Cyprus-Forum.com

[Expatkiwi]

A number of you out there have asked me what my motivation truly is in my supporting the independence of North Cyprus. I have been ridiculed, criticized, demeaned, threatened, and also one attempt at blackmail was levelled against me. Not only my intelligence, but my integrity in general has been brought into question. Also, people are doubting my nationality and claiming that I'm a Turkish Cypriot in Kiwi clothing. I think it best to explain it to you all in detail, and - as hard as this may seem to a number of you - please hold off the sarcasm and disbelief when framing your reply.

My interest in Cyprus began in 1984 as part of a course I was taking in political science back in Auckland. North Cyprus had only just recently announced its unilateral declaration of independence. The course touched on Cyprus and its internal and external problems since 1960, and an assignment was required to discuss the Cyprus Problem and the events that led up to the UDI, and the aftermath, which I researched what data I could find in order to complete my assignment. What I discovered raised some questions with me.

To me, I felt it rather absurd that a majority (the GC's) would feel threatened by a minority (the TC's), and that on that basis, moves for enosis and TC marginialization bore the hallmarks of crude bullying tactics. The non-presence of the Turkish Cypriots in government and the enclaves (likened to Bantustans) made me conclude that the Greek Cypriots had no interest in sharing with the Turkish Cypriots, so when I read about the attempted coup, and Turkey's response, my reaction was that the bullies ended up getting their asses kicked because the bullied had a friend to defend them (Turkey). Bullies getting themselves bullied back to me is pure poetic justice.
So, when the 1983 UDI took place, it seemed to be to be logical, given that the majority didn't want the minority, so the minority made their own country. Simplistic, I know, but my favoring the Turkish Cypriots was a mixture of logic and sympathy.

Over the years, especially after I emigrated to the USA, I met and got to know a number of Turkish Cypriot migrants to the USA, and what they told me confirmed that my stance was the morally correct one. My disdain for the GC's grew over the isolations imposed on North Cyprus, which also served to reinforce my view of their being nothing more than a bullying mob.

My being welcomed on sites such at ATCA, plus the personal rapports I had built (in person with M. Mustafagolu, and by mail with R. Denktas) made me feel even more secure in the knowledge that I had made the right choice. And - and I'm not being nasty here - the accusations and slurs directed at me by the GC members of this forum didn't help your side one little bit with me. It reinforced my percetion of GC's as intolerant and politically radical. The few migrant Greeks here in the USA I met and talked to had those very same traits of "my way, or the highway".

So where does this leave me now? Well, I have to say that I'm still not convinced that the GC's no longer harbor any ill-will towards the TC's, so that's why I'm not in favor of reunification. But reading about Turkey's influences in North Cyprus and how the Turkish Cypriots themselves are regarded by the Turks have shaken me some. The current trends tend to the steady Turkification of North Cyprus into a Turkish province, plus the utter reliance on Turkey for trade and contacts with the outside world (as a result of no other avenues being open because of the isolation policy of the RoCy) has made me aware that the Turkish Cypriots are in effect between the rock and a hard place: South Cyprus with a hostile GC populace on one side, and Turkey with its overwhelming influences on the other.

With these items in mind, I opted for the stance that has succeeded in annoying both sides, supporting the total unaligned independence of North Cyprus so that the Turkish Cypriots are assured of steering their own destiny. The GC's say that I'm an interfering splittist, whilst a number of TC's say that I'm trashing their motherland.

Let me make this clear: If I thought that reconciliation in Cyprus was possible, and that the Republic of Cyprus would not re-descend into the intercommunal conflicts of the '60's and '70's, I would be fully supportive of such a move. People like GC seem to think its possible, and I'd like to believe him, but given the historical antipathy between Greeks and Turks, I am not an optimist about such a scenario happening.

I will also say here that I don't support all of what is going on in North Cyprus. The treatment of the enclaved Greek Cypriots in the Karpass peninisula, the descrecration of holy and archeological sites, the steady increase in the numbers of Turkish migrants to North Cyprus, and the ridiculously large number of Turkish military forces ( which given the proximity to the island of Turkey, is strategially unnecessary) are things that must rightly be objected to. Still, balancing this is that there is no longer any Greek Cypriot "knife at the throat" of the Turkish Cypriots and that the previous discriminatory practices done to them pre-1974 are no longer done. IMHO, the benefits of the partition AT THIS TIME outweigh the costs. Still, if the "Anatolianization" of North Cyprus continues, then not only will the raison d'etre of the UDI be rendered impotent, but the Turkish Cypriot populace will end up assimilated into Turkey proper. That's why independence in the true sense of the word seems to be the only viable survival solution that I can see for the Turkish Cypriots.

I do apologize for sounding like a broken record with some of what I have written here, and I know that this is going to fail to impress a lot of you, but you have asked me why I express my opinions on Cyprus and my favoring of Turkish Cypriot independence, and I have answered you the best way I can.

[Tim Drayton]

[...]
Still, if the "Anatolianization" of North Cyprus continues, then not only will the raison d'etre of the UDI be rendered impotent, but the Turkish Cypriot populace will end up assimilated into Turkey proper. That's why independence in the true sense of the word seems to be the only viable survival solution that I can see for the Turkish Cypriots.
[....]

Has the thought ever occured to you that maybe the whole thing has been planned like this by Turkey from the outset? That Turkey's long-term aim has always been to turn part of Cyprus into one of its own provinces, populated by its own people. Perhaps this was the real raison d'etre - it was a means to an end - and it is being executed with great precision.

Remember the prophecy of the late Özker Özgür that the Turkish Cypriots, having accomplished their historic task for the "motherland", would henceforth gradually be replaced by a more docile population from Anatolia.

[Jimski999]

Hello Expat
I did read your post with interest; as I have said on several occasions in correspondence I just could not understand where you were coming from and why you were so emphatic in your support for the TRNC. It is very easy to take sides when hearing stories of what happened in Cyprus over the years and depending on who is telling the stories we tend to support one of the two “camps”. It has always been a case of six and two threes; not as one sided as the people you correspond with would have you believe.
I think that to get a totally unbiased viewpoint on the modern history of Cyprus you have to read a book called the Cyprus Revolt by Nancy Crawshaw; all protagonists in the conflict confirm that this book gives about the best insight into the conflict.
If you take a step back, it is so obvious that both Ethnic Groups were “Stitched Up” by the main players at the time, the USA, Great Britain, Turkey and Greece. The Turks played a very clever game with the help of their TMT fifth column in moving the Turkish Cypriots into enclaves and the Greeks did the Greek Cypriots no favours by supporting a coup against the legitimate government. The British used their usual divide and rule policies and the USA would support anything to make sure the British kept hold of the bases; you have to remember that this was at the height of the cold war.
At the end of the day, the Greek Cypriots want equality with the Turkish Cypriots; basically they want their one vote to be equal to that of one Turkish Cypriot vote; is that too much to ask for in a democracy?
As Tim said; is Cyprus just another domino in Turkey’s game and which island will be the next domino; Rhodes?

Jimski999

[miltiades]

Expat , have you ever considered the plight of more than 160 thousand G/Cs who were forced to leave following the Turkish invasion , whose ancestral homes have been usurped by the Turkish army ?
Have you ever considered that the people of Cyprus both G/Cs and T/Cs consider that Turkey and NOT the T/Cs are in charge in the occupied parts.
I wonder whether you are aware that 6 years prior to the Turkish invasion there were no casualties on either side apart from I believe 3 or four T/Cs early 1968 . The pretext that Turkey used , ie to stop the " on- going massacre "
of the T/Cs is not backed by any evidence that T/Cs were at risk even following the military coup.

[Malapapa]

So, when the 1983 UDI took place, it seemed to be to be logical, given that the majority didn't want the minority, so the minority made their own country.

They made their own country? And called it a TURKISH republic?

Simplistic, I know, but my favoring the Turkish Cypriots was a mixture of logic and sympathy.

You bet it's simplistic. So where is the logic in naming a part of Cyprus a TURKISH republic, Expat? There is nowhere like it in the world.

My disdain for the GC's grew over the isolations imposed on North Cyprus, which also served to reinforce my view of their being nothing more than a bullying mob.

Have you never thought to consider why Cypriots free from Turkey's iron grip have isolated the part of their island declared a TURKISH republic?

My being welcomed on sites such at ATCA, plus the personal rapports I had built (in person with M. Mustafagolu, and by mail with R. Denktas) made me feel even more secure in the knowledge that I had made the right choice.

Please can you get your respected penpal R. Denktas to explain why, if he wanted independence for his people, as you allegedly do, he universally declared northern Cyprus a "TURKISH" Republic?

And then, perhaps you will apologise to the Cypriot people on this forum, regardless of background, for polluting it with your ill-informed nonsense.

[miltiades]

And then, perhaps you will apologise to the Cypriot people on this forum, regardless of background, for polluting it with your ill-informed nonsense.

Ill informed of the highest level , a Plonker in my opinion !

[Piratis]

So are you saying you were just a bad student who couldn't do a proper research? Or maybe the place you were studying was the bad one?

If you had done some proper research then you would at least realize that what you support is not called "independence of North Cyprus". The north part of Cyprus has been inhabited by a vast majority of GCs for thousands of years. How can a territory be "independent" from its own people? Therefore what you support is not "independence" but instead ethnic cleansing and the stealing of our lands by the Turkish invaders.

To me, I felt it rather absurd that a majority (the GC's) would feel threatened by a minority (the TC's), and that on that basis, moves for enosis and TC marginialization bore the hallmarks of crude bullying tactics.

So what you understood is that moves for enosis were made on the basis of GCs feeling threatened by a minority? What grade did you get in that course? Or maybe your teacher was also clueless?

Enosis, the right of the Cypriot people to be free from foreign rulers and to be united in a common state along with all other Greeks, was not something invented in the 60s because GCs were threatened by a minority, but something that was the cause of all Greeks for more than a century, when the Greek revolution started:

During the Greek War of Independence in 1821, the Ottoman authorities feared that Greek Cypriots would rebel again. Archbishop Kyprianos, a powerful leader who worked to improve the education of Greek Cypriot children, was accused of plotting against the government. Kyprianos, his bishops, and hundreds of priests and important laymen were arrested and summarily hanged or decapitated on July 9, 1821.

If you were wondering how the Turks first came to our island, here is the answer:

In the summer of 1570, the Turks struck again, but this time with a full-scale invasion rather than a raid. About 60,000 troops, including cavalry and artillery, under the command of Lala Mustafa Pasha landed unopposed near Limassol on July 2, 1570, and laid siege to Nicosia. In an orgy of victory on the day that the city fell--September 9, 1570--20,000 Nicosians were put to death, and every church, public building, and palace was looted.

The Turks oppressed the Cypriot people for more than 3 centuries. The only thing that the Cypriot people, and all other Greeks wanted was their Freedom from the foreign invaders.

The Cypriot people continued to demand their rights when the British took over Cyprus in 1878. In 1955 the Cypriot people, after denied their freedom by the British, started an armed struggle against the Colonialists. TCs were not harmed and were not threatened.

However in 1958, just 80 years after the end of the Ottoman rule, the Turks collaborated with the British and they attacked the Cypriot people again, seeking to again deny from the Cypriot people their rights and gain back the privileges they had on our expense during Ottoman rule.



By 1959 the combined efforts of Turks and British defeated the revolution of the Cypriots, and they imposed on Cyprus something that would serve their own interests on the expense of the Cypriot people. They British got 2 huge bases on the island, while the Turks were given unfair privileges on the expense of the Cypriot people. Just like the Ottomans divided the Cypriot people into "Christians" and "Muslims" so they could exploit the Christian population, the Turks once again divided the population into "Greeks" and "Turks", and gave to the Turks privileges on the expense of the GC majority, as if we were still living in the middle ages and the era of the Ottoman rule.

What happened after the 60s was simply an effort from the Cypriot people to remove some of those privileges given to the Turks, and make Cyprus a normal democratic country like all the rest. The Turkish minority was not threatened and they could continue to be in Cyprus like any other ethnic minority in any other country, e.g. the Greeks in Turkey.

But the Turks refused to even discuss the democratic reforms, and instead they choose to restart the conflict, seeking to maintain their Ottoman style gains on our expense.

So Expatkiwi were you such a bad student and you couldn't see these obvious facts? Or were you mislead by your teaching institution in New Zealand? A country which was created by the oppression and extermination of the Maori natives (so why can't the Turks do the same in Cyprus, right?), and which has a very close link to the British Colonialists?

[Acikgoz]

Enosis, the right of the Cypriot people to be free from foreign rulers and to be united in a common state along with all other Greeks, was not something invented in the 60s because GCs were threatened by a minority, but something that was the cause of all Greeks for more than a century, when the Greek revolution started:

Need anyone say anymore - here is a teacher for us all. Make us a minority would you with these nutjobs around...

[Piratis]

Enosis, the right of the Cypriot people to be free from foreign rulers and to be united in a common state along with all other Greeks, was not something invented in the 60s because GCs were threatened by a minority, but something that was the cause of all Greeks for more than a century, when the Greek revolution started:

Need anyone say anymore - here is a teacher for us all. Make us a minority would you with these nutjobs around...

Who made you a minority are your ancestors who invaded our island and brought you here. The same like your minorities in mainland Greece and other Greek islands, Bulgaria and most of the other places you oppressed for centuries.

There is nothing wrong with being a minority. Minorities exist in all countries. But if you don't like it then feel free to go back to where you came from, where you (ethnic Turks) are the majority. You have every right to do this. What you don't have the right to do is to violate our human and democratic rights and perform ethnic cleansing against us, just because democracy doesn't suit you and want to maintain Ottoman style privileges on the expense of the majority. We are not living in the middle ages anymore.

[EricSeans]

Expatkiwi,

You have an advantage over many laymen in that you have studied the Cyprus conflict in depth. I too did this as part of my Masters course a few years ago. However, in doing any advanced study of this kind the importance of fieldwork is crucial to understanding what you have only covered in theory. In other words, you have to get out there and really get to know the people of Cyprus, their communities, their history, their leaders and their influences. You have to be able to put yourself inside their heads in order to draw the right conclusions.

You've revealed something of yourself so let me do the same by comparison. I had nearly 10 years association with Cyprus before my studies, so when the island aspect of my work came up I was able to get a position as an intern with the UN peacekeeping force and also had a good range of contacts, some of whom I had already interviewed as a journalist. In the course of getting to know Cyprus I met serving and former foreign ministers on both sides, civil servants, NGO officials, discovered a missing person's grave at the scene of a 1974 firefight, was taken prisoner by the Turkish army but most importantly spent long periods of time in the company of Cypriots and their families.

Some of these experiences I would not want again, but the depth and intimacy was vital to my making informed decisions and forming my opinions of the historical framework behind the Cyprus conflict. I initially saw the Turkish Cypriots as the underdogs (and in many ways they still are) but in reality there was a huge political background of which I was previously unaware, which is best summarised as bracketing the TCs with a victim mentality that always placed the blame on the Greek Cypriots but never themselves or the uncompromising ruler and occupier, Turkey.

Put simply, I think you have adopted a kind of "Stockholm syndrome" without actually spending much, if any, time with the hostage takers and those they have under their control and influence. You see a TC enclave as a safe haven from GC aggression and never a place where TCs were often herded unwillingly by their TMT masters - and woe betide those who challenged the neighbourhood "karasakal". The truth is found in the shades of grey and not the black and whites you have heard, by your own admission, from TC immigrants to the US. The further away from the homeland the more extreme the nationalists become and the taller their tales of hate and anomosity grow. You factor Enosis into your reasoning for TC emancipation without acknowledging this sentiment has been dead for decades. And you base your views on GC mentality on a few immigrant hotheads you have met in the States (see above).

Perhaps tellingly, you speak of Denktas with admiration and say your correspondence with him confirms your correct decision in supporting the Turkish position. This is surely a shallow observation to make of a man who countless TCs see as to blame for cementing their isolation with his UDI and being largely responsible for their current plight. Fan mail induces flattery but is nothing more than superficial. Your partial condemnation of the Turkification of the north is commendable but your support for partition - as if it has somehow stopped the GCs from making kebabs out of the TCs since 1974 - marks you out as someone who, perhaps unwittingly, does not have the best interests of the TCs at heart. And the reason for this IMHO is your physical and psychological distance from Cyprus and the Cypriots.