Letter to The Financial Times, October 19, 1999

Please find below:

(1) A letter by the American Hellenic Media Project (AHMP) to The Financial Times;

(2) The Financial Times article that was responded to: "CYPRUS: Settlement sought to end 'myth'";

(3) A shorter version of AHMP's letter forwarded to The Financial Times;

(4) The letter published by The Financial Times in its Letters section, authored by Yorgos Tahtsidis, Executive Director of Diaspora Inc.;

(5) A form letter sent by the Editor in response to letters expressing concern about the biased nature of the article; and

(6) E-mail and fax contact information for The Financial Times.

(For "fair use" and educational purposes only)

(1)

American Hellenic Media Project
PO Box 1150
New York, NY 10028-0008
ahmp@hri.org
www.ahmp.org

via fax & e-mail: 011-44-171-873-5938

(the longer of two letters)

October 19, 1999

To the Editor of The Financial Times:

Rather than dispel some of the myths that have surrounded the Cyprus tragedy, Leyla Boulton appears to have invented some of her own (Cyprus: Settlement sought to end "myth", Oct. 18).

Ms. Boulton erroneously asserts that Turkey's two 1974 invasions of Cyprus were launched "to protect the Turkish Cypriot minority from a Greek Cypriot coup". Inter-communal fighting had ended years before the invasions and after Turkish Cypriots had seceded into autonomous enclaves.

The Greek-backed coup which served as the pretext for Turkey's invasion was an attempt for control of Cyprus' government and not a campaign to attack Cyprus' Turkish minority -- Turkish Cypriots were neither harmed nor targeted during the failed coup. Moreover, Turkey's second invasion was launched despite the fact that Cyprus' constitutional government, and thus a return to the status quo, had been reinstated.

Within a matter of weeks Turkey's invasion killed exponentially more Cypriots than all the years of inter-communal skirmishing combined. "Operation Attila", as Turkey's military called its peace operation, had little to do with protecting Turkish Cypriots and everything to do with ethnically cleansing 200,000 of the island's indigenous Greek population through the use of killings, rapes and mass executions to wrest control of the island's north.

Pretexts invoking the protection of Cyprus' Turkish minority from imminent destruction had not figured prominently into arguments justifying the invasion until years later -- after memories had faded and after careless or unscrupulous journalists had rewritten history to accommodate the West's current policy of appeasement towards Turkey.

A more genuine portrayal of the Cyprus tragedy would have indicated that the motivations behind the invasion were largely strategic and not humanitarian. That Turkey's invasion had little to do with any genuine concern about Cyprus' Turkish minority is demonstrated by the fact that the importing of Turkey's culture of repression and of thousands of settlers has resulted in the flight of up to half of Cyprus' Turks seeking greater political and economic freedom elsewhere.

Very truly yours,

P. D. Spyropoulos, Esq.
Executive Director

________________

The American Hellenic Media Project is a non-profit organization created to address inaccuracy and bias in the media and encourage independent, ethical and responsible journalism.

(2)

The Financial Times

Monday October 18 1999

World News / Europe

CYPRUS: Settlement sought to end 'myth'

EU and US are pushing for reconciliation between Greeks and Turks, and may secure it, writes

Leyla Boulton

Shiny clocks at the Toros Trading car showroom display the time in Nicosia, Tokyo, New York and London. But more often than not, time appears to have come to a stop on the divided island of Cyprus.

Twenty-five years after Turkey occupied the northern third of the island to protect the Turkish Cypriot minority from a Greek Cypriot coup, the south continues to elect mayors for towns it no longer controls in the north.

Turkish Cypriots are stuck in timeless limbo by sanctions extending from exports of citrus fruit to visits by football teams even from Turkey, the only country which recognises the breakaway Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.

The rest of the world, meanwhile, continues to see the Greek Cypriot administration in the south as the island's only legitimate government. This angers Turkish Cypriots, who argue that they were forced to go their own way, under Turkish protection, after Greek Cypriots unpicked power-sharing arrangements set up when Cyprus gained independence from Britain in 1960. Dozens of villages were destroyed and hundreds of Turkish Cypriots killed by Greek Cypriots in the process.

"The world lives in mythology when it looks at Cyprus and sees only one government," says Rauf Denktash, the veteran 75-year-old Turkish Cypriot president. He promises that a settlement is possible "tomorrow" if the world first acknowledges "the reality" of his government before he enters talks sought by the United Nations.

Western diplomats say Mr Denktash's demand for a form of recognition of his state, however vague, poses the trickiest hurdle to restarting 36 years of on-off negotiations. But if negotiators can come up with what one EU diplomat described as a "magic formula" to bring the Turkish Cypriot leader to the negotiating table, a settlement finally may be within reach - formally dividing the island into two entities but delegating common powers to a single government.

The trigger for diplomats' admittedly cautious optimism is the recent rapprochement between Greece and Turkey. The traditional foes have a renewed interest in solving the problem, as do the EU and the US, the two most powerful outside parties to the dispute.

EU diplomats say some sign of progress on Cyprus would ensure Turkey finally gains candidate status at the European Union summit in Helsinki in December. Greece is keen to appear co-operative in traditional areas of disagreement with its EU partners - which have included the Cyprus issue - as part of its efforts to secure membership of the euro-zone, even if it does not quite meet the strict fiscal and monetary criteria set by the Maastricht treaty.

After starting accession negotiations with Cyprus under Greek pressure, the EU itself is desperate for a reconciliation in order to avoid admitting a divided island as a member.

President Bill Clinton, who visits Turkey and Greece next month, wants to notch up another foreign policy success before leaving office.

In an attempt to explore opportunities for a deal, Al Moses, Mr Clinton's special envoy, is expected in Cyprus this week after visiting Ankara and Athens.

The prize for Turkish Cypriots - whose per capita income has fallen to less than a third of that of Greek Cypriots - would be an end to sanctions secured largely by Greek Cypriot legal action, as well as even greater prosperity from membership of the EU.

Mr Clinton took a first step in addressing Turkish Cypriot feelings during last month's visit to Washington by Bülent Ecevit, the Turkish prime minister, who ordered the Turkish intervention in 1974. By declaring, in a fairly obvious statement of fact, that there could no be no return to the pre-1974 status on the island, Mr Clinton delighted Ankara, moderately impressed Mr Denktash and infuriated the Greek Cypriots, who claim the island's troubles started with the Turkish invasion.

But if the search for a settlement stalls and the EU ends up admitting only the Greek Cypriot part of the island, Mr Denktash, who describes Turkey as his motherland, appears happy with the fallback option of integration with Ankara.

Compatriots such as Fikri Toros, the 37-year-old director of Toros Trading, say this would be "neither our choice nor our desire". Others - particularly older Turkish Cypriots who have a keener sense of a separate identity from mainland Turks - argue that the longer there is no agreement, the more likely a merger with Turkey will emerge of its own accord.

The most crippling effect of the sanctions is a brain-drain of educated young Turkish Cypriots who cannot find decent jobs on the island, while unskilled jobs are increasingly filled by uneducated immigrants from Anatolia.

"Unless Greeks change their policies, the quick pace of demographic change on the island means there will no Turkish Cypriots for them to talk to in 20 years' time," argues one Turkish Cypriot.

(3)

American Hellenic Media Project
PO Box 1150
New York, NY 10028-0008
ahmp@hri.org
www.ahmp.org

via fax & e-mail: 011-44-171-873-5938

(the shorter of two letters)

October 19, 1999

To the Editor of The Financial Times:

Rather than dispel some of the myths that have surrounded the Cyprus tragedy, Leyla Boulton appears to have invented some of her own (Cyprus: Settlement sought to end "myth", Oct. 18).

Ms. Boulton erroneously asserts that Turkey's 1974 invasion of Cyprus was launched "to protect the Turkish Cypriot minority". Inter-communal fighting had ended years before the invasion and after Turkish Cypriots had seceded into autonomous enclaves. The Greek-backed coup which served as the pretext for Turkey's invasion was an attempt for control of Cyprus' government, and Turkish Cypriots were neither harmed nor targeted.

Given that Greece's sizeable Turkish minority has enjoyed far greater political, civil and economic rights than Turks in occupied Cyprus and Turkey, apologists of the invasion should be hard-pressed to argue that, had Turkey not invaded, Cyprus' union with Greece would have resulted in the destruction of Cyprus' Turkish minority. A more genuine portrayal of the Cyprus tragedy would have indicated that the motivations behind Turkey's invasion were strategic and not humanitarian.

Very truly yours,

P. D. Spyropoulos, Esq.
Executive Director

(4)

Wednesday, October 27, 1999

The Financial Times

Comment / Letters

CYPRUS: Turkey must accept rule of law

Sir,

Leyla Boulton's article "Settlement sought to end 'myth' of a single Cyprus", (October 18) presents a biased interpretation.

The fact is that Turkey illegally and unjustifiably invaded an independent nation, and shows continuous disrespect for international law.

Turkey now has to take its last chance to join the European Union. It needs to take concrete steps to show if it accepts European norms such as human rights and the rule of law.

Turkey has to deal with the Kurdish issue in a civilised manner and it has to accept the rule of law concerning the invasion and illegal occupation of Cyprus.

As shown in the statements of Turkish prime minister Bulent Ecevit during his visit to Washington, the position of Turkey regarding all of the above has not changed.

He stated again that there are two sovereign nations in Cyprus and that "good neighbours resolve their differences through discussions amongst themselves before going to court".

In other words, law is irrelevant and the issue should be politicized.

Yorgos Tahtsidis, Executive Director
Diaspora Inc.
2480 16th Street, NW
Apt.427
Washington, DC 20009
US

(5)

26th October 1999

Thank you for your letter about Leyla Boulton's recent report on Cyprus. Your letter comes as a salutary reminder of the acute sensitivities that continue to be aroused by the Turkish presence on Cyprus.

I was concerned to read your allegations of bias and have accordingly considered your criticisms very carefully. The points you make are good and interesting ones and add to a perennially troubled debate.

But taken as a whole, I do not believe our article was grossly unbalanced. We do, however, believe in giving readers a say. So I will be publishing one of the many letters I have received about this. I have chosen the one which seems to explain most clearly the full range of Greek Cypriot views.

I hope that will reassure you that we are being fair.

Yours sincerely
Richard Lambert, Editor
Financial Times

(6)

Contact information for The Financial Times (London, UK):

letters.editor@ft.com

Fax for letters to the Editor (if dialing from the U.S.): 011-44-171-873-5938

Note: share your letter to The Financial Times with Lobby for Cyprus, which launched an international letter-writing campaign in response to Leyla Boulton's advocacy piece, and with AHMP by carbon copying (cc:ing):

admin@lobbyforcyprus.org; ahmp@hri.org

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