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The Cyprus Question
By OSMAN ERTUG
Representative/Turkish
Republic of Northern Cyprus
The Washington Post/ 25th July 2002
The
July 13 editorial "Turkey's Fever" described the Cyprus question
as "a 28-year conflict" and the Turkish Republic of Northern
Cyprus as a "rump state." Such characterizations display little
regard for history.
The
conflict has gone on for four decades, as evidenced by the presence of U.N.
peacekeepers on the island since 1964, for Turkish Cypriots to have the
right of self-determination (a pillar of the U.N. Charter).
The
record shows that Turkish Cypriots exercised this right only after being
left stateless by the Greek Cypriots (who could not be the
"majority" in a two-nation island) for years, during which a
campaign of ethnic cleansing was practiced against them by the latter in
order to annex the island to Greece.
When
face-to-face negotiations continue between the two parties, it will be much
more constructive to treat them as equal partners in peace rather than as
majorities or minorities.
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