Misinterpreting the realities in Cyprus

Sir,
I wish to refer to Mr Brian Aherne’s letter (‘What about the Turkish invasion?’, Sunday Mail, June 6), which seriously misinterprets the realities in Cyprus.

It should be underlined that Turkey did not decide to intervene in Cyprus all of a sudden. The 40-year old Cyprus issue is a question fundamentally brought about by the Greek-Greek Cypriot aim to Hellenise the island at the expense of the Turkish Cypriot people and the struggle of the latter to prevent such an eventuality. Therefore, Mr Aherne’s attempts to absolve the Greek Cypriots and Greece of any responsibility for the Cyprus tragedy is an insult to history.

I don’t want to explain the well-known reasons behind the 1974 Turkish intervention, but would like to suggest that Mr Aherne, who appears ignorant of the realities in Cyprus, refers to Archbishop Makarios’ speech before the UN Security Council on July 19, 1974, in which he described the circumstances that paved the way for the events of 1974 as the “Greek invasion of Cyprus”. These events were all carried out in breach of all “UN Law and EU Principles” and even in front of the eyes of the UN Peace-Keeping Forces, which has been on the island since March 1964.

Concluding his letter, Mr Aherne pointed out that there should be willingness on both sides to reach a fair solution: however, please note that it was 65 per cent of the Turkish Cypriot people who voted in favour of a settlement in the April 24 referendum while 75 per cent of Greek Cypriots rejected it. Therefore, it is obvious that as long as the Greek Cypriot side continues to use its usurped title of the “Government of Cyprus” as a weapon against the Turkish Cypriot people the avenues leading towards reconciliation will not be opened .

Devrim Güzel, Nicosia

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.