Editor's Note: This is a letter from Ergun Kirlikovali, president-elect of the Assembly of Turkish American Associations, to National Journal Editor Charles Green about a recent interview with Andreas Kakouris, Cyprus' ambassador to the U.S. ("The 'Cyprus Problem,' 35 Years In," July 20).
Dear Mr. Green:
I noticed, with some disappointment and sadness, that you interviewed only the Greek Cypriot representative, but not the Turkish Cypriot representative, thus depriving your unsuspecting readers of the other side of the story on this controversial subject.
If the Greek Cypriots had accepted the U.N.-sponsored settlement plan in April 2004 -- like Turkish Cypriots did with a 65 percent "yes" vote -- instead of rejecting it decisively by a 76 percent "no" vote, the island would be united today. So, please, let's do away with the "crocodile tears" shed by Greek Cypriot representative Andreas Kakouris in his interview.
Soon after the Greek Cypriot rejection, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan himself described it as a "major setback." He went on to say, "What was rejected was the solution itself rather than a mere blueprint." He also asked the Greek Cypriots to reflect on a "bi-communal, bi-zonal federation which means not just two constituent states, but also political equality and the sharing of power." He finally called upon them to demonstrate "not just by word, but by action" if they were ready to share power with the Turkish Cypriots in a federal structure. Even Nikos Rolandis, a former Greek Cypriot foreign minister, lists 15 occasions when the Greek Cypriot side rejected proposals for a settlement.
It is a well-known fact that:
• The Greek Cypriots persecuted Turkish Cypriots during 1963-1974;
• Staged a bloody coup d'état in Cyprus on July 15, 1974;
• Kicked off a brutal ethnic cleansing campaign victimizing Turkish Cypriots;
• Ignored all pleas from Turkey, a guarantor for Cyprus per 1960 London and Zurich agreements, to cease and desist the Greek Cypriot terror and murder on the island;
• And Greece and Britain, the other two guarantors, also disregarded Turkish pleas for a joint police action to stop the bloodshed and mayhem on the island caused by a thug named Samson and his Greek Cypriots nationalist gangs (EOKA);
• Before Turks were finally left with no choice but to act alone to save their brethren, the Turkish Cypriots, from certain mass annihilation or mass exile.
• Since the July 20, 1974, peace operation by the Turkish military, there were no inter-communal warfare or mass killings in Cyprus, and this atmosphere of tranquility, enjoyed by both Greeks and Turks, is conducive to progress, prosperity, and peace.
• Turks accepted and Greeks rejected a U.N.-engineered comprehensive peace plan in 2004, showing the world once again who really wants peace and unity and who does not.
• Both the E.U. and the U.S., disappointed and even angered by the Greek rejection of U.N.-brokered peace, promised Turkish Cypriots to lift the suffocating economic embargo but failed to keep such promises since 2004.
• While Greek cultural presence is protected in the North, Turkish/Ottoman cultural heritage is systematically eradicated in the South.
Sincerely, Ergün Kirlikovali
President-Elect Assembly of Turkish American Associations
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