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Greek Movement Against Nationalism State its position...
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Following the rejection on 24 April 2004 of the Annan proposal by the majority of the Greek Cypriot community of the island of Cyprus, the Greek Movement against Nationalism feels that it must state its position on two issues: the security of the Turkish Cypriots and the lifting of the sanctions currently in force against them.

It is not the case that the Cypriot issue affects only the Greek or the Turkish Cypriot communities; we must remember that in both 1963 and 1974 Greece and Turkey found themselves on the brink of war over the same issue. The issue is of vital importance - given the political history of the island in the relatively recent past - to all those who seek peace, and to every responsible and decent Greek, Turkish or European citizen.

Opinion polls published earlier this year have demonstrated that some 33% of the Greek Cypriot community are not prepared to live peacefully and on equal terms with their Turkish neighbours. It would seem that feelings have changed little over the last 42 years: let us cite an extract from a speech delivered on 4 September 1962 by Archbishop Makarios in the village of Panayia: 'until this small Turkish community has been expelled - these representatives of the Turkish race, the dread enemy of all things Greek - then the work of the heroes of EOKA cannot be regarded as complete'.

The sworn enemy of the Turks, the fanatical nationalist churchman Makarios, attempted in 1963 to remove from the Cypriot constitution, without democratic mandate, thirteen articles which protected the rights of the island's Turkish minority. He set in motion the infamous Akritas plan, making use of three Greek Cypriot paramilitary organisations, their members heroes of EOKA, their leaders Lyssaridis, Georgatzis and Sampson.

We should remind the reader that one of these heroes of EOKA was none other than Lyssaridis, former personal physician to Makarios and now leader of a Greek Cypriot political party and one of the main moving forces behind yesterday's vote to reject the UN proposal.

After the failure of the Akritas plan, Lyssaridis and his accomplices resorted to the attempted genocide of the Turkish Cypriot civilian population. Classic examples of their tactics were seen in Omorfita, the suburb of Nicosia, with its 5,000 inhabitants of Turkish descent, and the village of Koumsal, Ammochostos. At Omorfita the executioners seized 157 Turks and transported them to Nicosia, where they were murdered. At Koumsal the horrific murder was perpetrated - in the family bathroom - of the three children and wife of the physician to the Turkish army corps on Cyprus, Major Ilhan.

After the failure of the attempted ethnic cleansing of the Turkish Cypriot population, the Greek Cypriot government confined the entire Turkish Cypriot community, for eleven years - from 1963 to 1974, within four large enclaves, representing just 4.3% of the surface of the island. During this period the Turkish civilian population was subjected to the most abject misery, deprived of the basic essentials of life, because of the sanctions imposed by the government of the nationalist zealot Makarios.

As if the Turkish Cypriots had not suffered enough over the eleven years imprisoned in their ghettos, in 1974 new misfortunes began: this was the year in which the Greek colonels staged their coup d'etat on the island, attempting to assassinate Makarios and appointing the notorious Sampson as president. Sampson made a radio broadcast in which he announced his intention to execute Makarios and drive the Turkish Cypriots into the sea, despite the fact that they remained imprisoned at the time within their four large enclaves. The intervention of Turkey, as one of the guaranteeing powers, brought an end to the sanctions imposed on the four enclaves and allowed the Turkish population to move to the northern part of the island, where they were safer from the deadly menace of the Greek Cypriot nationalists. But the hardships of sanctions did not end here for the Turkish Cypriots; they were now living in the northern part of the island, which was not recognised by any state except Turkey herself. The result of this isolation is that since 1963 the Turkish Cypriots have had no passports, and no freedom to engage in direct trade with the rest of the world. The sanctions also mean that they have no right to establish direct air links with the outside world and cannot therefore develop their tourist industry. The main reason why the Turkish Cypriots have voted in favour of the UN proposal is that they wish, at long last, to see an end to the sanctions imposed on them over the last 41 years by the Greek Cypriot nationalists.

Declaration by the Greek Movement against Nationalism

The European Union has no right to continue the inhuman embargo which has oppressed the unfortunate Turkish Cypriots for the last 43 years;

The only people who wish the sanctions to remain in force are the Greek Cypriot nationalists, who have expressed their wish in their rejection of the UN plan.

It is the duty of the European Union, and of the whole civilised world, to free the Turkish Cypriots from the inhuman social and economic isolation imposed on them by the Greek Cypriot nationalists. Their release must be achieved in whatever manner it takes, even if it requires recognising the Turkish Cypriot Republic of Northern Cyprus as a full member of the European Union.

Note: The photograph shows the armed Greek Cypriot hero, Sampson, in 1963, leading a triumphal procession into Nicosia of Turkish infants, women and old people from Omorfita - an act for which he was hailed by the Greek Cypriot press - to their lasting shame - as a hero and the liberator of Omorfita.

We cannot say whether Lyssaridis, the only surviving figure from the shadowy world of paramilitary politics at that time, was similarly acclaimed.



www.florina.org/html/2004/ 2004_antiethnikistiki_following_cyprus_rejection.html