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The  Cyprus Issue

Article written by Sadettin Topukcu, published in The Frontier  Post, at  Pakistan,  on  7/12 / 2003 

The Cyprus Issue

With reference to the article entitled “Clever Man in Ankara” published in the November 18, 2003 issue of your esteemed paper, I would like to make the following comments for setting the record straight. First, I regretfully would like to state that some columnists whose articles on Cyprus appear in the newspapers do not even know the fundamental facts relevant to Cyprus, as Gwynne Dyer, the writer of the said article, who thinks that the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) was founded thirty years ago. It should be noted that the Turkish Cypriot people, who enjoyed the inherent right to self-determination, established their own State on 15 November 1983, 20 years after being left stateless by the Greek Cypriots.

The TRNC possesses all the criteria of being a State that the international law cities, i.e. a defined territory, population, government and the capacity to independently enter relations with other countries.

Submitting the UN Secretary General’s plan to public referanda, which met the requirements of the Greek Cypriot side but fell short of addressing the legitimate concerns of Turkish Cypriot people, would mean signing a blank cheque. It should also be underlined that it was no other than Greek Cypriot leader Mr. Tasos Papadopoulos himself who campaigned against this Plan during the presidential elections held in Southern Cyprus.

The other point which needs to be clarified is that in 1974, Turkey, undertaking its Treaty obligations and rights, dispatched its troops to Cyprus with the sole objective of preventing the total extermination of the Turkish Cypriots after the military junta in Athens staged a coup on the island to achieve the union of Cyprus with Greece (ENOSIS).

Today, the presence of Turkish troops in Northern Cyprus, which continues to perform a peacekeeping mission on the island, is a vital security requirement for the Turkish Cypriot people. Lastly, it is worthy to note that the settlement of the Cyprus issue must not constitute a prerequisite for Turkey because it does not take place among the Copenhagen criteria to which Turkey must meet for the sake of its European Union membership bid. However, if EU insists that it is a prerequisite, it must be imposed for the Greek Cypriot side, which is the creator of the Cyprus issue.