RESOLUTION ADOPTED BY THE
LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF THE
TURKISH FEDERATED STATE OF KIBRIS ON
17 JUNE 1983

 

The Turkish People of Cyprus are one of the co-founder partners of the bi-communal Republic of Cyprus established in 1960.

            When the colonial regime ended in the island, sovereignty was not transferred exclusively to one of the two communities but to both of them conjointly as co-founder partners of the Republic.

            The Turkish Cypriot people, whose representatives signed all documents relating to the establishment of the independent Republic of Cyprus, have equal rights and status in the independence and sovereignty of the bi-communal State.

            The Turkish People of Cyprus who are determined to defend their vested rights in the independence and sovereignty of Cyprus, have never considered getting rid of one colonial rule in order to subjugate themselves to another one and they  have valiantly defended their right to live as an independent and free people against Enosis adherents and terrorism by EOKA, who aimed at destroying their independence.

            All the world should know that the Turkish people of Cyprus have never accepted, and will never accept, to come under the rule of Greece of the Greek Cypriots. Cyprus has never belonged, and will never belong to Greece. The Turks of Cyprus have never bowed, and will never bow to Greek domination. The Greek Cypriot Administration has never had, and will never bow to Greek domination. The Greek Cypriot Administration has never had, and never have, the right to speak for and on behalf of the Turkish Cypriot people.

            Although the Cyprus problem arose as a result of the attempts of the Greek Cypriot leaders to destroy the basic rights and security of the Turkish Cypriot community; preparation of plans for annihilating the Turkish Cypriots; armed attacks; the clandestine and illegal infiltration into the island of 20,000 Greek troops with a view to bringing about Enosis (the union of Cyprus with Greece) through brute force and armed attacks and, finally, the staging of a coup d’etat, with the collusion of the Administration in Greece and criminal organizations in Cyprus, which coup was described by Makarios himself as ‘an invasion by Greece’, the Greek Cypriot Administration continues to distort realities by alleging that the Cyprus problem arose as a result of the Turkish Peace Operation.

            At a time when the Turkish People of Cyprus have been making sincere and constructive efforts for the establishment of an independent, non-aligned, bi-communal, and bi-zonal Federal state in Cyprus, it has been established that the Greek and Greek Cypriot leaders:

            have acted in a manner calculated to undermine the Intercommunal Talks, which are being held on the basis of equality, and to destroy mutual trust while some of them have been trying to revive Enosis;

            have been abandoning the negotiations and taking the problem to fora where they have usurped the right of say of the Turkish Cypriot people;

            have been putting forward views which are incompatible with the notion of a bi-zonal, bi-communal federation, which they had previously officially accepted;

            disregarding the fact that the Turkish Cypriot people, who have equal rights, participate in the intercommunal talks on basis of equality, they have been projecting the Cyprus problem as a problem of ‘majority-minority’ which contradicts the concept of federalism;

            have been following in a line disregarding the very existence and security of the Turkish Cypriot people well knowing that full security of the Turkish Cypriots form one of the fundamental elements and objectives of the intercommunal talks;

            are trying to obstruct the successful conclusion of the intercommunal talks by disregarding the agreements reached by the leaders of the two national communities at Summit Meetings in the presence of the UN Secretary-General;

            are obstructing the initiatives made in good-will directed at the reconciliation of the two national communities within the framework of a bi-zonal Federal Republic;

            while the intercommunal talks were continuing, have had the temerity to send Greek Cypriots (who in law and in fact have no mandate to represent the Turkish Cypriot people in any manner whatsoever) as ‘representative of Cyprus’ to the Consultative Assembly of the Council of Europe in whole deliberations Cyprus has not participated in the past 19 years because there does not exist a Cyprus Parliament in which both national communities are represented since 1963;

            unable to impose their will on the Turkish People of Cyprus through armed attacks, annihilation plans and inhuman oppression, have tried to achieve their aims by usurping the right of equal say of the Turkish Cypriot people, by extracting one-sided resolutions at international fora where the Turkish Cypriot people are not represented.

            In spite of all the sufferings, and all past experiences, it seems that the Greek Cypriot leaders have not given up their expansionist aims and futile dreams of Enosis, based on the Megali Idea; and, determined to pursue their policy and desire of domination, are bent upon continuing their discriminatory and hostile attitude, in utter denial of the basic rights of the Turkish people of Cyprus in the political and economic fields.

            It is obvious that an agreement or lasting solution between two national communities is made difficult if one of these communities benefits from all the facilities and rights accorded by the State, while the other, an equal co-founder of the State and its sovereignty, is deprived of these facilities and rights by force of arms and inhuman discrimination.

            The Turkish people of Cyprus have felt the necessity of proceeding, step by step in administering themselves in order to safeguard their existence and basic rights, against the machinations of those who, since 1963, have destroyed the Republic of Cyprus established in partnership, and prevented the Turks by Cyprus, by force of arms, from taking part in the Legislative, Administrative and Judicial organs of the State and in the Public Services, as well as depriving them of their security of life, fundamental rights and freedoms, and from the benefits of State services and resources; while condemning them to lead a life without the natural benefits of all rights due to a citizen in his own country.

As a result of these acts of necessity, the Turkish Cypriot People:

have elected in free and democratic elections their own President, Members of the Legislative Assembly, and local authorities;

have been obliged to establish their own executive organs and independent courts;

have formed their own public service and economic institutions and have been responsible for all public services;

have been collecting taxes and approving and implementing their own budget, in accordance with the free will of the people;

have been maintaining law and order through their own Security Forces in their own area;

have established their own social security institutions;

have established the Supremacy of the Rule of Law and have fully implemented basic human rights;

have proved their political maturity; and have thus succeeded in living in their own zone of the island under their own administration in freedom and security and are now avowed and determined to safeguard this freedom and this security.

In the light of these realities and being fully aware of its historic duty, our Assembly, which represents the free will of the Turkish Cypriot people, decides as follows:

            1. In their capacity as one of the two equal peoples in Cyprus and having the right to administer themselves in their own land in a free and democratic order, the Turkish Cypriot People are determined to protect their existence, national and cultural identity, and fundamental rights and liberties which all men possess equally by birth.

            2. The Turkish people of Cyprus reject any form of solution which will not be adequate to effectively protect their security and which might expose them, once again, to the dangers of armed attacks, terrorism, inhuman discrimination, and oppression they have experienced in the past. No solution can be found to the Cyprus problem which does not conform with the free will of the Turkish Cypriot People.

            3. The Greek Cypriot administrators who have not been elected by the Turkish people of Cyprus and do not in any way represent the Turkish people of Cyprus and have no mandate, whatsoever, to speak for the Turkish people of Cyprus cannot impose on them any resolution adopted or to be adopted in their absence and against their free will.

            4. The Turkish people of Cyprus have the inalienable right to self-determination. This right cannot, in any way, be nullified.

            5. Even if forced to exercise our right referred to in paragraph 4 above, the exercise of such right will not constitute an obstacle for the establishment of an independent, bi-zonal, non-aligned Republic, based on the existence of two national communities in the island, through intercommunal talks to be conducted on an equal footing, as envisaged by the framework and principles laid down in the Denktaţ-Makarios and Denktaţ-Kyprianou Summit Agreements.