Written evidence submitted by Association
of Martyrs' Families and War Veterans
In connection with the new inquiry on Cyprus
conducted by your Committee, I have the honour to enclose a memorandum
on behalf of our organization. The Association of Martyr's Families
and War Veterans was established on 1 January 1975 and has over
4,000 members. We trust that the views presented in the attached
memorandum shall be taken into due account during your deliberations.
Ertan Ersan
President, Association of Martyr's Families and War
Veterans
3 November 2004
MEMORANDUM
1. Separate simultaneous referenda were
held on 24 April 2004 in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus
(TRNC) and South Cyprus on the comprehensive settlement plan of
the UN Secretary General, the Annan Plan.
2. The plan was approved in the Turkish
Cypriot referendum by 65% of the votes whereas 76% of the Greek
Cypriot people rejected the plan. As a result, the island of Cyprus
was once again deprived of a negotiated solution by the Greek
Cypriot side.
3. As the Turkish Cypriot people we awaited
a just and viable solution for over four decades. We had overseen
the destruction in December 1963 of the bi-communal 1960 Republic
of Cyprus and were rejected by force of arms from the partnership
government.
4. Greek Cypriots abolished the Republic
on 21 December 1963 by force of arms and deprived us from our
partnership rights by exclusion. They undertook a violent campaign
of ethnic cleansing against our people between the years 1963-1974
in accordance with the Akritas Plan. The inhuman Greek Cypriot
actions were reported to the Security Council by the UN observers.
5. If a thorough research is conducted between
the years 1963-74, the UN records would officially show these
realities which culminate in nothing but genocide.
6. Greek Cypriots refused to accept our
equal rights and freedoms and pursued their aspirations to turn
Cyprus into a Greek island in the most vicious way. Turkish Cypriots
were not only driven from their homes, forced to live in small
enclaves, deprived of their basic human rights but repeatedly
subjected to violent attacks. The Turkish Cypriot people, in general,
chose to forgive and forget the agonies of the past in the name
of a better future for next generations. But we, as the families
of the martyrs, who have been left behind, still shudder with
the memories that are impossible to forget. The memories are kept
alive with the spirits of the martyrs. Their unrecognizable dead
bodies come before our eyes every single day. Our suffering is
eternal.
7. Greek Cypriot murderers believed that
Turkish Cypriots who refused to accept their absolute domination
over Cyprus deserved to die in return. They killed the unarmed,
innocent people from 16 day old babies to 95 year old grandmothers
in Aloa, Sandallaris and Maratha. Their mass graves were opened
in front of UN observers. 95% of Aloa, Sandallaris and Maratha
villages which were completely inhabited by Turkish Cypriots were
killed by the Greek Cypriot paramilitaries. Thousands more were
killed, maimed or wounded, hundreds went missing and those lucky
enough to survive the massacres were forced to live in open air
prison conditions during 1963-74.
8. If a Greek Cypriot lady named Louizidou
can demand a compensation for not being able to see her house
in Girne, then, it should be our right to demand a moral compensation
for all of these atrocities and particularly for the 127 babies
and women killed who had been living in Aloa, Sandallaris and
Maratha in peace without any defense weapons.
9. We still believe that the Greek Cypriot
genocide should have been acknowledged as it is. We should have
received some sort of compensation but our suffering was not recognised
in the Annan Plan as well. However, we know that we must look
ahead and cooperate with Greek Cypriots for a better future.
10. It was the Turkish Cypriots who voted
for "Yes" in the referandum accepting many sacrifices
such as evacuating their houses maybe for the second or third
time in 30 years. Turkish Cypriots compromised and supported the
Annan Plan so the inhuman embargoes on them could be lifted. Turkish
Cypriots wanted to join the EU. Turkish Cypriots wanted to have
unhindered relations with the world. And Turkish Cypriots wanted
a lasting settlement in Cyprus. But, Greek Cypriots rejected the
Annan Plan. They wanted to join the EU on their own and represent
us without our permission. Greek Cypriot administration claims
to be the government of the whole island and wants to solve Cyprus
question on this basis.
11. Greek Cypriot administration demands
that all Greek Cypriot refugees return to the North, they want
to get all their properties in the North, they want all Turkish
migrants to leave the island and they believe they have the right
to rule us because they outnumber us. They also claim that EU
principles and human rights dictate all these.
12. What about the rights of the Turkish
Cypriots? Most of our ex-refugees have no homes to return to even
if they wanted to. Their houses and land were either destroyed
or expropriated. Now, they must become refugees once again so
that the human rights of the Greek Cypriots are served. Turkish
Cypriots were not the attackers in the past. And now, Turkish
Cypriots are the ones who accepted to compromise to solve the
Cyprus problem. Turkish Cypriots settled and invested in the North
because they had no other chance for a secure living. Why do they
have to suffer again? Why should they give up the properties they
invested in and got attached to for thirty years? Is it not the
right approach to solve the property and displaced persons issues
without destroying the principle of bizonality and in a more humane
way? We do not object to the right of property and right of return.
But we know that they can also be recognised on the basis of compensation.
It is a more feasible and absolute solution to solve these issues
on the basis of compensation and without harming the right of
another human being.
13. Turkish migrants came to the North because
menpower was needed. They started a new life in Cyprus, had children
and grandchildren who know nowhere else but Cyprus as home. Majority
of these people have been living in Cyprus for over twenty or
thirty years. Don't they have the same right as all other migrants
who have become and are accepted as the citizens of the countries
they settled in after 5-10 years in Europe? Does human rights
and freedoms ask for their punishment simply because they settled
in a conflict island? We don't think so and hope that the EU will
not allow Greek Cypriots to cause new problems in pursuit of their
unjust demands.
14. Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots
are political equals. We have our own democratically elected representatives
and the Greek Cypriot administration does not represent us. A
divided island and an administration representing only the Greek
Cypriots entered the EU. As all Turkish Cypriots, the members
of the Association of Martyr's Families and War Veterans, are
ready to compromise for a lasting solution. But political equality,
bi-zonality and the continuation of the Treaty of Guarantee are
the principles Turkish Cypriots can not and shall not compromise
on.
15. To this day, Turkish Cypriot people
face all kinds of isolation in every aspect of life and the international
community who promised to help us, in case we as Turkish Cypriots
said "yes" and Greek Cypriots said "no", did
not do anything. We have been left outside the EU whereas the
Greek Cypriots joined the EU. They now use their new membership
to force all their demands upon us and grant us with minority
status. It is very dissapointing that the EU allows the Greek
Cypriots to stop every initiative towards correcting this injustice.
16. Turkish Cypriot people cannot and will
not bow to Greek Cypriot domination. We know that the EU and the
rest of the world do not intend to help Greek Cypriots do away
with our rights on Cyprus. We know that they share our determination
for a just, lasting and negotiated settlemet. It is for this reason
that the international community should now establish direct contact
with and support the development of the Turkish Cypriot side.
Otherwise, the Greek Cypriot leadership shall have no incentive
to stop blocking a negotiated settlemet at the cost of their people,
Turkish Cypriots and the EU.
17. The Turkish Cypriot people only ask
for their decades old unfair punishment to come to an end. We
as Turkish Cypriot people continue to be subjected to illegal
restrictions and embargoes. Our right to act and speak on our
behalf is not acknowledged. It is high time that the inhuman embargoes
imposed upon the Turkish Cypriot people are lifted outright and
the undeniable fact that the so called "Government of the
Republic of Cyprus" does not and has no right to represent
us is recognized. Only then the way to a lasting settlement in
Cyprus shall be open. Only then the EU shall be rid of the burden
of having a divided conflict island as its member.
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