Turkish tanks landed on the northern shore west of Kyrenia and quickly drove out the weak Cypriot armed forces from the northern part of the island. Within two days they had taken Famagusta. The Turkish air force bombed the helpless town. The entire Greek population, fearing massacres at the hands of the invaders, fled south to the areas beyond the reach of the Turkish army. Evidently to show the Greek Cypriots who was the new boss in town, the Turks sealed off the wealthy tourist area of Famagusta altogether, denying civilians access. The new ghost town was filled with valuable Greek property, including homes and luxury hotels. It had been the capital of the Cyprus tourist industry, thereafter forced to relocate to the south. The artifacts and museum of the ghost town were looted.
Meanwhile, Turkish tanks rolled onward until Turkey had conquered exactly half of the Cyprus capital of Nicosia. There it erected a wall running through the center of the city, a wall still standing — many years after the similar wall in Berlin fell. To cow the Greek Cypriots of southern Nicosia, the Turks created the world’s largest flag on a mountainside facing the city. Other Turkish flags fly over the northern half of the city, and Nicosia mosque minarets are said to have their volume dials turned to the maximum just to antagonize the ethnic Greeks beyond the wall.
The wall of occupation running through central Nicosia does not attract “solidarity” protesters or leftist professors from the West. They are too busy denouncing and attacking Israel for building a security fence around Jerusalem to keep Palestinian suicide bombers from mass murdering Jewish children. No Rachel Corries come to Nicosia to defy the Turkish occupation army. They know they would be jailed without hesitation in a nice Turkish Midnight Express, or worse.
Countless UN resolutions since 1974 have demanded that Turkey leave the island and restore property stolen by Turkey to Greek Cypriots. The same Turkish government that regularly denounces Israel for daring to defend its own civilians from Arab terrorists and for otherwise disregarding anti-Israel world opinion, has never paid those UN resolutions any mind.
The Turkish pilliagers of Famagusta, the Turkish occupiers of northern Cyprus, are angry at occupation. But only by Israel. They send “peace flotillas” filled with armed terrorists to challenge the closure of Gaza by Israel, but never question the closure of Famagusta’s ghost town. Turkey demands a right of return to Israel for “refugees” claiming to be “1948 Palestinians” (never mind the twenty-two Arab states in which the same “Palestinians” can live comfortably), but refuse to even take under consideration a right of return for Greek Cypriots to their own property lost in 1974.
Turkey insists that “Palestinians” be granted statehood and “self-determination,” while refusing to allow Turkish Kurds, Armenians, Assyrians, Greeks, Bulgarians, Azeris and others to exercise any of it, even in the form of limited language autonomy. While Arabs living in Israel enjoy levels of freedom a hundred times better than Turks living in Turkey, the Turkish government continues to denounce Israel for its oppression of Arab “human rights.” Recently, on the very day when Turkey murdered 120 Kurds, it denounced Israel for “war crimes,” supposedly committed when the Israeli army invaded Gaza in response to the thousands of rockets fired at Israeli civilians.
The respect for human rights in Turkey is only notable for its absence. Kurdish, Armenian, and other ethnic minorities have been forcibly Turkified. Religious minorities, such as the Alevi, are persecuted. Censorship is commonplace. Kurdish areas have been subjected to martial rule.
The operations of the Turkish military against the Kurds make Israel’s recent incursion into the Gaza Strip (in operation “Cast Lead”) look like a May Day picnic. Until 2003, it was forbidden to speak Kurdish on the radio or television; the Kurdish alphabet still cannot be used. The state of human rights in Turkey, according to numerous human rights NGOs, continues to be atrocious. Women in Turkey are mistreated; until very recently women students applying to universities had to pass a virginity test. The Turkish military police routinely kill civilians. Journalists have been assassinated. Islamofascism is growing stronger and local Islamic fundamentalist terrorists filled the Gaza “peace flotilla” sponsored by Turkey. Those are the terrorists whose suppression by Israel has now become the focus of Turkey’s demand for an Israeli apology.
When Israel invaded Gaza to put a stop to massive rocket attacks against its civilians by Hamas terrorists, the Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan denounced Israel for supposedly “massacring innocent women and children.” He repeatedly accused Israel of “mass murder” in Gaza. Erdogan ranted at length about how Israel had turned the Gaza Strip into an “open-air prison.”
But, in fact, the largest ongoing “open air” human rights violation and crime against humanity is on display for all today, behind the barbed wire and fences of the ghost town of Famagusta.
II fills like the writer is very biased.
What a mentality…….. they think it is same
if you fence an area with no people in it or with starving people who had to dig tunnels to smuggle food and basic needs.
They also think that it is ok you get the criminal to investigate it own criminal activities and produce reports.
It is same if you have Kurds or Armenians go around freely without any checkpoints without
anybody knowing where they are from or like in Israel going through millions of checkpoints everyday..
As far as I know Turks took 33% percent of the island which are legally owned, that is on paper.
Which also include the land which are taken from Turkish Cypriots by force and intimidations since 1950s. This is not same as the Israelites taking land from the people who are already living there for hundreds of years,
Come on what kind of mentality is this . Somebody had to do something about this
By the way I am not a Turk or a Cypriot.
Yes, we know you are a semi-literate Arab fascist
Thanks to Steven Plaut for this very interesting post, particularly the historical summary. However, I was surprised when I read the account of Muhammad's mother, i.e., in every other account I've read concerning this woman it is recorded that she, Amina, died when M. was about six years old and she was buried in Mecca. Subsequently it is reported, and I believe in the Koran, that Muhammad, after he attained power and occupied Mecca, that he refused to visit his mother's gravesite. Furthermore, Mr. Plaut's post said Muhammad's Mom accompanied a raid on Cyprus. This is really strange as the Arabs could only have attacked Cyprus long after Muhammad died in 632 because, as we know, the barbaric Arabs did not leave their Arabian Peninsula sanctuary and commence attacking the world until Muhammad died at age 62. How old was this 7th Century woman during this raid on Cyprus………? OK, now what? Can anyone help me with this or if Mr. Plaut is monitoring his post perhaps he could offer his thoughts. Thanks.
That is the story I was told by Cyprus guides, but I grant you that the history might be wrong
Excellent history lesson unknown to most Turks. I know, last year I worked with one who only knew that Turkey was only protecting Cypriot Turks
I guess united nations put peace agreement on the table for both nations a few years ago, Guess who rejected the deal. The greeks ! They dont want to live with the Turks under equal partnership and That's why turkey invaded nort cyprus to protect its own people's rights 30 some years ago. Otherwise turkish people would be greeks' slave by now .
Please dont confuse this situation with Israeli Palestinian conflict. Turkish people showed willingness to live with greeks , But israelis did not.
If you know Turkish history then none of this is a surprise. How many know that the Turks killed 1.5 million Armenians in WW1? My father was in the death march into the Syrian desert. Fortunately he survived, but many of my relatives were murdered. To this very day Turkey denies their genocide of the Armenians. The Turks are beyond hypocrisy, they are evil.
Turkey is cynically and hypocritically criticizing Israel…
Turkish government, has demolished hundreds of Kurdish villages, deprived the Kurdish people of their freedom for a hundred years and eliminated thousands of them brutally, not to speak of the Armenian genocide which remains as a stain on their national conscience, and which they continue to deny instead of repenting, paying indemnities and beg for forgiveness. They have even threatened to recall their Ambassador from Israel, as if his presence here were a favor and grace. What happened to turkey? Consult : http://israelagainstterror.blogspot.com/2009/10/h…
An ever rising Turkey will create huge problems to her neighbors !They need to be vigilant as Turkey is on the march to revive the ottoman empire where the slaughter of the Infidels ,the kidnapping of children for their army and their harems devastated the enslaved nations.Greece if it were not for the Muslims, would have been a nation of >200 million people ,as many as the Arabs are today!.Study history or else you are condemend to relive it!
Fact is fact and simple. Prior to the 1974 invasion the Turkish Cypriot population owned about 12% of land. Now it's 36% due to the invasion. Therefore 24% was stolen so the Turks must give it back. Simple.