Cyprus-Forum.com

[Oracle]

PIPES: Turkey in Cyprus vs. Israel in Gaza

Ankara's recent condemnation of Jerusalem is hypocritical

By Daniel Pipes

In light of Ankara's recent criticism of what it calls Israel's "open-air jail" in Gaza, today's date, which marks the anniversary of Turkey's invasion of Cyprus, has special relevance.

Turkish policy toward Israel, historically warm and only a decade ago approaching full alliance, has cooled since Islamists took power in Ankara in 2002. Their hostility became explicit in January 2009, during the Israeli-Hamas war. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan grandly condemned Israeli policies as "perpetrating inhuman actions which would bring it to self-destruction" and even invoked God ("Allah will ... punish those who transgress the rights of innocents"). His wife, Emine Erdogan, hyperbolically condemned Israeli actions as so awful they "cannot be expressed in words."

Their verbal assaults augured a further hostility that included insulting the Israeli president, helping sponsor the "Freedom Flotilla" and recalling the Turkish ambassador.

This Turkish rage prompts a question: Is Israel in Gaza really worse than Turkey in Cyprus? A comparison finds this hardly to be so. Consider some contrasts:

c Turkey's invasion of July-August 1974 involved the use of napalm and "spread terror" among Cypriot Greek villagers, according to Minority Rights Group International. In contrast, Israel's "fierce battle" to take Gaza relied on only conventional weapons and entailed virtually no civilian casualties.

c The subsequent occupation of 37 percent of the island amounted to a "forced ethnic cleansing," William Mallinson said in a just-published monograph from the University of Minnesota. In contrast, if one wishes to accuse the Israeli authorities of ethnic cleansing in Gaza, it was against their own people, the Jews, in 2005.

c The Turkish government has sponsored what Mr. Mallinson calls "a systematic policy of colonization" on formerly Greek lands in Northern Cyprus. Turkish Cypriots in 1973 totaled about 120,000 people; since then, more than 160,000 citizens of the Republic of Turkey have been settled in their lands. Not a single Israeli community remains in Gaza.

c Ankara runs its occupied zone so tightly that, in the words of Bulent Akarcali, a senior Turkish politician, "Northern Cyprus is governed like a province of Turkey." An enemy of Israel, Hamas, rules in Gaza.

c The Turks set up a pretend-autonomous structure called the "Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus." Gazans enjoy real autonomy.

c A wall through the island keeps peaceable Greeks out of Northern Cyprus. Israel's wall excludes Palestinian terrorists.


And then there is the ghost town of Famagusta, where Turkish actions parallel those of Syria under the thuggish Assads. After the Turkish air force bombed the Cypriot port city, Turkish forces moved in to seize it, thereby prompting the entire Greek population (fearing a massacre) to flee. Turkish troops immediately fenced off the central part of the town, called Varosha, and prohibited anyone from living there.

As this crumbling Greek town is reclaimed by nature, it has become a bizarre time capsule from 1974. Steven Plaut of Haifa University visited and reports: "Nothing has changed. ... It is said that the car distributorships in the ghost town even today are stocked with vintage 1974 models. For years after the rape of Famagusta, people told of seeing light bulbs still burning in the windows of the abandoned buildings."

Curiously, another Levantine ghost town also dates from the summer of 1974. Just 24 days before the Turkish invasion of Cyprus, Israeli troops evacuated the border town of Quneitra, handing it over to the Syrian authorities. Hafez Assad chose, for political reasons too, not to let anyone live in it. Decades later, it too remains empty, a hostage to bellicosity.

Mr. Erdogan claims that Turkish troops are not occupying Northern Cyprus but are there in "Turkey's capacity as a guarantor power," whatever that means. The outside world, however, is not fooled. While Elvis Costello recently pulled out of a concert in Tel Aviv to protest the "suffering of the innocent [Palestinians]," Jennifer Lopez canceled a concert in Northern Cyprus to protest "human rights abuse" there.

In brief, Northern Cyprus shares features with Syria and resembles an "open-air jail" more than Gaza does. How rich that a hypocritical Ankara preens its moral plumage about Gaza even as it runs a zone significantly more offensive. Instead of meddling in Gaza, Turkish leaders should close the illegal and disruptive occupation that for decades has tragically divided Cyprus.

Daniel Pipes is director of the Middle East Forum and a visiting fellow at Stanford's Hoover Institution.


© Copyright 2010 The Washington Times

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/201 ... za/?page=1

[Vincehugo]

Far-Right vs. Far-Right: The American Conservative Union Dismisses Daniel Pipes as a “Crackpot”
1st July 2010

Daniel Pipes Isn’t a “Birther,” He’s a “Converter”
by Daniel McCarthy | The American Conservative | June 10th, 2010

A writer recently pitched a parody of Daniel Pipes to TAC. Trouble is, Pipes is already far beyond parody — no satirist could dream of a paranoid neocon caricature as ridiculous as Pipes. See, for example, this page in which he obsesses over the idea that Prince Charles is a crypto-Muslim. Pipes’s crackpot speculation began on Nov. 9, 2003 and continues to this very day. The theory is supported by such evidence as Charles, a noted student of architecture, taking “keen interest in studying various sections at the [Sultan Qaboos] mosque, including the main prayer hall.” How could one draw any conclusion other than that the Prince of Wales has embraced Mecca?

Particularly rich is that Pipes will cite an unremarkable incident like the one above, acknowledge that it is not, in fact, “evidence that the Heir to the British Throne has changed religions,” but then insinuate that it really is, since “his actions most certainly would be consistent with such a move.” And from there the madness spirals on.

http://www.antifascistencyclopedia.com/ ... a-crackpot

[Oracle]

Far-Right vs. Far-Right: The American Conservative Union Dismisses Daniel Pipes as a “Crackpot”
1st July 2010

Daniel Pipes Isn’t a “Birther,” He’s a “Converter”
by Daniel McCarthy | The American Conservative | June 10th, 2010

A writer recently pitched a parody of Daniel Pipes to TAC. Trouble is, Pipes is already far beyond parody — no satirist could dream of a paranoid neocon caricature as ridiculous as Pipes. See, for example, this page in which he obsesses over the idea that Prince Charles is a crypto-Muslim. Pipes’s crackpot speculation began on Nov. 9, 2003 and continues to this very day. The theory is supported by such evidence as Charles, a noted student of architecture, taking “keen interest in studying various sections at the [Sultan Qaboos] mosque, including the main prayer hall.” How could one draw any conclusion other than that the Prince of Wales has embraced Mecca?

Particularly rich is that Pipes will cite an unremarkable incident like the one above, acknowledge that it is not, in fact, “evidence that the Heir to the British Throne has changed religions,” but then insinuate that it really is, since “his actions most certainly would be consistent with such a move.” And from there the madness spirals on.

http://www.antifascistencyclopedia.com/ ... a-crackpot

So the Washington Times publishes the articles of "crackpots", huh? And you, who lives in a rogue state, in stolen property, desperately publishing "rational" posts on CF to encourage GCs to give up their claims to their properties so that you can breathe easy that you won't suffer the "Orams' Curse", be turfed out and your assets seized by legitimate and Court-approved say-so of GCs; you expect us to sympathise and agree with your support of some opinion on the mentality of someone who criticizes Turkey?

You really are desperate. Maybe your coffee supplies are getting low!

[Gasman]

The word 'worst' appears only in your (usual) hysterical title.

The word 'worse' appears in the article couched in a question:

This Turkish rage prompts a question: Is Israel in Gaza really worse than Turkey in Cyprus? A comparison finds this hardly to be so. Consider some contrasts:

The usual misquote from you to fit in one of your racist rants.

[Oracle]

The word 'worst' appears only in your (usual) hysterical title.

The word 'worse' appears in the article couched in a question:

This Turkish rage prompts a question: Is Israel in Gaza really worse than Turkey in Cyprus? A comparison finds this hardly to be so. Consider some contrasts:

The usual misquote from you to fit in one of your racist rants.

Since Israel is reputed as a paradigm of what is "bad": and it is being compared as to whether it is worse than Turkey; then, after the assessment is made, the "winner" is announced as "the worst"! It wasn't a "quote" from the article, it was a conclusion. Or, does yours differ?

I'm sure it won't tarnish your blind love of Turkey and all things nasty, one iota!

[Paphitis]

The Washington Times is a quality rag. There is no doubt in my view.

What is important to understand is that Geo politics are never static! It changes over time. Yesterday's animosities disappear and past alliances turn to betrayal as the interests of the powerful change.

It is not our position to seek justice, but to serve the interests of Cyprus, even if that means we form Strategic alliances with Israel itself in the hope that we can reverse some of the damage.

[Acikgoz]

Goebbel's minion... nice spot G.

What beggars belief is the shortsightedness of the action. Bear with me as I try to explain.
Israel's concern and the J lobby groups are working to bring the US to remove support from Erdogan (implicit as the leader of Turkey who has gone down a path that has changed the network of relations in the Middle East). They are banking on change in Turkish government that is Israel friendly - without US backing the electorate will deem Mr E's foreign policy may hurt Turkey in the long run.
They want CHP back in power, or at least a weakened AKP viia a coalition that cannot so easily ride roughshod over safe tried and tested Turkish policies.
After AKP (Mr E's party), CHP and MHP are the 2 strongest parties, both on the Cyprus issue are much less flexible than Mr E. In their efforts, Israel will either neutralise Turkey's foreign policy as it relates to its position, or begin to rebuild its relationship.
If push comes to shove, the Middle East (as with Europe) would be trumped by Cyprus in the minds of the electorate who are no more trusting of Arabs than they are of the EU block.
Unification desiring Cypriots should fear the weakening of Mr E much more than they realise.

[Gasman]

Washington Times admits to existing to promote Judeo-Christian values and is often heavily criticised for its bias.

The Washington Times is a mouthpiece for the ultra conservative Republican right, unquestioning supporters of Israel's Likud government. The newspaper is owned by Sun Myung Moon, originally a native of North Korea and head of the Unification Church, whose ultra-right leanings make him a ready ally for Netanyahu. Whether or not Netanyahu is personally acquainted with Moon is unclear, though there is no doubt that he has established close friendships with several staff members on The Washington Times, whose editorial policy is rabidly anti-Arab, anti-Muslim and pro-Israel.

[Paphitis]

Every dam newspaper has a slant and a slight bias.

The US is predominately a Christian nation and there is a massive and influential Jewish community! So what?

The rag is still reputable!

[Gasman]

slight bias

?

I can only suggest you look up Washington Times bias yourself to see how 'slight' it is.