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TURKISH
REPUBLIC OF NORTHERN CYPRUS
Prepared
by: Ýsmail BOZKURT
Presented
in Zayed Centre
for Coordination and Follow up- Abu Dhabi
3 November 2001
Turkish
Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC)
was born as a natural result of a historical process. It
is not possible to understand the TRNC without looking
at its geographical location and geopolitics-strategic
position. Therefore, we believe that it is necessary to
consider these issues first.
Geographical
Location and Geopolitics-Strategic Position of Cyprus
§
Cyprus is between 34.33 - 35.42 latitudes and
32.17 - 35.42 longitudes in Eastern Mediterranean and it
is the third largest Island in Mediterranean after
Sicily and Sardinia.
§
It has an area of 9.251 km2,
with a distance of 225 km
from East to West and 93 km
from North to South. 63% of the area is under the
control of the by the Greek Cypriot Administration,
while 34% is controlled by the TRNC, 1% by Britain and
2% by the UN The distance from Turkey is 71, from Syria
98, from Egypt 384 and from Greece 900 km.
§
Cyprus takes part in all domination theories. Not
only that it is a strategic target itself but it
controls many other strategic targets.
§
To explain it more fully, the following can be
said about Cyprus:
–
It dominates the routes of the petroleum from the
Middle East.
–
It controls the axis from Middle East to Africa.
This control extends up to the surroundings of Anatolia,
Middle East and Suez Canal.
– It's on a strategic point where
the seaways from Suez Canal to Indian-Pacific Ocean can
be easily controlled.
– With regards to the air space it is
situated at an important strategic platform to orient
air flights towards all destinations. This makes Cyprus
resembling a stationary aircraft carrier ship.
– In case of a war due to the
petrol in the Middle East, it can serve as a logistic
store.
– Any country possessing the island will
have a prestige among the Middle East countries.
A
Brief Look at the Cyprus History
Due
to its strategic importance, Cyprus changed hands
continuously throughout the history. Egyptians, Hittites,
Akads, Dors, Phoenicians, Assyrians, Persians, Romans,
Arabians, Louisianans (French), Genoese, Venetians (Italian),
Ottomans (Turks) and British came and went from Cyprus.
The
fundamental reason for the Ottomans to invade Cyprus was
the pirates who were settled in Cyprus were obstructing
the commerce in the Eastern Mediterranean. In addition
to this, Greek Cypriot community had asked help from the
Ottomans as their religious freedom was restrained.
During the invasion of the Island, Greek Cypriots helped
the Ottomans. The priests pioneered the Greek Cypriot
community in this issue. This is worth considering
thoroughly and should be evaluated accordingly.
In
order to understand the Cyprus issue better, we would
like to emphasize some important points during the
Ottoman Period in Cyprus from both the Turkish and Greek
Cypriot perspectives.
Turkish
Cypriots Position from the Point of View of Turks:
§
Turkish population from mainland Turkey was
settled in Cyprus without disturbing the local Greek
Cypriots and a Turkish Community was created in Cyprus.
Greek
Cypriots Position from the Point of View of Greeks:
§
The authority of the Orthodox Church, which was
taken by the Latins for 300 years, was given back.
§
The Archbishop was given the right to be the
religious leader of the Orthodox and the ETNARK of the
Greek Cypriot community. The Archbishop became the
political representative of the Greek Cypriot community
in the Ottoman Empire.
§
The ETNARK (leader) became the second political
and influential person on the Island by having the right
to access to the Sultan directive.
§
The Church was entitled to collect tax from the
Greek Cypriot community. As a consequence of this right,
substantial amounts of taxes were collected and the
Church acquired major portion of the land in Cyprus.
§
The system of being a slave of the land (i.e.
being part of the land and sold together with the land)
which was called “Patrici” was removed and the
“Millet” system was established. Greeks became a
part of the “Millet” system. This system meant “autonomy”.
The Greek Cypriot community were to establish their own
rules and administer their schools, churches, cemeteries
themselves. They also had the authority in civil law
matters such as marriage and divorce.
§
The right to have representatives in the Council
of State (Divan) was given to the Greek Cypriots,
Armenians and Marionettes. In this way, Greek Cypriots
for the first time had the right of speech in the
administration of the Island.
§
To sum up, with the Ottoman Administration the
Greek Cypriot community gained an identity. If the
Venetian Administration had continued, most probably,
there would not have been any Greek Cypriot community in
Cyprus.
The
Origins of the Cyprus Issue
§
Megali Idea (big ideal), is the great ambition of
the Greeks to establish the Big Greece on the land of
Greece, Crete, Rodos, Cyprus and Anatolia which belonged
to the old Byzantines and Alexander the Great’s Empire
and to make Istanbul the capital city. This thought was
announced for the first time by a Greek whose name was
Rigas Ferreros. He prepared the first Megali Idea map
between 1791-1796. The map was published in Vienna in
1796. Cyprus was shown as a part of the Big Greece on
the map.
§
The word ENOSIS meant “joining Cyprus to Greece.”
Since 1791, the map mentioned above and the Megali Idea
is on the agenda. Therefore, the beginning of Cyprus
issue could be said to originate from the date the map
was published.
1821
Greek Rebellion, which was organized by a secret
organization called Filiki Eterya, under the leadership
of the closest person next to the Russian czar,
Aleksandros Ipsilandis created hopes. As one of the
leaders of Filiki Eterya, Konstantin Kanaris, came to
Cyprus on 19th June, 1821. He collected money, weapons
and food. After his visit, Kiprianu, the Archbishop of
Cyprus, started to get prepared for a rebellion against
the Ottomans. A Greek Cypriot called "Dimitri"
from Ayanni village informed this preparation to the
Ottoman Governor. As a result of this denunciation, the
rebellion was prevented before it began. Dimitri in this
denunciation letter, he wrote:
“On
the Easter evening in Nicosia at 6 o'clock, a gunshot
would be fired. Archbishop Kiprianu wrote a letter and
this letter was read by his man in Ayanni Village.
According to this letter, when the gunfire is heard, all
the Christians will attack Nicosia with their weapons
from all directions. Archbishop suggested to capture the
entire Island, and this would be done in cooperation and
acting together. After taking over Nicosia, they will
massacre all the Muslims and get rid of them. Certainly,
he informed all the Christians on the Island about this
event by sending the letter to other villages as well.”
Cyprus
Turkish National Archive
K.R.K.
No:1
The
Ottoman Governor of the period, Kucuk Mehmet, applied
heavy sanctions on the Greek Cypriots as a result of the
rebellion denunciation, which aimed to massacre all the
Turkish Cypriots, stated as Muslims in the letter. In
this context, some priests who were sentenced to
banishment gathered in Rome towards the end of 1821 and
published a declaration which is known to be the first
“Enosis Declaration” in the history, and they asked
help from Christian kings for its realization.
Cyprus
was rented to the United Kingdom in return for 92
thousands gold per annum with a treaty signed on 4th
June 1878. According to the 1st July 1878 protocol based
on the treaty, in case of the withdrawal of Russia from
the Ottoman lands (Batum and Ardahan) which were
occupied by Russia, Cyprus would be given back to the
Ottomans.
On
29th October 1914, due to the Ottoman's alliance with
Germany in the First World War, United Kingdom annexed
Cyprus with a unilateral decision on 5th November 1914.
Turkey accepted this annexation with the Treaty of
Lausanne, on 1923. Greece also signed this treaty but
they did not give up their ambitions for Enosis.
Greeks
were very happy about the fact that Cyprus would be
under the British Administration. They were celebrating
and screaming “Enosis”. Shortly after, they
requested Enosis from the British Governor with a
memorandum signed by the 54 leading figures of the Greek
Cypriot community in 1879. They also expressed their
desire for Enosis to Churchill as well who visited
Cyprus in 1907. In 1918, upon the invitation of
Venizelos Bishop of Cyprus went to Greece. The Bishop
was appointed as the Athens Metropolit and assigned the
work of organizing the Enosis campaign.
Starting
from 1878, all throughout Greek Cypriots being
politically organized tried to achieve Enosis while the
Turkish Cypriots tried to prevent it. Even the Greek
Cypriot leftist organizations, including the communist
AKEL Party, advocated Enosis and included it in their
programmes.
In
1931, the big rebellion to realize Enosis had not been
successful. In return, the British Administration
applied Martial Law and censorship to the Cypriot people.
British
Colony Administration started to relax the Martial Law,
pressures and censorship after the Second World War.
Further, efforts were made to provide an autonomous
administration for the Cypriot people. In this respect
plans were prepared one after another. These plans were
as follows:
§
Lord Winster Plan (1947)
§
Jackson Plan (1948)
§
First Mac Millan Plan (1955)
§
First and Second Harding Plans (November 1955 -
January 1956)
§
Radcliff Plan (December) (1956)
§
Second Mac Millan Plan (1958)
§
Spaak (Nato General Secretary) Plan (1958)
The
common characteristic of all these plans were based on
the continuity of the British sovereignty on the Island.
Greek Cypriots categoricly rejected all of those plans
as they would block the way to Enosis. They did not
participate in the legislative council meetings, formed
by the British Colony Administration and continued to
their policy of “Enosis and only Enosis” which would
mean “Direct Enosis” rather than of “Enosis step
by step”.
In
1949, an application was made to the UN Security Council
by Greece for Enosis, annexation of Cyprus to Greece. (I
would like to stress here that the application was not
for the independence of Cyprus but for Enosis).
In
1950, the Pan Hellenic Enosis Committee headed by Greek
Orthodox Archbishop continued to the Enosis campaign by
publishing declarations and organizing meetings. The
Greek Government started to implement the Enosis policy
openly and officially.
The
interest of USA in Cyprus started after the Second World
War. USA had also prepared an ENOSIS plan in 1945.
However, as a result of the inconsistency created by the
civil war in Greece, USA shifted its policies to support
the UK’s altitude in Cyprus in 1950's.
While
these developments were taking place, the first secret
meeting for the establishment of EOKA (The Greek Cypriot
Underground Military Organization for ENOSIS) was held
on 2nd July 1952 in Athens under the chairmanship of
Makarios.
On
7th March 1953 “Revolution Council” was established
and the founders took an oath for Enosis.
At
the beginning of 1954, transportation of guns and
artilaries started secretly. Grivas, the leader of EOKA,
came to Cyprus secretly on 9th November, 1954. While the
EOKA began armament, the Cyprus issue was taken to UN by
Greece with a proposal of to grant the right of self-determination
to Cypriots.
Turkish
Community and Turkey showed a severe reaction to this.
As a result this proposal was not included in the agenda
of the UN. Upon this, EOKA started its armed operations
(terrorist activities) against the British on the
Island. The order to initiate armed operations was given
by the Greek Minister of Foreign Affairs.
The
aim of the EOKA was to throw the British out of the
Island first and then by exterminating the Turkish
Cyprus to annex Cyprus to Greece i.e. to achieve Enosis.
In due course the EOKA directed its intimidation and
terrorist actions against the Turkish Cypriots. As the
Turkish Cypriots resisted against these attacks, later a
bloody civil war broke out between the two Cypriot
communities in 1958.
As
a consequence of these events, Britain in search for a
solution called Turkey and Greece to a conference in
London, in 1958. Greece defended Enosis covered by the
self–determination right for the whole Cypriots while
Turkey defended the right for “self- determination
separately for each community” in the conference.
Unfortunately, no solution was found at the end of the
conference.
After
the wide spread of the conflict between the Turkish and
Greek Cypriots, at the end of difficult negotiations the
Treaty of Zurich was signed on 11th February 1959 and
the Treaty of London was signed on 19th February 1959
between United Kingdom, Turkey and Greece.
The
representatives of Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots
as the two founding partners having equal status signed
the Treaty of London together with United Kingdom,
Turkey and Greece.
As
a result of these treaties, the bi-communal Cyprus
Republic established on 16 August 1960 by the two
founding partners, the Turkish Cypriots and the Greek
Cypriots, was based on equal status and common
sovereignty of the two communities.
On
the other hand, the struggle of Greek Cypriots and
Greece for Enosis has not diminished until today. Zurich
and London Treaties and the agreements of 1960
established the Cyprus Republic did not put off the
ambitions of the Greek Cypriots for Enosis. Soon after
the treaties were signed, the religious leader of Greek
Cypriot Community, Makarios, declared that he viewed as
the Republic of Cyprus as a `springboard` for Enosis.
With such thoughts and intentions, Cyprus Republic could
survive only for 3 years and collapsed in 1963.
The
things done for Enosis did not remain with all these.
Greek Cypriot Parliament, in 1960 unanimously took a
decision in favor of Enosis. This decision has not been
repealed until today.
The
Inhuman Characteristics of the Efforts for Enosis
In
the previous section, a historical account of the Cyprus
issue was given and the role of Enosis in this process
was revealed. It is widely accepted that the Greek
Cypriots had never faught for the independence of the
Island but always for its annexation to Greece (ENOSIS).
In
this section, I would like to emphasize the inhuman
characteristics of the efforts for Enosis, which aimed
at getting rid of the Turkish Cypriots briefly and throw
them out of the Island. As it was mentioned before, the
rebellion endeavoured in Cyprus in 1821 at the same time
with the rebellion in Greece, had a target of
massacreing and exterminating all the Muslims on the
Island.
EOKA’s
demand to annihilate the Turks towards the aim of
achieving ENOSIS has been clearly indicated. Here is a
quotation from an EOKA document:
“There
are two enemies facing us. First one is the British and
the second one is the Turks. First, we will fight
against the British and push them away from the island.
Then we’ll exterminate the Turks.”
After
the Republic of Cyprus was established, what the
President of this Republic Makarios said on 4 September
1962 was nothing but the reflection of the same
philosophy:
“Unless
this small community that is part of the Turks, the
everlasting enemy of Hellenism, is thrown out of Cyprus,
the mission of EOKA heroes shall not be deemed
accomplished.”
After
years, as if he had not uttered the above-mentioned
words, the same Makarios reveals what Ioannides, the
strong man of Greek Junta in 1967, had told him. What
Ioannides proposed to Makarios was:
“Let
us launch an all-out sudden attack against the Turks
everywhere. Let us defeat them at once and settle the
problem from its roots. That’s all.”
It
is known that the Akritas Plan implemented by the Greek Cypriot leaders in 1963 aimed
at rendering the Turkish Cypriots ineffective, one of
the two equal cofounder partners of the ‘Republic of
Cyprus’, established by the 1960 Treaties, and even
exterminating them, without giving a chance to the
guarantor powers, specially to Turkey to intervine.
The
fact that the philosophy of exterminating the Turkish
Cypriots en was put into practice as far as possible
during the period of 1963-1974 and that besides ethnic
cleansing, massacres have been committed is a fact of
history. I suffice by referring to it only and wish to
display the document of a mentality that feels regret
for failing to “slaughter” the Turkish Cypriots. The
following is written in July 1990 issue of the To
Periodiko magazine:
“Do
you know why the Cretans were liberated? They rebelled
altogether one night and slaughtered the Turks. We also
seized the chance of slaughtering the Turkish Cypriots
but our leaders turned everything into a mess.”
Unfortunately,
the years 1963-1974 are the years that the Greek
Cypriots never remember, while the Turkish Cypriots
could never forget.
Cyprus
Republic
Zurich
and London Treaties signed in 1959 and the Constitution
of the Cyprus Republic (1960) based on these treaties
considered and created a balance between Turkey and
Greece in Eastern Mediterranean and in Cyprus.
Cyprus
Republic was based on equal partnership of the two
sovereign communities. Equality does not have an
absolute or numerical meaning but it was expected to
provide equal rights between the two communities with
suggested mechanisms in the Treaties and in the
Constitution. Turkey, Greece and Great Britain became
the guarantor powers of the Cyprus Republic, and also
the established balances. It was forbidden for the
Cyprus Republic to become a member of any international
organization in which both Turkey and Greece are not
members.
Cyprus
Republic was a functional federate republic, which
possessed some confederal characteristics. The Turkish
and Greek Cypriot national administrations established
and stated as communal chambers in the Constitution,
were authorized sovereign units, specificly in the areas
of religion, education, culture, social services and law
of civic rights.
The
Constitution of the Cyprus Republic contained confederal
characteristics besides functional and federate
characteristics. As it is known, in confederal
structures there is an obligation for the equal units
and these units should be in cooperation with each other
in arriving decisions in consensus. This means that it
is not possible for the bigger unit to make decisions
which the smaller unit does not approve. The meaning of
veto rights of President and Vice-President and separate
majority in the Parliament is an obligation for the two
communities and their representatives to seek consensus
on fundamental issues. As a result, the Cyprus Republic
contains confederal characteristics.
As
we pointed out above, the President of Cyprus Republic,
Makarios, had explained that he sees Cyprus Republic as
a “springboard” for Enosis as soon as the Treaties
were signed.
Just
as, when the Cyprus Republic was founded, he aimed to
violate all the rules and rights of the Turkish Cypriots,
mechanisms which provided equality to the Turkish
Cypriots. As he could not be successful politically, he
tried to throw the Turkish Cypriots out of Cyprus
Republic with a well established Akritas Plan. When the
Turkish Cypriots refused to accept 13 points amendment
proposal of Makarios which aimed to abolish the
partnership and give minority right to the Turkish
Cypriots, he started an armed operation on 21st December,
1963 and pushed the Turkish Cypriots out of the Republic.
As a result of the armed assaults, hundreds of Turkish
Cypriots were killed and disappeared. More than 100
Turkish villages were destroyed by the Greek Cypriots.
“Ethnic cleansing” which entered the world political
literature in 1990`s was implemented to the Turkish
Cypriots at that time.
Naturally,
this was a heavy stroke on the living conditions of the
Turkish Cypriots. They were forced to live in the
enclaves surrounded by armed Greek Cypriots.
Functional federal/confederal Cyprus Republic founded by two
communities with equal rights with international
treaties was collapsed. Greek Cypriots occupied the
Republic of Cyprus illegally.
The
Events and Factors which Created the Turkish Republic of
Northern Cyprus
Greek
Cypriots had occupied the Cyprus Republic in 1963 by
throwing their co-founder partner, the Turkish Cypriots
at gun point and denied their right to rule themselves
in the Cyprus Republic. The Cyprus Republic was no more
a bi-communal state but a Greek Cypriot Republic without
Turkish Cypriot participation. Under these circumstances,
Turkish Cypriots had to have a governmental
organization.
As
we pointed out above, Cyprus Republic was consist of two
separate national administrations besides the central
administration. National administrations had separate
parliaments, executive organs, even judiciary organs.
Each national administration was authorized to collect
taxes.
When
the Turkish Cypriots were thrown out of the Cyprus
Republic at gun point, Turkish Cypriots developed and
expanded their own national administration within the
framework of the constitution of Cyprus Republic and
formed a government system separate and independent from
the Greek Cypriots. This situation continued until 1974
under the attacks, embargos, pressure and threat of
Greek Cypriots.
In
1974 Makarios was dismissed from the Republic as a
consequence of the coup d’etat carried by colonel’s
junta which was in power in Greece by then. Their aim
was to declare Enosis. Turkey having the rights of a
guarantor state given to it in Zurich and London
Treaties, organized a military intervention to Cyprus.
Consequently, Cyprus was divided into two without using
a separate state name. Turkish Cypriots had their own
governmental organization since 1963 and in 1975 they
established the Cyprus Turkish Federeted State with its
identified boundaries. They hoped and expected that the
Greek Cypriot Administration would establish their own
Cyprus Greek Federeted State and a Federal Cyprus
Republic would be based on these two federated states on
equal basis. In spite of the continued negotiations
between the two communities under the auspicies of the
UN for many years, Federal Republic Cyprus could not be
founded. Furthermore, international community continued
to recognize the Greek Cypriot Administration as the
“Cyprus Republic” which was illegal and unjust. That
was not fair and it was against the international
treaties that established the Republic of Cyprus. For
Turkish Cypriots, there was nothing else to do. They
declared their own independent state, the Turkish
Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) on 15th November
1983. Turkey recognized the TRNC and established
political relations.
The
Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus possesses all the
required characteristics and conditions an independent
and sovereign state. It has a population of 200,000 and
occupies an area of 3400 km2
in the north of Cyprus.
The
President of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus is
selected directly by the people in a parliamentary
system. It has a democratic constitution approved in a
referendum by a vast majority of its people. Within the
framework of this constitution, it permits the
implementation of a multiparty democratic political
life.
The
only government which recognizes the TRNC officially, is
Turkey. Turkey has an Embassy in Nicosia and the TRNC
has an embassy in Ankara. However, many other countries
recognize the TRNC as de facto without addressing its
name. This enabled the TRNC to initiate a number of
diplomatic representative offices under various names in
different countries.
To
sum up, the TRNC is a sovereign and an independent state
on the world map.
Searching
for a Solution to the Cyprus Issue
The
Cyprus issue is still unresolved. All the iniciatives
taken by the UN through direct and intercommunal talks
have not resulted in a solution.
During
the negotiations the UN focused on a federae solution.
The Turkish Cypriot side defended this approach for many
years. However, while Turkish Cypriot side anticipated a
federation based on sovereignty and equal partnership,
Greek Cypriot side on the other hand anticipated a
government having a unity in its structure with Turkish
Cypriots having minority rights while the citizens/people/individuals
would be equal under the name and appearance of a
federae state. Likewise, the Turkish side hoped to have
a new state and a new partnership, while the Greek
Cypriot side wanted to amalgamate the Turkish Cypriot
side onto the so-called Cyprus Republic which was
illegal and was taken away from the Turkish Cypriots by
force, illegally. While both sides had accepted a bi-zonal
solution and had made a voluntary population exchange
agreement in 1975, totally disregarded this agreement
and asked for all the Greek Cypriot immigrants to return
their homes in the North. They refused to accept a
global solution of property exchange between the two
communities. They insisted that the Greek Cypriots
should go back to their own properties.
There
is no doubt that the iniciatives of the UN based on
equality of the two communities favouring equal
opportunities in a solution was not favoured by the
Greek Cypriot Administration. Furthermore, the
recognition of the Greek Cypriot Administration, as the
sole representative of the Cyprus Republic by the
international community in total violation of the
international law, had also played an important role in
Greek Cypriot sides uncompromising attitude and thus not
being able to set a common base for negotiations.
Furthermore,
International Treaties establishing the Cyprus Republic
and its constitution prohibit Cyprus Republic to become
a member of any international organization in which both
Turkey and Greece are not members. European Union (EU)
disregarded these international Treaties and accepted
the application of the Greek Cypriot Administration for
membership to the EU. Furthermore, it processed the
application and currently accession negotiations are
being carried. This made the Cyprus issue even more
complicated and the situation became worse. As a result
of all these developments, Turkish side proposed a
confederal solution based on sovereign equality of the
two sides rather than a federal state.
Lastly,
the recent efforts of the UN Secretary General in August
and September of this year, could not been able to
iniciate the negotiations between the two sides. As both
the latest and previous negotiations have been covered
on the world press to a great extent, I find it
unnecessary to focus on these in detail.
The
terrorist attacks to USA on 11th September 2001 changed
the agenda of the world and even gave an indication on
the formation of a new world order. For the time being,
Cyprus is not on the agenda, however it is inevitable
that it will be on the agenda again soon. At least,
because of the mistakes and carelessness of the EU, in
starting the accession negotiations with the Greek
Cypriot Administration, when decision of accession comes,
there will be a big chaos because neither Turkey nor the
Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus would accept Greek
Cypriot Administration to become a member of the EU as a
whole Cyprus. They will show an unpresidented reaction
to this membership.
A
Brief Evaluation
Currently
a cold war is taking place between Greek Cypriots,
Greece and Turkish Cypriots, Turkey about the Cyprus
issue. In this cold war, the aim of the Greek Cypriots-Greece
side is not any different from their aims in the past.
Throughout the history, they tried to exterminate Turks
or send them away from the island by using force/power.
Now, they are trying to remove the co-founder
partnership and sovereignty rights of the Turkish
Cypriots and put them into a minority situation. Instead
of the equality of the two communities, they insist on
the equality of citizens/people/individuals. It is
obvious that in the origin of this policy, there is the
aim to get rid of the community status of the Turkish
Cypriots or oblige them to leave the Island. It is clear
that if the Turkish Cypriots do not have an equal status,
they will disappear in Cyprus. What has changed, is
their tactics. There is no difference in their strategy.
In
this context, Greek Cypriots and Greece through their
lobbying are changing the realities. Another issue that
they are distorting is the military intervention of
Turkey to Cyprus in 1974. They regard this intervention
as illegal and they tell the world that the Cyprus Issue
had started in 1974. They can not explain why the UN
piece force came to the Island in 1964. They present the
Cyprus issue as an issue of “occupation of Cyprus by
Turkey”. Yet, the Greek Supreme Court of Appeals in
Greece gave the answer to this with its verdict of 21st
March.1977:
“….On
15th July 1974, General Yoannidis, together with General
Yorgitsis, the Commander of the Greek Regriment in
Cyprus and General Yanakomidis organized a coup d’etat
against Makarios with other 102 Greek officers. The
Presitent’s Palace in Nicosia was kept under fire by
heavy weapons but president Makarios survived this
attack through a miracle. After Greek officers violated
the Cyprus Constitution, Nikos Samson was appointed as
the new president of Cyprus Republic. Turkey intervented
to Cyprus using its legal right, on 20th July 1974.”
Greek
Supreme Court of Appeals 21 March 1979
Decision
no.:2658/79
Finally,
I would like to state the following: Under any
circumstances, the solution to be found to the Cyprus
issue should be new, permanent and viable. Such a
solution should be based on separate sovereignty, equal
partnership, continuation of the present guarantee
system, two states based on geographical realities,
Turkish-Greek balance being established in the Eastern
Mediterranean by international law with a more global
approach. Without these basic principles being contained
in a solution to the Cyprus issue, and furthermore if a
solution gives Turkish Cypriots only certain minority
rights and join them to Cyprus Greek Administration a
solution cannot be possible. Such a solution will not be
genuine and will cause danger through potential
inconsistencies.
At
a possible solution, another issue is closely related
with the future of the Turkish Republic of Northern
Cyprus, which was established based on sovereignty
rights of the Turkish Cypriots. Any solution, which will
not provide the TRNC the possibility to continue its
existence will not be realistic.
Chair,
Centre for Cyprus Studies, Eastern Mediterranean
University; President, Cyprus-Balkans-Eurasia
Turkish Literatures Foundation, Gazimagusa-Turkish
Republic of Northern Cyprus. Tel.: +90 392 630 1527,
Fax.: +90 392 365 2027, E-mail:
ismail.bozkurt@emu.edu.tr.
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