Cyprus-Forum.com

[Kartal_Aetos]

ermm...where did i mention that period?

[Piratis]

ermm...where did i mention that period?

You said:

no, we lived peacefully until EOKA B decided it was a good time for ENOSIS

I condmen the actions of the terrorist EOKA B. But saying that everything was peaceful until EOKA B appeared is incorrect. The problems in Cyprus started long long before that.

[Kikapu]

Throughout the period of Venetian rule, Ottoman Turks raided and attacked at will. In 1489, the first year of Venetian control, Turks attacked the Karpas Peninsula, pillaging and taking captives to be sold into slavery. In 1539 the Turkish fleet attacked and destroyed Limassol. Fearing the ever-expanding Ottoman Empire, the Venetians had fortified Famagusta, Nicosia, and Kyrenia, but most other cities were easy prey.

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. Word of the massacre spread, and a few days later Mustafa took Kyrenia without having to fire a shot. Famagusta, however, resisted and put up a heroic defense that lasted from September 1570 until August 1571.

*****I Don't Like History, Because There's No Future In It.******

I think some of you need to do some "frog leaping jump" from the past, into the present, then to the future.

Lets leave the dead from the past, to rest in peace.!!

[Kartal_Aetos]

oh i didnt realise we were going back to that post...ok, so what happend was once makarios suggested changes to the RoC constitution that cancelled the parts that were there to protect the TC's, intercommunal fighting broke out...BUT it was because Archbishop Makarios was the head of the enosis campaign...so ofcourse the TC's are not going to let the head of the enosis campaign remove parts of the constitution which protected them...so in a way, yes, it was the EOKA B that cited the fighting....

[Kartal_Aetos]

taken from news.bbc.co.uk:

1955 - Greek Cypriots begin guerrilla war against British rule. The guerrilla movement, the National Organisation of Cypriot Combatants (EOKA), wanted enosis (unification) with Greece.

1956 - Archbishop Makarios, head of enosis campaign, deported to the Seychelles.

1959 - Archbishop Makarios returns and is elected president.

[Piratis]

*****I Don't Like History, Because There's No Future In It.******

I think some of you need to do some "frog leaping jump" from the past, into the present, then to the future.

Lets leave the dead from the past, to rest in peace.!!

I could not agree more!

However when some people are using the 1% of the past trying to blame GCs and excuse illegalities of today, shouldn't I remind them of the rest 99% they seem to forget?

[Piratis]

oh i didnt realise we were going back to that post...ok, so what happend was once makarios suggested changes to the RoC constitution that cancelled the parts that were there to protect the TC's, intercommunal fighting broke out...BUT it was because Archbishop Makarios was the head of the enosis campaign...so ofcourse the TC's are not going to let the head of the enosis campaign remove parts of the constitution which protected them...so in a way, yes, it was the EOKA B that cited the fighting....

1) Makarios had proposed changes, he didn't enforce them. In fact those changes were never implemented and they remain unchanged until today.

2) Don't confuse Makarios with EOKA B. EOKA B was the opposite of Makarios and they in fact tried to kill him.

3) You said that Makarios tried to cancel the parts that protected the TCs. This is not the case. Makarios proposed changes that would remove unfair parameters. For example that the 18% of TCs should have 30% of governmental jobs. This means that a TC would have twice as much chances of becoming a governmental employee than a GC. In a country that almost everybody wants to become an employee in the government do you find that parameter fair? And how would changing that 30% to 18% (make it proportional) would harm the TCs?

[Kikapu]

*****I Don't Like History, Because There's No Future In It.******

I think some of you need to do some "frog leaping jump" from the past, into the present, then to the future.

Lets leave the dead from the past, to rest in peace.!!

I could not agree more!

However when some people are using the 1% of the past trying to blame GCs and excuse illegalities of today, shouldn't I remind them of the rest 99% they seem to forget?

Trust me Piratis, there's plenty of blame to go around since 1960.

Anything before 1960, just adds more excuses & justification to what has happened since 1960.

[Kartal_Aetos]

ok...what percentage does restoration of the Orthodox church and reinstatement of the archbishop as the voice of the greek people add up to? i remember that part

here's what the wikipedia gives as the history of cyprus...please dont oppose this aswell

Post-classical and modern Cyprus
Cyprus became part of the Byzantine Empire after the partitioning of the Roman Empire in AD 395, and remained so for almost 800 years, though with brief period of Arab domination and influence.

After the rule of the rebellious Byzantine Emperor Isaac Comnenus, King Richard I of England captured the island in 1191 during the Third Crusade. On May 6, 1191, Richard's fleet arrived in the port of Lemesos and took the city. When Isaac arrived to stop the Crusaders he discovered he was too late and retired to Kolossi. Richard called Isaac to negotiations but Isaac broke his oath of hospitality and started demanding Richard's departure. Richard ordered his cavalry to follow him in a battle against Isaac's army in Tremetusia. The few Roman Catholics of the island joined Richard's army and so did the island's nobles who were dissatisfied with Isaac's seven years of tyrannical rule. Though Isaac and his men fought bravely, Richard's army was bigger and better equipped, assuring his victory. Isaac continued to resist from the castles of Pentadactylos but after the siege of his castle of Kantara he finally surrendered. In a fit of sardonic irony, Richard had Isaac confined with silver chains, scrupulously abiding by a previous promise that he would not place Isaac in irons should he be taken prisoner. Richard became the new ruler of Cyprus, gaining for the Crusade a major supply base that was not under immediate threat from the Turks as was Tyre. Richard looted the island and massacred those trying to resist him. He and most of his army left Cyprus for the Holy Land early in June. In his absence Cyprus would be governed by Richard Camville.

Guy of Lusignan purchased the island from Richard in 1192 compensated for the loss of his kingdom by purchasing Cyprus from the Templars. The Republic of Venice took control in 1489 after the death of the last Lusignan Queen, after which the Ottoman Empire conquered the Island in 1571.

Ottoman rule brought about two radical results in the history of the island. For the first time since the Phoenicians in the 9th century BC, a new population group appeared, the Turks. The Ottoman Empire gave timars--land grants--to soldiers under the condition that they and their families would stay there permanently. During the 17th century the Turkish population grew rapidly. Most of the Turks who had settled on the island during the three centuries of Ottoman rule remained when control of Cyprus--although not sovereignty--was ceded to Britain in 1878. Many, however, left for Turkey during the 1920s. By 1970, ethnic Turks represented 18% of the total population of the island, with ethnic Greeks representing the remainder. The distinction between the two groups was by religion and language.

The second important result of the Ottoman conquest benefited the Greek peasants who no longer remained serfs of the land they were cultivating. Now they could acquire it against payment, thus becoming owners of it. The Ottomans also applied the millet system to Cyprus, which allowed religious authorities to govern their own non-Muslim minorities. This system reinforced the position of the Orthodox Church and the cohesion of the ethnic Greek population. Gradually the Archbishop of Cyprus became not only religious but ethnic leader as well. In this way the Church undertook the task of the guardian of Greek cultural legacy which is partly carried on even now, although diminished after independence.

The heavy taxes and the abuses against the population on the part of the Ottoman rulers in the early years after the Ottoman conquest gave rise to opposition, following which the Sultan ordered the Governor (the "Kadi") and the Treasurer to govern with justice. While the Sultan's orders indicated his goodwill towards the local population, the local administration proved indifferent, arbitrary and often corrupt, along with imposing a heavy burden of taxes. The inhabitants of Cyprus, disappointed at the mismanagement of Ottoman governors, soon turned to Western Europe in search for help for liberation.

Between 1572 and 1668 AD about 28 bloody uprisings took place on the island and in many of these both Greeks and Turk peasants took part. But all of them ended in failure.

About 1660 AD, in order to eliminate the mismanagement of the Ottoman administration, the Sultan recognised the Archbishop and the Bishops as "the protectors of people" and the representatives of the Sultan. In 1670 AD, Cyprus ceased to be a "pasaliki" for the Ottoman Empire and came under the jurisdiction of the Admiral of the Ottoman fleet. In his turn, the Admiral sent an officer to govern in his place.

In 1703 AD Cyprus came under the jurisdiction of the Grand Vizier (Anthony Petane) who sent to the island a military and civil administrator. The title and function of this officer were awarded to the person who could raise the highest revenues in exchange. As a result, even heavier taxation was imposed. About 1760 AD the situation in Cyprus was intolerable. A terrible epidemic of plague, bad crops and earthquakes, drove many Cypriots to emigrate. In addition, what was worse for the Greeks and Turks of the island, the newly- appointed Pasha, doubled the taxes in 1764 AD. In the end Chil Osman and 18 of his friends were killed by Greek and Turkish Cypriots alike but the two ethnic elements had to pay a huge sum of money to the Sultan and the families of the victims. The latter did not accept this judgement and broke into an open rebellion, having Khalil Agha, the commander of the guard of the castle of Kyrenia, as their leader. Finally the uprising was crushed and Khalil Agha was beheaded.

Cyprus was placed under British control on 4 June 1878 as a result of the Cyprus Convention, which granted control of the island to Britain in return for British support of the Ottoman Empire in the Russian-Turkish War.

Famagusta harbour was completed in June 1906; by this time the island was a strategic naval outpost for the British Empire, shoring up influence over the Eastern Mediterranean and Suez Canal, the crucial main route to India.

Cyprus was formally annexed by the United Kingdom in 1913 in the run-up to the First World War. Many Cypriots, now British subjects, signed up to fight in the British Army, in this and in the Second World War.

During the 1900s and 1950s, Cypriots began to demand union with Greece. In 1950, over 95% of the population (including both Greek and Turkish Cypriots)(please provide proof of numbers) voted in a referendum in support of annexation, while the British sought to quell any movement which could threaten their possession of the island. In 1955 the struggle against British rule erupted with the foundation of EOKA, which lasted until 1959.

Independence was attained in 1960 after exhaustive negotiations between the United Kingdom, as the colonial power, and Greece and Turkey, the cultural 'motherlands' for two of the communities on Cyprus. The UK ceded the island under a constitution allocating government posts and public offices by ethnic quota, but retained two small Sovereign Base Areas.The constitution, that was signed by both sides was later reneiged on by the first Greek Cypriot President leader Archbishop Makarios III, his Vice President was the leading Turkish Cypriot politician Dr Fazıl Küçük.

Post-independence

During the 1960s, Makarios and Küçük pursued a non-aligned foreign policy, cultivating good relations with Britain, Greece and Turkey, and taking a leading role in developing the Non-Aligned Movement.

Tension began in 1963 when Makarios proposed thirteen amendments to the constitution of the Republic of Cyprus. Turkish Cypriots were opposed to the proposal since it removed some of the rights they received as part of the 1960 settlement. On 21 December 1963, clashes between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots erupted, with Greek Cypriot paramilitaries slaughtering hundreds of Turkish Cypriots.

Between 1963 and 1974 sporadic violence erupted with both Greek and Turkish Cypriots accusing the other of committing atrocities. By 1974 thousands of Turkish Cypriots were living in enclaves, enduring poor living conditions in exchange for security from violent attacks, while Greek Cypriots took over the properties that Turkish Cyrpiots had to leave behind.

By 1974, dissatisfaction among Greek nationalist right-wing elements in favour of the long-term goal of Enosis precipitated a coup d'etat against President Makarios which was sponsored by the military government of Greece and led by the Cypriot National Guard. The new regime replaced Makarios with Nikos Giorgiades Sampson as president, and Bishop Gennadios as head of the Cypriot Orthodox Church. Seven days after these events, and after the coup d'etat had already failed, Turkey intervened militarilly in Cyprus by sea and air on 20 July 1974. At the time Turkey claimed it was invading to uphold its obligation under the 1960 Treaty of Guarantee. Talks in Geneva involving Greece, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the two Cypriot factions failed in mid-August, and Turkish forces subsequently moved from the previous cease-fire lines to gain control of 37% of the island's territory. During the invasion, over 160,000 Greek Cypriots were displaced from their home land, while Turkish forces killed several thousand Greek Cypriots captured in the occupied areas. While this was happening, several hundred Turkish Cypriots in the south were killed at the hands of Greek Cypriot paramilitaries. As of today, there are still thousands of Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots unaccounted for. The events of the summer of 1974 have dominated Cypriot politics ever since and have been a major point of contention between Greece and Turkey.

Since 1974, there have been continual efforts to negotiate a settlement, which met with varying levels of hostility from either side. Since 18% of the population was left in control of 37% of the territory, including some of the most fertile and productive land, the Turkish government arranged an influx of settlers from Turkey whose exact numbers are disputed, but believed to be in the range of over 100,000. Turkey counters that the Turkish Cypriots - before 1963 - owned and farmed 33% of Cypriot land before being forced into enclaves, thus the take-over of one-third of Cyprus was seen as compensating the Turkish Cypriots for their lost land.

Turkish Cypriots proclaimed a separate state under Rauf Denktaş on November 15, 1983. The UN Security Council, in its Resolution 541 of November 18, 1983, declared the action illegal and called for withdrawal. Turkey is the only country to date that recognises the administration on the Northern third of Cyprus (known as the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. Turkey does not recognise the Republic of Cyprus's authority over the whole island, and refers to it as the Greek Cypriot administration.

Cyprus joined the European Union as a full member in May 2004. Although it was the island as a whole which joined (theoretically including the northern areas) the Acquis communautaire applies only to those (Greek) areas under the control of the Republic of Cyprus.

Since the invasion, the south part of Cyprus has greatly grown economically, and enjoys a high standard of living. The north maintains a lower standard of living due to heavy dependence on Turkey on all aspects of economic activity as a result of a punitive embargo placed upon it by the Republic of Cyprus.


so, was the other 99% TCs mistreating GCs?

[Piratis]

Trust me Piratis, there's plenty of blame to go around since 1960.

Anything before 1960, just adds more excuses & justification to what has happened since 1960.

Oh I see. So you want to go to the past, only you want to go as far as it is needed to blame the GCs for the Turkish crimes that continue until today.

Therefore according to Kikapu: Everything that happened before that time that suits the Turkish propaganda should be forgottern. Everything that happened after the time that suits the Turkish propaganda is excused.

Therefore blame the GCs and forget the crimes of the Turks.