Big Al wrote:YFred wrote:Sign of things to come: first minority then don't exist.House rules Greece has no Turkish minorities
By Elias Hazou
BY UNANIMOUS vote, the Plenum yesterday passed a resolution stressing that it does not recognise the presence of “any Turkish minority within the territory of Greece”.
The move comes after DISY deputy Christos Pourgourides, in his personal capacity, signed a motion for a resolution calling for an investigation into possible human rights violations of the ‘Turkish minority’ in the Greek islands of Rhodes and Kos.
The contentious motion was drafted by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), of which Pourgourides is a member. PACE’s document, dated May 6, expressed “concern on the situation of the Turkish minority” in the two islands.
PACE’s motion cited concerns over religious and linguistic restrictions for persons of Turkish ethnic origin living in the two islands. It noted, for instance, that Turkish schools in Rhodes and Kos “ceased to operate in 1972”. And that “according to the latest information received, the Turkish minority on the islands is denied the right to education in their mother tongue.”
Greece does not acknowledge the presence of a Turkish minority, instead referring to Greek citizens of Turkish ethnic origin as the “Muslim minority”.
A number of Turkish MPs also signed the same document. Pourgourides took flak from politicians in Cyprus, accusing him of playing into the hands of Turkish diplomacy and of jeopardising Cyprus’ relations with steadfast ally Greece.
Yesterday’s resolution by Parliament, drafted at the initiative of DIKO, also stressed that “we remain firmly opposed to Turkey’s intention to promote secessionist elements in the territory of Greece”.
The final draft of the resolution omitted a reference to Pourgourides’ actions, as its authors had originally intended. The resolution was approved by all MPs, including Pourgourides.
Pourgourides’ own party DISY have distanced themselves from their deputy. Earlier this week, the veteran politician was summoned to party headquarters in Nicosia to explain his actions.
DISY spokesman Harris Georgiades told the Mail his party wanted to make it “absolutely clear” that they did not espouse the view that a Turkish minority existed in Greece.
“To avoid any confusion, we have to say that neither does Mr. Pourgourides. His point of view was that, given the allegations on human rights violations in Rhodes and Kos, it would be better to investigate these allegations rather than not. That does not mean he agrees there is a human rights problem vis-a-vis people of Turkish ethnic origin. His rationale is duly noted.”
DISY’s problem, it seems, was with Pourgourides’ handling of the matter: he had failed to consult with them on such a sensitive issue.
“By agreeing that an investigation is necessary, you’d send out the wrong political message. We wanted to demonstrate that Greece has a clear human rights record,” said Georgiades.
Though distancing themselves from Pourgourides, at the same time DISY sought to shield their man from some of the more malicious attacks leveled against him.
“The rhetoric we’ve been hearing these last few days…that his behaviour was unpatriotic, bordering on treasonous…was a gross exaggeration,” said Georgiades.
Copyright © Cyprus Mail 2009
this has been my argument all along regarding cyprus, first tc are told your a cypriot to piss anna vatan off then we get told we're a minority tc community then a muslim minority then you dont even exist!!
Nobody in Cyprus is going to tell you what you are despite what you may read from some in this forum. If you dont want to be called a Cypriot Muslim and prefer Turkish Cypriot...that is your right. The government of the RoC refers to Talat as the Turkish Cypriot leader and you as a Turkish Cypriot. So your concerns are not warranted and your reaction, BigAl is why i vehemently questioned some of the GC posters in this forum. And numerically speaking, the Turkish Cypriots are a minority. Cyprus has many minorities and we recognize them as such. We do not discriminate here. I simply look for the day when ALL Cypriots, are able to work, invest, travel, reside anywhere they wish in any part of Cyprus. I mean if Cypriots can do this in other countries of the EU, surely we should have these rights in Cyprus as well. Do you not agree with me Big Al?
