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Professor Mahmut
Esat Ozan has been the rare, tireless voice in the United States, putting up
his dukes in the sea of Turcophobes for many years. Here is a commentary that
appeared in The Turkish
Forum. (July 19, 2002)
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| CYPRUS
HAD NOTHING BUT PEACE THE LAST 38 YEARS |
On July 20, 1974, 38 years ago today with the intervention of their brothers from the
north Turkish Cypriots were saved from total annihilation at the hands of the perpetrators
of the infamous 'AKRITAS PLAN.**' Listen to what Kufi Seydali, M Sc., DIC and member of
the Turkish Forum Advisory Board has to say on the subject. A Turkish-American with
Cypriot roots himself , Kufi Seydali has been writing numerous articles on the subject.
Most of his clear and concise arguments appeared online in the Turkish Forum . The latest
one is no exception. Here is a short but meaningful passage of what Kufi has been saying
all along. The following are his words"
"In view of the Greek Cypriot Administration's participation in international
organizations as the "Republic of Cyprus" and its accession to certain
international platforms, the World is asked to be fully aware of what kind of
establishment the Greek Cypriot administration truly is: This is an administration which
has practiced
ethnic cleansing and all forms of violence, oppression and discrimination against the
Turkish Cypriots between 1963 - 1974. In July 1974, Turkey was the only Guarantor prepared
to put an end to the above mentioned injustice and today she is blamed for doing so and
also punished for her continual support of the Turkish Cypriots. God bless Turkey and her
courageous armed forces for enduring so much hardship and for so long - all in the name of
humanity and justice."
Although I've been writing for years on the variations of the theme at hand, the 'Cyprus
Problem,' I could never consider any amount of words written to be adequate on this
subject. No expanse of articulation is consummate enough for the defense of the rights and
prerogatives of the descendants of the brave Turks who shed their precious blood for the
acquisition of the island from the Venetians. Nowadays, some people, who have no access to
these historical facts, are given the opportunity to talk over and over again, until they
are blue in the face, with a bunch of prevarications. But still that doesn't make them
right. To be exposed to the truth may perhaps stop them from using their Machiavellian
tactics and methods of deliberately clouding the issues and continuing to act like the
spin doctors that they are.
The Byzantine intrigues of the past centuries ingrained into the propaganda machines of
Greece and of Greek Cyprus are well documented. They operate live, 24 hours a day, week
in, week out, holidays included. Their operation is not limited to Greece, to Greek Cyprus
or even to Europe itself. They are backed by a powerful Greek lobby entrenched in the
bowels of the U.S. Congress, fortified by the follow-the-leader actions of a slue of
jelly-fish-like U.S. legislators, who attach themselves to these lobbyists in the same
manner as the lamprey fish, who live off the sharks of the deep blue sea.
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I always felt this subject worthy of reiteration. It is a fact that if we do not
work hard enough, or if we slow down on our job of educating the uninformed, or if
we falter in our determination in no matter how short a duration it may be, our
traditional enemies will take advantage of the lull, and inflict upon us great
injury.
As in the past, they are once more bringing their 'big guns' to Greek Cyprus, to
indoctrinate the local Cypriots, and to intimidate the 'free thinkers of the world.'
This is how they've been able to alter the American and international public
opinion, and obtain and secure the support of people who do not know the whole
story.
One of the big guns alluded to above, is His Excellency, the President of Greece,
Kostis Stephanopoulos. He showed
up unannounced, in the Greek Cypriot section, one day, several months ago, in order,
perhaps, to direct the world's attention away from the internal Greek governmental
problems, mostly with the deadly terrorist group known as the 'November 17 Brigade',
and the dangers it represents for the upcoming 2004 Summer Olympics. That's where
the real danger is lurking and it is worrying the mainland Greek government. Mr.
Stephanopoulos, in his official Press conference in Nicosia, had said the following,
"CYPRUS IS GREEK.' He then implied that it was also an integral
part of Greece of today.
As the first Greek President to visit, officially, the southern part of the island,
he received an enthusiastic welcome from the local Greek Cypriots. They took him
along to pay a visit to the tomb of the late Greek Cypriot President Makarios. As if
he were oblivious of the fact that it was the Turks who had saved Makarios and his
wretched government from annihilation in l974, President Stephanapolous remained
vociferous against the Turks. He had conveniently forgotten that the Turkish
intervention that year had thwarted the planned coup by the Greek Junta in Athens,
and foiled the annexation plans of the proponents of ENOSIS, temporarily at least.
At any rate, Greeks should have shown some
small inkling of gratitude towards the Ecevit government which saved Makarios from
death, and brought down the repressive rightist Greek Generals in Athens, and thus
allowed Greece to return to democracy.
(I have always been of the opinion that the then Turkish Prime Minister, Bulent
Ecevit, should have ordered the Turkish liberation forces to advance 10% more inland
so that in the future he could have had in Rauf Denktas' hand a bargaining chip in
dealing with the intransigent Glafcos Clerides.)
Stephanopoulos, after having received the Makarios medal of honor, continued to
distort history by declaring, "CYPRUS
IS GREEK. It is so," he said, "because Greece is supporting and helping
Cyprus." He added "CYPRUS IS GREEK, and we are not alone in saying that.
It is history which declares it so."
The arrogance and the impertinence of those pronouncements have to be fought word
for word. This conceit and usurpation of the truth by Greek officials, may they
operate in the arena of politics, diplomacy, or within the confines of the military,
they have to be kept in check. A few times in the past, I tried to expose the
anti-Turkish attitudes and the virulent animosity towards Turks of some of these
prominent Greeks and Greek Cypriot leaders, such as Papandreou, (the father of the
present FM), Karamanlis, Kaklamanis, Simitis, Kranidiotis, Vassiliu, Clerides, and
especially the owner of one of the foulest mouths the international
diplomatic corps has ever known, the profane former Greek Minister of Foreign
Affairs, Theodoros Pangalos, to whom the Turkish Media had , at one time, deservedly
affixed the nickname of 'Dangalos,' and the Germans enjoyed labeling him as
'mentally unstable.'
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| 345 YEARS OF CONTINUOUS TURKISH RULE ON CYPRUS |
With all due respect to the Greek President Stephanopoulos, and to Glafcos Clerides, I
must say that they may be living in an illusion. It is the same 'fuzzy logic' which allows
all Greeks to rationalize that Cyprus is a Greek island. No history book shows that it
ever was, not even for one single solitary day. It belonged to the Ottoman Turks, 'lock,
stock, and barrel,' for a period of 345 long years until the end of the First World War.
In fact, prior to the Turks' acquisition of it, following lengthy bloody naval battles
with Venetians, just 40 miles off the Turkish coast, in l570 AD, the same island of Cyprus
belonged invariably to several nations. Oddly, the name of Greece does not show up among
them. Those who owned Cyprus chronologically were the following:
The Assyrians, the Sumerians, the Phoenicians, the Egyptians, the Persians, the Romans,
the Arabs, the Venetians, and the Ottoman Turks. But, as mentioned earlier in this essay,
it has never been the possession of the government of Greece. Furthermore, Cyprus is
located hundreds of miles from the Greek mainland, whereas the
close proximity of it makes it almost an extension of the Anatolian coastline, and it will
always remain also an extension of the Turkish heartland despite the machinations of a few
misguided people who don't know what they're talking about.
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