by bakala » Mon Mar 13, 2006 3:15 pm
part of a report by ICG
international Crisis Group
Challenging a basic assumption of the Greek Cypriot thesis that the Cyprus problem dated back to 1974 when Turkey sent its troops to the island in the wake of a coup bysupporters of annexation of the island to Greece, the report also said the period of ethnic disturbance on the island before 1974 was not given due regard, when Turkish Cypriots were pushed into enclaves under an ethnic cleansing campaign.
"In Greek Cypriot historiography, the period between 1963 and 1974 is completely ignored, giving an impression that the ethnic communities coexisted harmoniously," it said.
According to the report, it is time for the European Union, the United Nations and the United States to "do everything possible to reduce the isolation of the Turkish Cypriots, as they promised in April 2004 most urgently, by improving and implementing the EU's proposals for trade with the north