Letter written by Resat Caglar, the TRNC Representative to New York, to the UN Secretary-General on 3 January 2005

            With reference to the several statements made by the representatives of the Greek Cypriot Administration during the meetings of the various Committees of the General Assembly at it fifty-ninth session, I wish herein to set the record straight.

            Year after year, we have witnessed the appearance of the Greek Cypriot officials before United Nations bodies to repeat their well-known baseless allegations against Turkey and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, ignoring the fact that the very title they sail under is a usurped one secured only by violence in December 1963.

            None of the United Nations resolutions to which references are made in the above-mentioned statements describe the legitimate and justified Turkish intervention of 1974, undertaken in accordance with the Treaty of Guarantee of 1960, as "aggression" or "invasion", or the subsequent presence of Turkish troops on the island as "occupation". Such distortions are purely a Greek Cypriot invention aimed at blurring the issue and confusing the innocent with the guilty. On this point, I would only like to recall the dramatic statement made by Archbishop Makarios, the Greek Cypriot leader at the time, before the Security Council on 19 July 1974, in which he openly accused Greece, not Turkey, of invading and occupying Cyprus. His remarks, which came only four days after the Greek coup of 15 July 1974, are well recorded in the annals of the United Nations and hardly require further elaboration.

            What had been going on in Cyprus before the coup, however, is just as significant, if not more so. The years from 1963 to1974 were a period in which the Greek Cypriot, aided and abetted by Greece, practised ethnic cleansing, terrorism and tyranny against the Turkish Cypriots, all in the name of enosis (annexation of the island to Greece). The atrocities committed by the Greek Cypriots during that period drew comments from the international news media, such as The Washington Post, which reported in its issue of 17 February 1964 that "Greek Cypriot fanatics appear bent on a policy of genocide"; from prominent statesmen like George Ball, a United States Under-Secretary of State at the time, who wrote in his memoirs, entitled The Past Has Another Pattern, that "Makarios's central interest was to block off Turkish intervention so that he and his Greek Cypriots could go on happily massacring Turkish Cypriots" (p.64); and from the United Nations Secretary-General himself, who reported to the Security Council on 10 September 1964 that the Turkish Cypriots had been put under "veritable siege" (see S/5950 and Corr.1). The attempt by Greek Cypriot officials to brush aside 11-year-long ordeal of the Turkish Cypriots is, to say the least, outrageous. It shows their total insincerity and refusal to show any sign of remorse or an attitude conducive to reconciliation.

            Despite their bitter past experience, the Turkish Cypriot people, in stark contrast, continued to adopt a conciliatory approach and proved, beyond any doubt, their willingness and sincerity regarding a fair and just settlement in Cyprus by voting overwhelmingly in favour of your settlement plan on 24 April 2004. This declared will of the Turkish Cypriot people, as you had clearly stated in your mission of good offices report on Cyprus (S/2004/437) dated 28 May 2004, "has undone any rationale for pressing and isolating them". In the same report, you also called on the international community "to eliminate unnecessary restrictions and barriers that have the effect of isolating the Turkish Cypriots and impeding their development". We have no doubt that you are as anxious as the Turkish Cypriot side is to see that the report is taken up by the Security Council and endorsed with a resolution that would reflect the letter and the spirit of this historical document. In the meantime, however, despite the efforts of the Greek Cypriot administration to the contrary, we expect the international organisations, as well as the individual countries, to take concrete steps towards ending the isolation of the Turkish Cypriot people. Such a prospect would not only be fair and just, but would also encourage the Greek Cypriot side to see the benefits of a negotiated settlement.

            As for the Greek Cypriot representatives' utterances regarding a political settlement in Cyprus, your remark in the same report that "what was rejected [by the Greek Cypriots] was the solution itself rather than a mere blueprint) needs no further elaboration. In this context, you also stated that "if the Greek Cypriots are ready to share power and prosperity with the Turkish Cypriots in a federal structure based on political equality, this needs to be demonstrated, not just by words, but by action" and that "if they [Greek Cypriots] remain willing to resolve the Cyprus problem through a bicommunal, bizonal federation, this needs to be demonstrated. Lingering Greek Cypriot concerns about security and implementation of the plan need to be articulated with clarity and finality". To date, this call has not been properly responded to by the Greek Cypriot leadership. The failure and unwillingness of the Greek Cypriot side to do so clearly demonstrates that it is not, and has never been, interested in a mutually acceptable solution in Cyprus, despite continuously professing to the contrary.

            We only hope that the Greek Cypriot side will adopt the necessary constructive approach without further delay and, instead of impeding international efforts aimed at ending the isolation of the Turkish Cypriot people, begin to positively contribute to them, in line with your call to the international community.