Cyprus Action Network of America 

STOP THE BLAME GAME WITH REGARD TO CYPRUS -- (Extensions of Remarks - July 24, 2007)

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SPEECH OF

HON. DAN BURTON

OF INDIANA

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

TUESDAY, JULY 24, 2007

Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Madam Speaker, over the last week or so I have listened to a number of my colleagues come to the floor of this Chamber to lament the 1974 ``invasion'' of Cyprus. For many years the United States, the European Union and other members of the international community have worked together for a just and lasting solution to the vexing problem of Cyprus. That is why I am deeply

Numerous United Nations Resolutions, spanning several decades, have been consistent in declaring the Turkish military occupation of Cyprus illegal, and call upon the speedy and total withdrawal of the Turkish military occupation forces

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·                                 concerned when I hear some of my colleagues throwing barbs at the Turkish Cypriots and Turkey in an attempt to lay all the blame for this complicated issue at their doorstep. Because by distorting the facts, we are potentially undermining our good-faith, efforts to see this conflict resolved and to see peace and prosperity come to all the people of Cyprus .

Criminal Turkey and its collaborators consistently attempts to use false historical revisionism and outright lies to justify the horrendous acts of cultural genocide, Genocide and ethnic cleansing that they have committed.

·                                 The fact is that when the Island of Cyprus gained its independence from Great Britain in 1960, the Republic's constitution specifically defined a power-sharing arrangement which required a Greek Cypriot president and a Turkish Cypriot vice-president, each elected by their constituency.

With the use of the TMT terrorist organization, dating back to the 1950s, Turkey undermined the democratic process in the Republic of Cyprus and funded the creation of a parallel administration, based entirely on narrow Turkish-nationalist and Islamist -chauvinist qualifiers.

·                                 The fact is that in 1963 Greek Cypriot President Makarios proposed sweeping constitutional modifications which heavily favored the Greek Cypriot community. The changes removed most of the checks and balances which had been built into the constitution to ensure the safety and equal status of the Turkish Cypriots. The inevitable result was a serious deterioration of relations between the two parties, which came to a head in December 1963, when armed Greek Cypriots attacked and killed many Turkish Cypriots who were unable to escape. The armed conflict spread quickly, with the Turkish Cypriots eventually being forced to withdraw into enclaves to defend themselves.

The first inter communal killings in Cyprus date back to 1958, and they involved brutal killings of Cypriot Orthodox Christians by the fanatical Turkish terrorist group TMT. The New York Times reported on the killings on December 27, 1963, detailing the attacks on Cypriots targeted merely because of their ethnicity and religion, the Turkish TMT terrorist killings of Cypriot Orthodox Christians continued and escalated throughout the 1960s.

·                                 For the next 10 years, the campaign of the Greek Cypriots cost the Turkish Cypriots many lives and untold suffering, as well as their equal partnership status in the Cyprus government.

The resolutions passed at the United Nations throughout the troubled period on Cyprus were in reaction to Turkey’s undermining of democracy through use of anti-Orthodox Christian terrorism in Cyprus.

·                                 Former United States Undersecretary of State, George Ball, who, among others, was actively dealing with the crisis at the time, remarked in his memoirs entitled The Past Has Another Pattern, that Makarios has turned ``this beautiful little island into his private abattoir'' (p. 341). Ball went on to say that ``Makarios' central interest was to block off Turkish intervention so that he and his Greek Cypriots could go on happily massacring the Turkish Cypriots'' (p. 345).

The full title of the book those quotes come from is: George Ball, George W., Douglas B.: The Passionate Attachment: America’s Involvement With Israel, 1947 to the Present. This highly controversial book was described as  More political argument than history, when reviewed by Foreign Affairs .Essentially , the book is an anti-Israel polemic and those very quotes and that exact abbreviated title , is found almost exclusively on Turkish extremist websites, that alone should make those quotes highly inappropriate and extreme material for use by the U,S. Congress.

·                                 The fact is that during the presidential elections of 1974, Archbishop of Cyprus Makarios--the Greek Cypriot leader at the time--escalated the crisis by embracing Enosis, or Union with Greece, as his election platform. Although Makarios won reelection he also created a power struggle between the military junta in control of mainland Greece and himself for the control over the Island. That power struggle culminated in a coup which forced Makarios to flee Cyprus and renewed ethnic cleansing of Turkish Cypriots.

The most significant omission is the fact that in August 1974 (when Turkey launched the bloody second invasion that resulted in the occupation of an additional 30% of the island) the democratic presidency of Cyprus was restored, parliamentary democracy led by Karamanlis was in power in Athens, and there was neither a call for union with Greece or violence directed at the Turkish minority.

·                                 In his address to the UN Security Council on July 19, 1974, Makarios himself described the coup as ``a clear attack from the outside and a flagrant violation of the independence and sovereignty of the Republic of Cyprus’’.

Regardless of how Makarios or anyone else viewed or perceived the coup, and who it was that organized the coup, it lasted for not more than a week, democracy was quickly restored , and there were virtually no reports of inter communal conflict.

·                                 The fact is that in the face of a bloody coup that not only threatened the independence of Cyprus but also resulted in renewed massacres of Turkish Cypriots, Turkey, which was treaty-bound to act as a Guarantor State, was compelled to undertake action on July 20, 1974. And the fact is that as a result of this legitimate and timely action, Turkish Cypriots were saved from imminent destruction, bloodshed among the Greek Cypriots was ended and the independence of Cyprus was protected.

The Turks’ criminal invasion and occupation of 37% of Cyprus has resulted in approximately 5,000 Orthodox Christian civilian deaths, the ethnic cleansing of 200,000+ Orthodox Christian Greeks, and the vandalism, desecration, and destruction of numerous Orthodox Christian holy places by Turks.

·                                 The fact is that the Turkish intervention was legitimate and was internationally confirmed by, among others, the Consultative Assembly of the Council of Europe (CACE). CACE resolution 573, dated July 29, 1974, clearly states, ``Turkey exercised its right of intervention in accordance with Article IV of the Guarantee Treaty of 1960.''

The occupation of Cyprus is a direct violation of the Treaty of Guarantee, which established Cyprus as an independent Republic in 1960. Article A, Section 22 of the Treaty declares, "It shall be recognised that the total or partial union of Cyprus with any other State, or a separatist independence for Cyprus, shall be excluded".

·                                 Unfortunately, since 1974, and in defiance of the rule of law and the established principle that federations can only be built on a foundation of equal partnership, the Greek Cypriot side continues to claim exclusive sovereignty over the entire Island. In 1983, this prompted the Turkish Cypriot side to assert its rights by proclaiming the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC).

The pseudo-regime established by late Turkish TMT terrorist leader Denktash and by the Turkish military and Turkish security forces is recognized by no other country in the world, other than Turkey, its very claim to statehood is in violation of international law.

·                                 After many unsuccessful attempts at reconciliation, U.N.-led direct talks between the two sides began in early 2002. The talks sketched out a settlement--the Annan Plan--which was voted on in simultaneous referenda held on each side on April 24, 2004.

After years of talks, a series of politicians and diplomats advocated the flawed Annan Plan, the Cypriot people, the final decision-maker in a true democracy made the final decisions in regards to this flawed, lop-sided settlement.

·                                 The fact is that Turkish Cypriots approved the Annan Plan by a clear and overwhelming majority of 65 percent but Greek Cypriots--under heavy pressure from the Greek Cypriot government--rejected it by an even larger majority of 76 percent. The Turkish Cypriots were internationally and rightly praised for their ``courageous vote in favor of the proposals''.

The Cypriot people voted overwhelmingly against the Annan Plan , the racist provisions of the settlement call for making Cyprus a protectorate of Turkey and give Turkey right to intervene in case of a deadlock in government, thus allowing Turkey to repeat their 1974 crimes of ethnic cleansing and cultural genocide. To add further insult, the major port city of Kyrenia is slated to forever remain Turkish, solidifying Turkey’s extermination of Greek Orthodox Christians in northern Cyprus, forever.

·                                 The Greek Cypriot side has since been trying to justify its rejection by claiming, among other things, that the plan ``did not meet the interests of the country'' and that ``it did not provide for guarantees to ensure the complete implementation of commitments under the plan''. However, impartial European Union diplomats, closely associated with the reconciliation effort, have gone so far as to say very undiplomatically, that the Greek Cypriot people had been ``lied to'' by the Greek Cypriot government as to the details of the Annan plan.

The plan calls for the dissolution of the Democratic Republic of Cyprus and replaces it with a new structure that allows for an unstable, un-democratic, human rights abuser called Turkey to oversee Cyprus, essentially making all non-Turks or non-Muslims in Cyprus, slaves to Turkey. Many newspapers and other media outlets in Cyprus  have expressed frustration at how Turkey stays unrepentant and expects to rule over Cyprus forever. Cyprus wants Turkey off its back.

·                                 As public servants I think the members of this House understand that no compromise worth its salt ever fully meets all of the demands of either side, nor could it do so or it wouldn't be much of a compromise. The fact is that the Annan Plan was a carefully balanced compromise that certainly from the Turkish Cypriot perspective represented immense sacrifices on the part of the Turkish Cypriots, on such key issues as land, resettlement, property and security

The Plan allows the Turkish military to remain in Cyprus, forever, and even extends to the Turkish military the “right” to intervene over the entire island, . The final revised drafts of the Anan plan called for the turning over of the entire island’s defense (for a period of twenty years) to the Turkish government through its military (an unrepentant perpetrator of Armenian, Assyrian and Hellenic genocide) and renown for ethnic cleansing and racist brutality throughout the region

·                                 The Greek government and several former Greek government leaders fully supported the plan and the Turkish government was also pivotal in encouraging the Turkish Cypriots to approve the plan. In the end, the only people who were not willing to make the sacrifices necessary to bring peace to this troubled island where the Greek Cypriots--yet they were inexplicably rewarded membership to the EU; although some EU leaders have subsequently stated that doing so was a mistake.

Ultimately, the victims of Turkish aggression decided that they would never allow the Turkish military to rule over their lives, Turkey’s horrendous human rights record and history of Genocide, makes Turkey unfit to rule over any human being.

·                                 The fact is that despite the Greek Cypriots' failure to embrace peace and the international community's failure to end the economic isolation of the Turkish Cypriots; Turkish Cypriots continue to seek a just and peaceful settlement to this crisis.

 All ethnicities on the island—Greek Cypriot, Arab Maronite, Armenian, Assyrian and Turkish Cypriot want to live in peace, which would be possible if only Turkey would leave Cyprus alone.

·                                 Most recently, Turkey and Turkish Cypriots have supported implementation of the July 8, 2006, United Nations-brokered agreement between Greek Cypriot leader Tassos Papadopoulos and Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat relating to the reunification of Cyprus through a process of bi-communal discussions.

Cypriot politicians are continuing efforts to bring peace to Cyprus, in the end, and according to democratic principles, only the people of Cyprus, and not any foreign army, should ultimately decide as to the fate of Cyprus.

·                                 Some of my colleagues, particularly those who support House Resolution 405 (H. Res. 405), would have this House believe that Turkish Cypriots are unwilling to proceed with the July 8 agreement. But I would ask my colleagues this simple question; when offered the chance to vote for peace which side rejected peace, Turkish or Greek? The answer is Greek.

 In democracies, ideally, the power should never come from the muzzle of a gun, the Turkish army still refuses to leave this troubled island, and leave all its inhabitants Greek, Latin, Arab Maronite, Armenian and Assyrian alone. Now that would be a real peace.

·                                 Under the circumstances it should make one wonder if Greek Cypriots, having already forestalled UN efforts to resolve the Cyprus issue--and been rewarded for it through EU membership--whether they truly feel under pressure to seek a just solution. The fact is that the status quo benefits Greek Cypriots significantly more than Turkish Cypriots and it seems to me that if either side has an incentive to delay implementation of the July 8 agreement; it would be the Greek Cypriots.

The sovereign Republic of Cyprus is indeed a prosperous, democratic country, and a member of the European Union. That in and of itself dispels the scare tactics used regarding the position of the Turkish-Cypriot community in a future unified state

Madam Speaker, facts are stubborn things; and as the facts in this case clearly show, the crisis on Cyprus is significantly more complex than the ``blame Turkey'' special interest groups would like people to believe. It's time for these groups and their friends in Congress to end the ``blame game'' and get down to the real work of reshaping Cyprus into a Cyprus that respects human rights and the fundamental freedoms for all Cypriots.

Senator Leonidas P. Raptakis

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