Cyprus-Forum.com

[Natty]

I have to disagree with Pirates when he say's not a single TC was killed in Cyprus before the invasion, TC's had been killed, in the INTERcommunal fighting that occured, when similar numbers of TC's and GC's were killed, and thats a fact! Peace!

[Natty]

Hey on this boys' night out you should have a Souvla!!! lol

[Piratis]

I have to disagree with Pirates when he say's not a single TC was killed in Cyprus before the invasion

How can you disagree with something I never said?

Are you talking about this:

My friend in 1974 no single TC had died until the Turks decided to start their criminal invasion

Sure in the intercommunal conflict that started in 1963 and had mostly ended in 1968 some 100s of both TCs and GCs had died.

However in 1974 until the invasion had started no TC had been killed. Only GCs that were fighting to protect democracy were killed by the coupists.
Therefore the excuse that Turkey invaded Cyprus to protect the TCs is a totally lame one, and this is now proven beyond any doubt since Turkey continues her illegal occupation 32 years after the "danger" for the TCs was over.

[Natty]

Sorry Pirates, I didn't read the question correctly...I completely agree with you, it's obvious what Turkey's real intentions are!

Peace!

[rotate]

If the Brits had had a handle on this situation back in 1974, rather than had a waste of space PM Edward Heath who dithered because IRA bombs were going off in London, andsent the troops in big time like the Falklands. the EOPKA Bs would have been rounded up for trials, UN soldiers sent into all areas with armoured support, Turkey warned off, Greek military sent packing and 32 years later, a united Cyprus in the EU and everybody hunky dory under the watchful eye of the Sovereign bases.

Colonialism? Maybe, but it sounds a lot better than the pile of poo you've got now.

rawk

Edward Heath might have been many things, but he was not British Prime Minister at the time of the coup or the 'Presidency' of Nicos Samson. Harold Wison was PM albeit with a minority government and a second 1974 general election on the horizon in October in which the labour government managed to obtain a parlimentry majority of just three seats. James Callaghan was Minister of Defence and did put RAF fighter aircraft into the air to challenge the Turkish Air force only to be shot down himself after repeated threats of US troop withdrawals from western europe by the White House leaving the door open for the Soviet expansion of their empire into europe. Remember only six years before the the Soviets had reasserted their will in Czechoslovakia during the Prague spring government of Alexander Dubceck (apologies for spelling).
In all there were eighteen bombings carried out in the UK that year by the provisional IRA, worst was the bombing of the Birmingham pubs in which nineteen people were killed and for which four men were wrongfully imprisioned.
Prime Minister Thatchers persuit of the Falklands war and faux Churchillian glory was carried out with a healthy parlimentry majority and the agreement of the opposition parties. That this war suited the political leaderships of Argentina and Britain should not be overlooked, Galliteri being unpopular in Argentina and support for Thatcher in the UK at that time falling. Theres nothing like an external common enemy for boosting political ratings as Prime Minister Ecevit of Turkey had already discovered with the invasion of Cyprus.
The use of British troops to round up and most probably engage (kill) EOKA B members to restore the government of President Makarios may or may not have been generally welcomed by the Cypriots, who's to say? at best it might have been a short but bloody action, at worst it could have led to a long protracted campaign reminiscent of the period 55/59, by 57 the British had already decided that the administration of Cyprus was impractical so the lessons of past experience were not forgotten. As for sending the Greek and Turkish military packing, uppermost in British military thinking would have been that this most probably would have seen the demise of NATO (love it or hate it) in the region leading to Soviet dominence. As the saying goes in Cyprus the Big fish eat the Little fish and what happened here in Cyprus is a good example, with Britain and NATO prepared to sacrifice Cyprus much in the same way that the US would sacrifice western europe including Britain to ensure its own survival.

Political/Military Colonialism we've already rejected as a pile of Poo as it creates injustice and enemity that lasts for generations with victims amongst both the colonised and the colonisers. Plus its expensive
if theres nothing to loot and requires vast conscript armies who would much rather be at home than dying in some god forsaken wilderness in the name of Empire. The exception of course being Afghanistan and Iraq but then these colonisations are being carried out in the name of 'Freedom and Democracy' which probably has already been registered as an oil or weapons company brand name.

Harold Wilson may have let me and the Cypriots down in Cyprus, although this was more than made up for by the interest shown by the Greeks and the Turks! but by refusing to bow to US pressure to send me and my generation off to die in Vietnam he undoubtedly did get a handle on that situation.

[rotate]

If the Brits had had a handle on this situation back in 1974, rather than had a waste of space PM Edward Heath who dithered because IRA bombs were going off in London, andsent the troops in big time like the Falklands. the EOPKA Bs would have been rounded up for trials, UN soldiers sent into all areas with armoured support, Turkey warned off, Greek military sent packing and 32 years later, a united Cyprus in the EU and everybody hunky dory under the watchful eye of the Sovereign bases.

Colonialism? Maybe, but it sounds a lot better than the pile of poo you've got now.

rawk

Edward Heath might have been many things, but he was not British Prime Minister at the time of the coup or the 'Presidency' of Nicos Samson. Harold Wison was PM albeit with a minority government and a second 1974 general election on the horizon in October in which the labour government managed to obtain a parlimentry majority of just three seats. James Callaghan was Minister of Defence and did put RAF fighter aircraft into the air to challenge the Turkish Air force only to be shot down himself after repeated threats of US troop withdrawals from western europe by the White House leaving the door open for the Soviet expansion of their empire into europe. Remember only six years before the the Soviets had reasserted their will in Czechoslovakia during the Prague spring government of Alexander Dubceck (apologies for spelling).
In all there were eighteen bombings carried out in the UK that year by the provisional IRA, worst was the bombing of the Birmingham pubs in which nineteen people were killed and for which four men were wrongfully imprisioned.
Prime Minister Thatchers persuit of the Falklands war and faux Churchillian glory was carried out with a healthy parlimentry majority and the agreement of the opposition parties. That this war suited the political leaderships of Argentina and Britain should not be overlooked, Galliteri being unpopular in Argentina and support for Thatcher in the UK at that time falling. Theres nothing like an external common enemy for boosting political ratings as Prime Minister Ecevit of Turkey had already discovered with the invasion of Cyprus.
The use of British troops to round up and most probably engage (kill) EOKA B members to restore the government of President Makarios may or may not have been generally welcomed by the Cypriots, who's to say? at best it might have been a short but bloody action, at worst it could have led to a long protracted campaign reminiscent of the period 55/59, by 57 the British had already decided that the administration of Cyprus was impractical so the lessons of past experience were not forgotten. As for sending the Greek and Turkish military packing, uppermost in British military thinking would have been that this most probably would have seen the demise of NATO (love it or hate it) in the region leading to Soviet dominence. As the saying goes in Cyprus the Big fish eat the Little fish and what happened here in Cyprus is a good example, with Britain and NATO prepared to sacrifice Cyprus much in the same way that the US would sacrifice western europe including Britain to ensure its own survival.

Political/Military Colonialism we've already rejected as a pile of Poo as it creates injustice and enemity that lasts for generations with victims amongst both the colonised and the colonisers. Plus its expensive
if theres nothing to loot and requires vast conscript armies who would much rather be at home than dying in some god forsaken wilderness in the name of Empire. The exception of course being Afghanistan and Iraq but then these colonisations are being carried out in the name of 'Freedom and Democracy' which probably has already been registered as an oil or weapons company brand name.

Harold Wilson may have let me and the Cypriots down in Cyprus, although this was more than made up for by the interest shown by the Greeks and the Turks! but by refusing to bow to US pressure to send me and my generation off to die in Vietnam he undoubtedly did get a handle on that situation.

Apologies, just a couple of corrections,

James Callaghan was British Foreign Secretary not Defence Minister as I previously stated, his abortive RAF fighter intervention took place to dissuade the Turkish Military from moving on Nicosia (civil) Airport.

The eighteen UK Provisional IRA bombings refer only to those that took place on the UK mainland, the figure does not include the numerous bombings that took place in Northern Island.

Incidently, Dennis Healy a popular Labour Party minister and a former WW2 Anzio Army Beach Master who was scathing in his critiscism of the coup the Turkish invasion and the policy of UK/US governments towards Cyprus was quickly and quietly side lined. As Prime Minister, Harold Wilson is believed to have received the attention of MI5 and 'other security services', the reasons remaining obscure to the present day.