By George Psyllides
GOVERNMENT Spokesman Kypros Chrysostomides yesterday slammed the allegations made by Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash in an interview with Politis, describing it as more proof of the occupation’s sinister face.
In the interview, Denktash again laboured the past, going back to events that took place 40 years ago, and claiming Greek Cypriots still wanted union (Enosis) with Greece.
Denktash even claimed President Tassos Papadopoulos had called for his execution when he was caught trying to land on the island in October 1967.
Chrysostomides said Denktash had convinced himself of “the lies he is spreading, and as happens in similar regimes, and he is mainly repressing the Turkish Cypriots and twisting historical facts”.
He added that Denktash’s claim that Papadopoulos had ordered his execution was a “slanderous distortion of historical facts”.
Papadopoulos on Sunday rejected the allegations, describing them as a “tasteless fable”.
Denktash claimed that at the time of his arrest, the Cabinet, which was in session had received word that he was being held and that then President Makarios was wondering what to do with him.
Papadopoulos and the late Spyros Kyprianou had said “shoot him like a dog”, Denktash alleged.
He went on to say that if Papadopoulos had been in power he would have been dead and Papadopoulos would have been especially happy.
Papadopoulos categorically denied the allegation, saying he had never taken part in any Cabinet or other meeting where there had been any discussion of Denktash’s execution after his arrest in the Karpas peninsula.
“Neither I, nor Kyprianou, nor anyone else ever contemplated such a criminal, illegal and deplorable act,” Papadopoulos said in a statement.
Papadopoulos said Denktash was arrested in the early morning hours and it would have been impossible for the Cabinet to be meeting at that time.
“I was informed of his arrest 24 hours later at a time when Denktash was already in custody at the police headquarters,” Papadopoulos said.
Chrysostomides yesterday urged Denktash to contemplate his responsibilities and stop altering history.
Commenting on Denktash’s claims about his “established state”, Chrysostomides said the administration in the north was “a subordinate of the occupation force and a puppet state”.
Denktash claimed that his “established state” was operating properly in the territory abandoned by the Greek Cypriots in1974.
The spokesman stressed that Greek Cypriots did not abandon their land but were driven out through systematic ethnic cleansing.
Chrysostomides rejected Denktash’s claims that the Turkish Cypriots would become a minority in case of a solution, noting that the UN plan contained specific parts concerning their rights, which were rejected by the Turkish Cypriot leader.
The spokesman stressed that no party or political movement wanted union with Greece and pointed to the EU accession treaty to counter Denktash’s claims that Cyprus could not become a member of the Union.
The Turkish Cypriot leader also said in the interview that by imposing passport checks at crossing points he wanted Greek Cypriots to realise they were entering a new state.
“Recognition is something else; we want them to realise they are entering a second state, not the Cypriot state,” Denktash said.
On the thousands of Turkish Cypriots trying to secure a Republic of Cyprus passport, however, Denktash said they were not getting Greek Cypriot passports but Cypriot passports, which they were rightfully allowed to have until 1963.
“They are using that right; by applying for these passports they are not relinquishing the TRNC passports and their nationality.
“They are not rejecting them.
“They use the right to get something, which was theirs up until 1963,” Denktash said.
A few years back, Denktash had made it a criminal offence punishable by jail for Turkish Cypriots to obtain Cyprus passports. The Interior Ministry said yesterday that 20,000 Turkish Cypriots had applied for Cyprus passports and other identity documents since the restrictions on freedom of movement were eased on April 23.
The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.
