprus dispute via negotiations. The Turkish Cypriot community, which had first been living in a fairy tale world and then in uncertainty, was then fooled by heroism but now they do not have indefinite choices. Actually there is no other way on the horizon but getting under the roof of a federate state with the Greek Cypriots so that becoming a partner in a Federal Cyprus will eliminate the uncertainty, dispossession, isolation and eventually the stateless situation.

Vision is needed

It is our only solid possibility to integrate us with European Union. Though using this opportunity and displaying that form of vision is the biggest challenge before the nominees who want to govern the Turkish Cypriot community. ‘Bi-governmental solution’ and ‘confederation like theories have no buyers, neither in the world nor in Greek Cyprus. Those kinds of approaches are only useful to sentence Cyprus to an ‘unsettlement’ and the Turkish Cypriots to an illegal world. Most importantly even if you want to enclose yourself in an illegal world this is not possible anymore. The law will find a way to access you. Just look at the lawsuits in the line. Let us not forget that you cannot buy a property with blood. Before the cold hand of law reaches us we must enter to law ourselves by achieving a settlement. We wanted to refresh your memories with this article. ‘Our fairy tale’ ends here. Goodnight Turkish Cypriot community… when you wake up in the morning think again who you will vote for.

2006 Copyright by Cyprus Observer

http://www.observercyprus.com/observer/ ... px?id=3702

[CBBB]

I thought it was an interesting article!

[insan]

I thought it was an interesting article!

It is. Do u think Niyazi had an eye in the sky observing whole TCs what they had done after moving to North and settling down to GC homes? Yes, I too observed that there were some ordinary TCs behaving like how Kizilyurek described. However I also observed that many families who lost their beloveds during the combat was crying in the GC houses they were granted.

[insan]

Moreover, we too became refugees and were looking for ouselves a GC house to move. When we were looking for house ourselves stopping near GC houses and looking inside if it was suitable for us. In many of the GC houses there were toys we fancied and would like to take but everytime we asked our parents if could take what we wanted they warned me and my 2 sisters that it's illegal to loot anything from the GC houses. Neither my parents nor I and my sisters touched any of the GC properties.

During the combat of 1974 our house in Çağlayan was heavily damaged. We were granted a GC flat in Karaoğlanoğlu. We lived there for 2 years and returned to our own house when it was repaired. The GC flat we were temporarily granted was empty, btw.

[boomerang]

I thought it was an interesting article!

It is. Do u think Niyazi had an eye in the sky observing whole TCs what they had done after moving to North and settling down to GC homes? Yes, I too observed that there were some ordinary TCs behaving like how Kizilyurek described. However I also observed that many families who lost their beloveds during the combat was crying in the GC houses they were granted.

The crying cuts both ways titty man...something in your racist haste ommited in admitting...

And you talk about knowledge is power...you are a fucking joke titty man and a discrace to humanity, while you run around flaunting your racist attributtes...

[insan]

I thought it was an interesting article!

It is. Do u think Niyazi had an eye in the sky observing whole TCs what they had done after moving to North and settling down to GC homes? Yes, I too observed that there were some ordinary TCs behaving like how Kizilyurek described. However I also observed that many families who lost their beloveds during the combat was crying in the GC houses they were granted.

The crying cuts both ways titty man...something in your racist haste ommited in admitting...

And you talk about knowledge is power...you are a fucking joke titty man and a discrace to humanity, while you run around flaunting your racist attributtes...

u went berserk?

[boomerang]

I thought it was an interesting article!

It is. Do u think Niyazi had an eye in the sky observing whole TCs what they had done after moving to North and settling down to GC homes? Yes, I too observed that there were some ordinary TCs behaving like how Kizilyurek described. However I also observed that many families who lost their beloveds during the combat was crying in the GC houses they were granted.

The crying cuts both ways titty man...something in your racist haste ommited in admitting...

And you talk about knowledge is power...you are a fucking joke titty man and a discrace to humanity, while you run around flaunting your racist attributtes...

u went berserk?

well I'll be damned...titty man lost for words...

what's new heh titty man?...

[utu]

well I'll be damned...titty man lost for words...

what's new heh titty man?...

Hey, at least his avatar is nice to look at. Yours looks like something that dropped out of the Sphinx's nose...

[boomerang]

well I'll be damned...titty man lost for words...

what's new heh titty man?...

Hey, at least his avatar is nice to look at. Yours looks like something that dropped out of the Sphinx's nose...

My avatar depicts, I can't believe what I am hearing...

and your avatar looks like something discarded by every female on a monthly basis...

[Get Real!]

My avatar depicts, I can't believe what I am hearing...

And I always thought it depicts you after a few dozen tinnies...

and your avatar looks like something discarded by every female on a monthly basis...

That must be the biggest insult issued to a Canadian ever!