Media watch

The Times
Turkey's accession to the EU (Letter by Martin Packard)
"Sir, Whitehall’s over-ardent lobbying for Turkish assession to the EU has not only flown in the face of popular EU opinion but has almost certainly been counter-productive and done a disservice to Ankara. It has, not surprisingly, been widely seen as principally designed to further British interests: the blocking of any EU movement towards federalism and the maintenance of a British imperial presence in Cyprus." read more>

Cyprus Weekly
British MPs back one Cyprus, reject Annan Plan
"Members of the British and the European Parliaments from all parties strongly supported the reunification of Cyprus as a single state, rejecting the partitionist provisions of the Annan Plan during the various events staged here this week to mark the anniversary of the Turkish invasion and occupation. MP Simon Hughes, the Deputy leader of the Liberal Democrats, told me that "the UK as a guarantor (of Cyprus independence) has an obligation to help restore a united Cyprus. We did not guarantee two, we guaranteed one Cyprus."" read more>

Cyprus Weekly
The Geneva Conventions, Turkey's violations, international toleration and Cyprus's inactivity
"Turkey has been found guilty repeatedly by the European Court of Human Rights of the far more serious violation of ethnic cleansing of the Greek Cypriot population of the occupied north of the island, not to mention the even more serious war crimes of mass executions and rapes also attested by the Rights Court." read more>

Cyprus Weekly
Weston slammed for blaming Greek Cypriots
"NICOSIA yesterday hit back at former US envoy Tom Weston for blaming Greek Cypriots over the failure of a Cyprus settlement saying he was a key player in ensuring the Annan Plan met Ankara’s every demand." Read more>

Guardian
Europeans reject Turkey, poll shows
"Turkey's campaign to join the EU suffered a blow yesterday when a survey found that only just over a third of Europeans back its membership... The opposition in Europe's two German-speaking countries and France was reflected in the poll. Austria led the way, with 80% of those questioned opposed to Turkish membership. This was followed by Germany (74%) and France (70%)." read more>

Greek Cypriot
"...the objective of the Turkish side is the political upgrading of the pseudo-state, the dissolution of the Cyprus Republic, the creation of two separate legal entities and the maintenance and deepening of the division..."
Cyprus President Tasssos Papadopoulos, on 31 years of Turkish invasion and occupation, 14 July 2005

"Turkey occupied 37 percent of the territory of Cyprus and carried out the greatest national cleansing campaign, in relation to the size of the population, in modern European history."
George Georgis, Ambassador of Cyprus to Athens, 16 July 2005

UK
"... had he [Annan] been more closely involved in the details, [he] would not have wished his name to be historically associated with such departures from international law and human rights standards.

"...a significant opportunity to reach an agreed settlement was lost as a result of the conduct of the UN Secretariat, advised by the USA and the UK.''

"The Secretariat sought to mislead the international community through the Secretary-General's Reports and briefings it prepared, so as to pressure a small state effectively to accept the consequences of aggression by a large neighbouring state allied to two permanent members of the Security Council.''
Claire Palley, Constitutional Law adviser to Cypriot governments since 1980, in 'An International Relations Debacle', 2005

Athens News Agency
Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974 the biggest crime in Europe in second half of 20th century, Cyprus envoy says
"... Turkey occupied 37 percent of the territory of Cyprus and carried out the greatest national cleansing campaign, in relation to the size of the population, in modern European history. Georgis reminded that the rejection of the Annan plan by 76 percent of the people of Cyprus was not a denial of the solution. It was the denial of the acceptance and legalisation of the invasion's fait accomplis." read more>

Kathimerini
Cypriots observe 31st anniversary of island’s division
"Since Cyprus’s EU accession, Papadopoulos has been telling the European body that any reunification must comply with basic EU laws and principles, particularly the right of citizens to move freely and live and work anywhere within the Union. This would automatically clear the way for the refugees return." read more>

Cyprus Weekly
31 years on, Tassos insists: rights remain a must for Cyprus settlement
"... the objective of our side is a mutually acceptable, viable and workable settlement, while the objective of the Turkish side is the political upgrading of the pseudo-state, the dissolution of the Cyprus Republic, the creation of two separate legal entities and the maintenance and deepening of the division of the geographical space, of society, the economy and the institutions... the Turkish side remains immovable in its positions and attached to all the many advantages that the Annan Plan has offered unjustly and inexcusably to the Turkish Cypriot community and to Turkey, ignoring the just and logical demands and concerns of the Greek Cypriot side... Thirty-one years since then, the wounds remain open and painful. Enslaved towns and villages, an occupation army and swarms of settlers, refugees, missing and the enclaved keep these wounds open and prolong the terrible drama of our martyred people... if absolute justice is unfeasible under the circumstances, this does not mean that basic law cannot apply and be implemented in the case of Cyprus." read more>

Cyprus Weekly
Palley brands Annan Plan a "fiasco''
"The Annan Plan is "a fiasco'' designed specifically to legitimise the consequences of the Turkish invasion and occupation of north Cyprus... Palley is categorical in rejecting the plan even as a basis for negotiation... UN Secretariat's conduct on the Cyprus negotiations... "exceeded proper limits... The Secretariat sought to mislead the international community through the Secretary-General's Reports and briefings it prepared, so as to pressure a small state effectively to accept the consequences of aggression by a large neighbouring state allied to two permanent members of the Security Council''... the continuing perseverance of the United States and Britain, who are regarded as the real authors of the plan... "a significant opportunity to reach an agreed settlement was lost as a result of the conduct of the UN Secretariat, advised by the USA and the UK''... the long-standing UN policy of seeking to balance Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot interests "was abandoned in pursuit of extraneous aims''... "The UN Secretariat's behaviour and that of some permanent members of the Security Council should worry persons concerned with conflict-resolution issues wherever they may arise"... concerned by the slanted portrayal of the talks by the UN Secretariat, "an institution which the world presumes to be authoritative and impartial''... "Annan... would not have wished his name to be historically associated with such departures from international law and human rights standards... Annan's call to other states to end the "isolation" of the breakaway Turkish Cypriot state "is beyond the scope of the Secretary-General's good offices mission and is also in direct contravention of Security Council resolutions and international law.""

Cyprus Weekly
The concept of equality in the Annan Plan
"At no point in the negotiations was the ratio of the Greek-Cypriot and the Turkish-Cypriot populations (82%-18%) taken into account. The same approach and philosophy seemed to feature in the entirety of the Annan Plan... the recent decision of the European Court for the Protection of Human Rights in the Xenidi-Aresti Case ... in which it was said that “... the fact that both communities were treated as having equal status in the negotiations leading up to the referendums, does not entail recognition … or confer statehood…” to the regime in the occupied part of Cyprus." read more>

Cyprus News Agency
Cyprus' House denounces coup and invasion
"The House observed a one-minute silence in memory of those killed defending democracy and the country... "only with a realistic discussion of the Cyprus problem, aiming at serving the interests of the people of Cyprus and not those of the US, Britain and Turkey, would a reunification solution be achieved, which is the only true memorial for the thousands of Cypriots who fought and sacrificed themselves for a truly free Cyprus."...''after 31 years of violent division Cyprus and the Turkish Attila continues to tread our land, while all those appearing to be guardians of international principles and values, and the international order, turn a blind eye in this case, leaving Turkey to continuously behave lawlessly against Cyprus.''... the events of 1974 ''indicate the diachronic role of the US and Britain in the Cyprus problem and their systematic efforts to make Cyprus and its people easy prey,'' from 1958 to 2004, when the Greek Cypriot community rejected the UN proposed plan for a settlement ...''the permanent expression of the aggressive plans of the US and Britain against Cyprus and its people is the preparation of and effort to impose secessionist plans.'' read more>

Cyprus Weekly
No confirmation over remains
"THE government cannot confirm reports that the skeletal remains of 60 Greek Cypriots declared as missing are being temporarily stored in the basement of the Turkish Cypriot ‘foreign ministry’." read more>

Rally for Cyprus
Saturday 16 July at 6pm
Annual demonstration
Trafalgar Square
Organised by National Federation of Cypriots
Please note there will not be a march through London this year as previously advertised.

CYPRUS The Turkish occupation continues
Why are we demonstrating?
In 1974 Turkey invaded Cyprus, illegally dividing the island and committing war crimes and mass human rights abuses. Hundreds of thousands of Greek Cypriots were ethnically cleansed by the Turkish army. We are protesting because Turkey still maintains its illegal occupation, violating international law and United Nations resolutions that demand the withdrawal of the Turkish army and the return of Greek Cypriot refugees.... read more>

Lobby for Cyprus seminar
Thursday 14 July at Theatro Technis, London
Four key milestones and their impact on modern Cyprus
Lobby presents a seminar consisting of four talks from distinguished speakers on key years in the recent history of Cyprus.
1954 - A pivotal point in political history
by Dr Klearchos Kyriakides
1964 - The crucial moment: myth and reality
by Lt Cdr Martin Packard RN (RETD)
1974 - US Interests, British acquiescence and the invasion
by Dr William Mallinson
2004 - The Annan plan and the future
by Costas Frangeskides
read more>

Vigil for Cyprus
Wednesday 20 July at 3pm-6pm, Downing Street (on Whitehall)
Let Tony Blair know you are disappointed with his policies on Cyprus
Join us in calling for the reunification of Cyprus and an end to the continued violation of the human rights of the people of Cyprus by Turkey.
read more>

Rally for Cyprus
Saturday 16 July at 4.45pm
Annual demonstration
Victoria Embankment to Trafalgar Square
Organised by National Federation of Cypriots

Media watch
Guardian
Buyer beware: how the bottom fell out of the Cypriot holiday dream
"As ever more Greek Cypriots, exploiting EU law, launch legal proceedings for properties they were forced to abandon during the 1974 Turkish invasion, many of these UK citizens have discovered that their title deeds are worthless... Alarmed by the leap in claims, the Foreign Office urged would-be British buyers to seek independent legal advice before entering into any deal... In a landmark case with possible repercussions for thousands of UK property owners, Linda and David Orams, an East Sussex couple, lost their appeal against a court order, issued in the Greek-run south, to demolish their villa and return the plot to Miltiades Apostolides, its original owner, who says he still has the title deeds 30 years after fleeing the north... The Orams face the prospect of having their home in Hove seized... But Greek Cypriots, heartened by support from the European court of human rights, show no sign of backing down. For them, the new settlers are the owners of ill-gotten gains... "The original owners never stopped having legal title to their land," said Kypros Chrysostomides, a spokesman for the Cypriot government. "What all these people have done is not only immoral but illegal."" read more>

Property rights updated section>

Cyprus Weekly
Turkey beefs up US weaponry in Cyprus
"CYPRUS yesterday denounced Ankara for bolstering its occupation forces with upgraded US-made weaponry... Nicosia will also protest against the "provocative" presence of Turkish war ships off the Famagusta coast... 16 US M-48 tanks, six armoured vehicles (MII3) and 18 M115 artillery pieces were off loaded in the north between May 16-31... Nicosia has previously protested to the EU against the Turkish army’s "transfer to the occupied north fully-equipped and modernised US-made tanks and a significantly large number of armoured personnel carriers."... Turkish occupation forces have three times the number of tanks than the National Guard... Turkey maintains more arms and troops on the island in 2004, than it did in 2000... In the past, Washington has pressured the government to remove a meagre stockpile of US-made weapons given to it by Greece... Turkey has a huge arsenal of American hardware on Cyprus but escapes censure... The number of tanks stationed in the north has risen by 67% since 2000 and APCs are up by 74%."" read more>

Cyprus Weekly
Government rejects allegations in Amnesty International report
"The government has rejected allegations made by Amnesty International claiming that there was no freedom of speech and alleging intimidation attempts during the period before last year’s referendum on the Annan Plan... Government Spokesman Kypros Chrysostomides said there were such accusations against the government at the time, "which however were, and still are unfounded and do not respond to reality."... The report avoided any reference to Turkey’s responsibility for the violations of fundamental human rights in Turkish-occupied north Cyprus, or of Turkey’s refusal to fully implement the judgements of the Human Rights Court of the Council of Europe that support the right of the Greek Cypriot refugees to return and to regain their properties."" read more>

Cyprus Weekly
Sales of GC properties in north slashed
"SALES of Greek Cypriot property in the occupied north have been slashed by half this year over last, thanks to a government campaign warning foreign nationals of the legal troubles they could face, Interior Minister Andreas Christou said... the campaign’s central message was that selling off property in the north is of no benefit to either community as it would complicate settlement efforts. "...these actions are illegal, they poison the atmosphere and create more problems in the search for a Cyprus solution,"... Nicosia has mounted an international diplomatic offensive to persuade foreign governments that property sales in the north are in breach of international law and UN resolutions... "Foreigners are responsible. We should send the message that this country is not for sale," said Christou." read more>

Cyprus Weekly
US Congressman's monumental impertinence
"Edward Whitfield, the leader of the US Congressional party that visited the Turkish-occupied north this week, had the monumental impertinence to criticise President Papadopoulos and Greek Cypriots in general for insisting on the withdrawal of the Turkish mainland settlers introduced to the north in the wake of the 1974 invasion and occupation, as demanded specifically by Security Council resolutions... He deliberately ignores the fact that the introduction of the settlers to the occupied north is a deliberate attempt to change the demographic composition of the island, and as such a violation of the Geneva Convention and a war crime... Do you see the point Mr Whitfield or are you just as blind and deaf as the Turkish government when it comes to respecting the demands of the Security Council and international law?"" read more>

Cyprus Weekly
Shocking revelation over refugees’ right of return
"Didier Pfirter, the Swiss legal adviser to Alvaro de Soto during the drafting of the Annan Plan, disputed the right of the Greek Cypriot refugees to return and to regain their properties... What is remarkable about this claim is that Wildhaber made this statement at a time when the case of Cyprus against Turkey was about to be heard by the Court." read more>

Cyprus Mail
Congressmen’s illegal visit will be remembered at election time
"...the illegal visit by American Congressmen to occupied Cyprus. Whitfield, Deal and Johnson must have forgotten that Cyprus was invaded and occupied by Turkish troops with USA weapons, these Turkish soldiers raped, killed, and made 216,000 Cypriots refugees in their own country. Today there are still 40,000 Turkish troops in occupied Cyprus. The Congressmen have endorsed the invasion and have supported the transfer of illegal Turkish settlers to the occupied area by visiting the occupied north illegally... for Cyprus, the Congressmen and Bush are hypocrites!" read more>

Cyprus Mail
Government hits back at Amnesty criticism of referendum campaign
"THE GOVERNMENT yesterday hit back at Amnesty International’s latest report on Cyprus, which suggested that freedom of expression had been suppressed in the run-up to last year’s referendum on the Annan plan... Government Spokesman Kypros Chrysostomides denied the accusation yesterday, saying there had been complete freedom of discussion on the Annan plan. He said there was no evidence that the situation as described in the Amnesty report had actually occurred... He said Amnesty was merely reporting on the basis of articles in the press in Cyprus and abroad, not reporting proven incidents based on first-hand information... “There was complete freedom of expression and discussion on the Annan plan in all sectors,” Chrysostomides said." read more>

Cyprus Mail
Italian’s one-man hunger strike against division
"“This border is racist. That is why I am protesting against it... I am making a big sacrifice here, and all I want is a small sacrifice in return: I want [Turkish prime minister Tayyip] Erdogan symbolically to remove one soldier from the island as a gesture of peace.”"" read more>

Cyprus Mail
British fugitive on arrest warrant over massive development in north
"A EUROPEAN arrest warrant and Interpol ‘red bulletin’ has been issued against Gary Robb, one of the north’s most notorious British fugitives, for carrying out construction projects on Greek Cypriot-owned properties, according to reports in the Turkish Cypriot press yesterday." read more>

Cyprus Mail
32,000 passports for Turkish Cypriots
"... state services have issued 32,200 passports, 63,600 birth certificates, and 57,300 identity cards to Turkish Cypriots..." read more>

Cyprus Weekly
Appeal to deaf ears?
Tassos urges panEuropean conference for action on Rights Court verdicts
"...There is an urgent need for restoration and respect for the human rights of all Cypriots. It is my firm belief that the contemporary aspirations of the parties involved in the Cyprus problem can and should contribute towards the restoration of human rights on the island." President Papadopoulos also stressed that "the execution of all judgements, within a reasonable time frame is indispensable to the credibility of the (Human Rights) Convention... Failure to address this effectively will undermine the achievements of the last 50 years and put at risk the very foundations of European human rights protection..." read more>

Cyprus Weekly
Warsaw summiteers stress Human Rights basic for Cyprus settlement
"A Cyprus settlement must also be based on the respect of values and human rights principles that the pan-European summit conference staged here this week and must be promoted throughout Europe... CoE Secretary-General Terry Davis... summed up the general feeling in connection with a Cyprus settlement most aptly by saying only that "the judgements of the European Court of Human Rights must be implemented. Full stop!... "Respect for human rights is necessary both for the successful conclusion of the Cyprus talks, and for their start," said Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski... Greek Prime Minister Costas Caramanlis echoed this view declaring that "it is imperative that the judgements of the Rights Court are executed immediately, fully and unconditionally by all member states." Any failure to comply, as in the case of Turkey which refuses to implement Court decisions dealing with the Greek Cypriot refugees right to restitution, "puts at risk the credibility of the Court," Caramanlis added." read more>

Cyprus Weekly
Greek Cypriot gets top UK government post

Cyprus Mail
Help me get the settlers out
"AN ELDERLY Turkish Cypriot man yesterday appealed to the Cyprus government to help him remove a family of Turkish settlers from his home in north Nicosia... Dervlis Niayazi, 74, told reporters he wanted to bring his case before the European Court of Human Rights." read more>

Cyprus Mail
President: ECHR needs to rethink rulings procedure
"PRESIDENT Tassos Papadopoulos yesterday urged European leaders to re-evaluate the practical execution of judgements by the European Court of Human Rights, saying it was an urgent task..." read more>

Cyprus Mail
Government fury at Congress visit to the north
"THE government has made strong representations to the US over a planned visit by a group of Congressmen to the north of the island, calling the move provocative and insensitive... the visit violated Security Council resolutions, provoked public sentiment and followed a series of other unacceptable moves by the US “that aim at upgrading the status of the illegal Turkish Cypriot occupation regime... It is unacceptable to sacrifice international law and small states for the sake of political expediency.”" read more>

Cyprus Weekly
Double talk from Rehn
"But if Turkey has to comply with the Court's verdict on the Ocalan case, because the Court is "a fundamental implementor of Human Rights and the rule of law,'' why doesn't this apply equally in the case of Cyprus? It can only be said that Cyprus is dismally disappointed with this double-standard approach and the insistence by the EU Commission that politics take precedence over the decisions of the Rights Court. Why have a court in the first place, if this is the case?" read more>

Cyprus Weekly
US Congressmen warned over using Tymbou
"Ambassador Mark Parris told the Subcommittee that favourable decisions on American use of the Incirlik air base and granting a lucrative contract to giant US defence contractor Lockheed, gives Ankara leverage to lean on Washington to keep its word helping the Turkish Cypriot community" read more>

Cyprus Weekly
New council to fight for refugee rights
The CDRC made it clear it would back action by refugees for the restitution of their property rights before the European and other human rights courts. It asked all persons whose property has been usurped by the Turkish occupation authority in the north to contact it for this purpose. The council also warned foreigners who have bought refugee property in the north without the consent of the owner of the grave consequences of their action and of the prospect of being forced to pay heavy compensation for "dealing in stolen property." These foreigners must realise that action may be taken against them "as receivers of stolen property,'' before any court in the European Union, and the imposition of heavy fines on them for their illegal action." read more>

Guardian
Cypriots battle over luxury real estate
"Europeans who long bought property in northern Cyprus at bargain prices – often land confiscated from Greek Cypriot refugees who fled after a Turkish invasion 31 years ago split the island – now face the prospect of losing it because of Cyprus' entry into the European Union... The invasion forced nearly 200,000 Greek Cypriots to leave their homes in the north and 40,000 Turkish Cypriots to relocate there from the south. More than 150,000 settlers from mainland Turkey also have arrived in intervening years, taking over Greek Cypriot properties in violation of the Geneva Conventions. Now British newspapers are warning citizens not to buy in northern Cyprus... The London Observer wrote in a full page report that buying such holiday property "could become a legal and financial nightmare. Recent court rulings by the Human Rights Court of the Council of Europe and a Greek Cypriot court have reaffirmed the property restitution rights of Greek Cypriot refugees... Before the Turkish invasion of 1974, 82 percent of northern Cyprus territory was Greek Cypriot-owned and 16.5 percent Turkish Cypriot, according to Cypriot government statistics." read more>

British policy towards Cyprus: a pre-election assesment
British released documents for 1974
The 1974 British Foreign Office and Ministry of Defence documents released on the 1 January... expose beyond any doubt the partitionist British policy followed before, during and most importantly right after the Turkish invasion, a policy that inevitably led with mathematical accuracy to the Annan plan today... they eagerly promised to help Ecevit proceed with the invasion when they agreed to prevent Greece from rushing troops in aid of Cyprus. read more>

Quotations update:
"I could not help reflecting wryly that had we been honest enough to admit the Greek nature of Cyprus in the beginning, it might never have been necessary to abandon the island or fight for it. Now, it was too late!"
Lawrence Durrell, Director of Public Relations for the British colonial government in Cyprus, 1957, in his book 'Bitter Lemons of Cyprus'

Media watch
Agence France Presse
Briton held for Cyprus land ad
"A Briton living in the south of Cyprus has been arrested and charged with involvement in the illegal sale of Greek-Cypriot property in the island’s Turkish-occupied north... The suspect was charged with illegally advertising on the Internet the properties of Greek Cypriots displaced by Turkey’s 1974 invasion... Authorities also issued warrants for the arrest of the two other Britons who own the real estate firm." read more>

Guardian
Forgotten holocaust
"...between 1915 and 1923 the Ottoman Turkish authorities orchestrated the killing of 1.5 million Armenian Christians... Henry Morgenthau, then US ambassador to Istanbul, reported "cold-blooded, calculating" slaughter... Turks should no more be allowed to deny their responsibility than Germans for exterminating Europe's Jews. (Hitler, whose crimes areremembered, once scornfully asked who remembered the Armenians)." read more>

Guardian
Armenians look to Bush to step up pressure on Turkey over 1915 'genocide'
"International pressure on Turkey to recognise the 1915 massacre of more than one million Armenians as genocide is mounting on the eve of the 90th anniversary of the start of the killings." read more>

Times
'Mothers threw their children in the lake rather than let the Turks have them'
"...90 years after Ottoman troops began the slaughter of up to 1.5 million Armenians... a growing number of Western governments are rejecting the official Turkish line. A European diplomat described it as “baloney”... “It is a just claim of the Armenians that Turkey’s entrance into the European Union should come after admitting genocide... The event is recognised as genocide by 15 countries including Russia, France and Switzerland, but not by Britain or the US.”" read more>

Cyprus Mail
Cyprus hails EU deal as triumph
"CYPRUS yesterday won an important battle in Brussels, managing to include for the first time two references in an EU document which can be used to pressure Turkey into recognising the Republic of Cyprus... Britain, backed by Italy, had blocked the common position in Tuesday’s Association Council" read more>

Cyprus Mail
‘Don’t cave in to the Annan plan’
"“We feel the need to remind some people, especially abroad, that the Cyprus Republic is part of the EU. It seems that some people haven’t realised that fact yet and that is why they are trying to reintroduce the Annan plan despite the fact that it is against basic principals of the EU and the Constitution. Three in four Cypriots turned the plan down so why is it being reintroduced?” Iosiphides blasted the Annan plan as racist: “We call on a just and viable plan based on the principals of the EU and under the wing of the UN without the violations of human rights." read more>

Cyprus Weekly
EU’s blunt message to Turkey: Normalise!
"THE European Union yesterday urged Ankara to normalise relations with the Republic of Cyprus... The Luxembourg draft had hung in the balance because of reported objections by London and Rome to references on Cyprus they saw as too demanding on Ankara." read more>

Cyprus Weekly
Message to Talat: Act like a European, if you want to join the EU
"...what Talat and those who voted for him in the occupied north mean by "rights'' is completely different from what the Greek Cypriots mean, or what the judgements of the Human Rights Court of the Council of Europe, the EU acquis, International Law and the UN Security Council resolutions lay down... Greek Cypriots, as the victims of the ethnic-cleansing war crime carried out by Turkey, are even more anxious for a "just solution" and the protection of their "rights," than the Turkish Cypriots and the tens of thousands of illegal Turkish mainland settlers introduced to the occupied north who voted for the Annan Plan because it legitimises the expulsion of the Greek Cypriots and the usurpation of their homes and properties." read more>

Cyprus Weekly
Settlement must comply with EU Constitution says Iacovou
"THE adoption of the Constitution of the European Union will prove of major importance for Cyprus since any settlement of the Cyprus problem must comply with it's provisions, Foreign Minister George Iacovou said yesterday... ""The EU Constitution lays down some standards that no negotiator and no third party may ignore. Consequently the (Cyprus) settlement that will be reached cannot derogate from these basic standards and fundamental principles of the Union. I would say that this is what is essentially meant by what is described as `European settlement of the Cyprus problem.''" read more>

Cyprus Weekly
Court upholds property judgement against the Orams
"...European arrest warrants are for the first time coming in to play to prevent the arbitrary sale and development of Greek Cypriot property in the north without the consent of the rightful owners... Turkey, against which the claims were mainly filed, had at its disposal a huge legal, financial and public relations arsenal that called for coordinated action on the Greek Cypriot part... In her decision Judge Efraim demolished one by one all the defence arguments of the British couple, including one that the Greek Cypriot owner had voluntarily abandoned his property..." read more>

Cyprus Weekly
Diaspora ‘a superpower’ says Skandalakis
""I believe that when the giant called overseas Greek and Cypriot is awaken and given the necessary tools, they can achieve a lot."" read more>

Cyprus Mail
Britain blocks EU missive on Turkey
"BRITAIN, followed by Italy, yesterday blocked the “common position” which the EU was going to issue at the Association Council with Turkey... " read more>

Cyprus Mail
Refugees file for European arrest warrant against British estate agent
" The petition concerns 42-year-old Mark Unwin of Guildford, Surrey, who started Unwin Estates along with his wife Hayran in December 1999... Refugee Christos Mazios said he visited his orchard in Ayios Epiktitos near Kyrenia three weeks ago and found out that Unwin estate agents were working on a project on his property.... “You feel bad when a foreigner comes and builds on your property without you giving permission,”... could not understand how a British citizen could come to Cyprus and violate Greek Cypriot properties... " read more>

Cyprus Mail
Government refuses to recognise elected Kormakitis mukhtar
" “The policy, originally, was to get rid of the Maronites ...Now that the Turkish Cypriot authorities realise that eventually they will die off, they leave them in peace.” In 1974, thousands of Maronites streamed across the Green Line, leaving their homeland for an uncertain future in the south after Turkish troops invaded northern Cyprus. “1974 turned the whole community into refugees,” said Antonis Hajji Roussos, the Maronite parliamentary representative. “Gradually, everyone left and only the old people remained.”" read more>

Armenian Press
Turkey's promises to open archves are empty promises, Swedish professor says
""I have no other choice but see upon the promise of opening the archives by the Turkish authorities as nothing but empty words, so I have decided to take up the issue with our foreign minister and submitted a written application..."" read more>

Guardian
Britain ups the heat on Cyprus
"Greek Cypriot spokesmen complain that their government is being punished for opposing the Annan plan last year... The Greek Cypriots' objections include the plan's acceptance of Turkish troops in the north, unsatisfactory provisions on Greek Cypriot property rights, and the status of an estimated 120,000 Turkish settlers... Soteris Georgallis of the Cyprus high commission said a solution could be found. But his government would resist pressure for "illegal" trade and air links with the north, if necessary through the European courts." read more>

BBC
N Cyprus property row hots up
""I was in the national guard service. About 50 people from my engineering regiment were captured. Only 18 survived..." Mr Apostolides says he wants a solution, but believes the building boom in the north is erecting another obstacle... He says he hopes the Orams case will make foreigners think twice... The British parliament's Foreign Affairs Select Committee warned this month that British citizens intending to buy property in northern Cyprus "risk exposing themselves to legal action by Greek Cypriots who may be the rightful owners of those properties"... But if the courts uphold their original judgement, lawyer Mr Candounas says he will use Cyprus' new EU membership to try to have the judgement registered in the UK, and will go after the Orams' assets there." read more>

Cyprus Mail
UN investigates attack on elderly enclaved woman
"UNFICYP is investigating a break-in and attack on a 75-year-old enclaved Greek Cypriot woman in the Karpasia village of Leonarisso in the early hours of yesterday... the woman was brutally beaten by three intruders and then robbed." read more>

Cyprus Mail
Turkey welcome’s Straw comments on trade and direct flights
"TURKEY has welcomed comments by British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw earlier this week calling for direct trade and flights to the north... he said, adding that the British government has no intention of contravening international law." read more>

Cyprus Mail
UK developer ‘unaware complex was on Greek Cypriot land’
"THE HEAD of the UK-based Lewis Trust Group (LTG) that has taken over a project to turn a 270-donum plot of Greek Cypriot-owned land in the Karpas peninsula into a high-class tourist resort says he did not know the land on which he will build was Greek Cypriot." read more>

Cyprus Mail
Rights court delivers new blow to Turkey
"THE European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has ruled that a ‘compensation commission’ set up by the Turkish Cypriot regime cannot be an effective domestic remedy in addressing Greek Cypriot refugee claims, opening the doors to a flood of court cases against Turkey... lawyer Achilleas Demetriades said “It is of great importance because the way is still open for applications against Turkey.” In its decision, the Third Section of the ECHR observed, among other things: “The composition of the commission raises concerns, since, in the light of the evidence submitted by the Cypriot government, the majority of its members are living in houses owned or built on property owned by Greek Cypriots.”... Turkey was last year forced to pay $1.1 million to Loizidou, as compensation for the loss of use of her property in Kyrenia. Until then, it had been refusing to comply with the judgement of the ECHR for five years. It is still refusing to implement a second court decision regarding Loizidou: the freedom to enjoy her property... The latest ECHR decision is set to affect hundreds of cases pending before the court... He said the creation of the commission was clearly a political act and not a domestic legal remedy in line with the articles of the European Human Rights Convention." read more>

Cyprus Mail
Commission raps Ankara over protocol
"THE European Commission has made it abundantly clear to Turkey that it cannot annex a statement that it does not recognise the Republic of Cyprus to the protocol extending the Ankara Agreement (customs union) to all 25 member states. It has given assurances to the Cyprus government to this effect, sources told the Cyprus Mail... Ankara is refusing to allow Cypriot ships to dock at its ports and the use of airports by Cypriot airplanes" read more>

Sunday Mail
Fed up with British policy
"I am getting very annoyed with the current British government in constantly downplaying the wrongful actions of Turkey and the Turkish Cypriots... but still Turkey will not recognise the Republic of Cyprus... Britain, as a guarantor power under the 1960 Cyprus agreement and an EU member, should be putting more diplomatic pressure on Turkey to recognise the Republic and for Turkey to withdraw its troops from the island and take back all their illegal settlers that are sitting on Greek properties if any future fair deal is reached... Instead, the current British government is so hell bent on admitting Turkey into the EU it wants quick fix solutions such as the Annan plan, which meets all of Turkey’s requirements, and is putting pressure on the Greek Cypriots to accept any loose-worded deal that pleases Turkey... Anyone would think that Britain has zero unemployment, that it needs thousands of Turks who will end up on their shores in search of better work opportunities if and when they join the EU. Instead of defending a fellow EU member state in the Republic of Cyprus, the British government chooses to appease the Turks with every chance they get... In the end, the British people should be asked in a referendum whether they want the Turks or not in the EU. Turkey needs the EU more than the EU needs Turkey." read more>

Cyprus Mail
North tourism posters vandalised in London
"Under a picture of a sandy beach with the slogan ‘North Cyprus, a sanctuary of unspoiled beauty', vandals scrawled ‘Until the Turks came along’... Similar posters were banned from the capital's buses after London Mayor Ken Livingstone received complaints from members of the Greek Cypriot community who found them offensive..." read more>

Cyprus Mail
Matsakis takes his protest to British bases on EOKA day
"Matsakis, well-known for his anti-bases protests in the past, said that the British were behind everything negative that was happening to Cyprus both within Europe and in the UN. He said it was time for them to pack up and go home." read more>

Cyprus Mail
Cyprus celebrates start of EOKA struggle
"VETERANS of EOKA, the National Organisation of Cypriot Fighters, will today celebrate the anniversary of the start of the uprising from British colonial rule, with a series of events in the capital." read more>

Cyprus Weekly
Human Rights, Annan, Cyprus and the Turks
"What is even more incredible, however, about this whole sorry mess is that Annan also ignores his own advice to the UN to make human rights defence more effective and credible by including a special provision in his Cyprus... plan that specifically rules out the right of the Greek Cypriot refugees to apply to the Human Rights Court for the restitution of their rights!" read more>

Cyprus Weekly
Talat's arrogance
"... what Talat is saying is that since Turkey holds absolute sway over the occupied north, "Might is Right,'' and to hell with international law and respect for human rights, these are legal issues that have no bearing on the political issue!" read more>

Cyprus Weekly
Brave words by Levent [Turkish Cypriot journalist]
"It is worth noting that Talat's claim that it is the Turkish Cypriot themselves who administer the northern part of Cyprus is rejected by Sener levent, the outspoken editor of the Turkish Cypriot daily newspaper Arfrika who is being persecuted and jailed for insisting that it is not the Turkish Cypriots who rule the north, but Turkey...
Levent argued that "we (the Turkish Cypriots)... loot the territory we occupy in the north since 1974. We brought over from Turkey more population (settlers) more numerous than our own population... The one who have the most title deeds and collected the most applause was the party of Talat. Does this people (the Turkish Cypriots) like the sale off of its motherland. Instead of demanding an explanation from those who gave away as a gift this land to the people they brought from abroad, they rewarded those who did this by making them their rulers." read more>

BBC
Cyprus advert is banned on buses
"Posters advertising northern Cyprus as a holiday resort have been banned from London buses after complaints. Some London-based Greek Cypriots, still angry over the 1974 invasion by the Turks, found the adverts offensive... Many Greek Cypriots say the properties they were driven from are being used as holiday homes." read more>

Evening Standard
Holiday ads banned from buses
"Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkish forces invaded the north... Greek Cypriots, who control the remaining two thirds of the island, claim their illegally-annexed properties are being used as holiday homes." read more>

Reuters
Turkish Rights Group Says Abuses Still Widespread
"Human-rights abuses including torture and curbs on freedom of expression remained widespread in Turkey in 2004 despite a flurry of EU-inspired reforms, a leading Turkish rights group said on Friday... "Torture is still very widespread, the right to life still cannot be guaranteed and (freedom of) thought continues to be criminalised and punished,"..." read more>

Reporters Without Borders
Press freedom threatened by new criminal law as journalists are mired in legal cases
" Another controversial article, 305, imposes a prison sentence of three to 10 years and a fine for any claim relating to the "Armenian genocide" or "withdrawal of Turkish forces from Cyprus," seen as being contrary to fundamental national interest. The sentence can be increased to 15 years if the claim is made in the press. Dozens of journalists have been imprisoned in the past for simply expressing an opinion on these questions." read more>

Agence France Presse
U.S. Ambassador to Turkey Eric Edelman resigns from his post
"critics denounced Edelman's remarks as interference in Turkish affairs, some going so far as to call on the government to declare him persona non grata." read more>

Cyprus Mail
Ken Livingstone bars ‘TRNC’ ads in London
"The decision was taken on the basis that the advertisements could cause offence to a large segment of the population. There are around 200,000 Greek Cypriots living in London." read more>

Hellenic News of America
Syria Out of Lenanon – Turkey Out of Cyprus
"The failure to call for the removal of Turkish troops from Cyprus is a striking example of the double standard in Turkey’s favor. It is particularly distressing as the Turkish troops which invaded Cyprus caused substantial loss of lives, huge destruction of property and 200,000 Greek Cypriot refugees. Today, Turkey’s armed forces occupy 37.3% of Cyprus. The reasons to call for the removal of Turkish troops from Cyprus are as compelling, and more so, than getting Syrian troops out of Lebanon." read more>

Sunday Herald
Tortured minds
"For a government which desperately wants to join the European Union, the Turks have an unfortunate penchant for arresting their political opponents. It doesn’t take much to put you on the wrong side of the law here. One of the charges against Ragip Zarakolu is of insulting the memory of Kemal Ataturk, founder of the modern Turkish state, who died in 1938. In mature democracies such as our own, where Blair-baiting and royalty-ribbing are the media’s favourite bloodsports, half the nation’s press would be in Pentonville if such a charge existed." read more>

Cyprus Mail
Tassos: bad solution a recipe for disaster
"“The need for an urgent solution in Cyprus does not override the need for a correct solution,” said Papadopoulos. “We are seeking the solution in earnest but we cannot sacrifice the essence of the problem to the urgent need to find a settlement. We cannot accept a distorted settlement with the illusion that we shall prevent the worst. The worst will follow the bad. A bad solution in Cyprus is the safest guarantee for the worst. Commenting on the prevailing view in the international community that he does not want a settlement, Papadopolous said the Greek Cypriot side would never tire of its readiness for a correct, workable and viable solution through substantive negotiations. Papadopoulos said that even if others tried to stop the Greek Cypriots from saying ‘no’, “we neither can nor have the right to say ‘yes’ to any settlement, which would seemingly close the question of Cyprus but in reality would open the way to a multitude of problems”." read more>

Cyprus Mail
Refugees band together to protect properties
"... law suits will be filed against anyone deemed to be taking advantage of Greek Cypriot property without entitlement... scores of refugees have already started collecting dossier evidence to incriminate those illegally using their property in the north." read more>

Cyprus Weekly
Iacovou's address to UN Human Rights Commission `Human Rights not negotiable'
"RESPECT for Human Rights, and action to end their violation, cannot be watered down because of the passage of time, Foreign Minister George Iacovou told the United Nations Human Rights Commission in Geneva this week, which strongly criticised the refusal of the European governments to censure Turkey for its continuing gross violation of human rights in Cyprus for the past 30 years. Human Rights do not tarnish, or suffer corrosion with the passage of time, and if this happens it is because the international community was indifferent, incompetent, or at any rate unable to provide effective remedies or to offer restitution, Iacovou said. He added that in the case of Cyprus "political considerations have been principally responsible for the lack of progress in the restitution of the human rights of Cypriots.'' ... "The protection and promotion of human rights are non-negotiable and cannot be sacrificed in favour of political considerations and expediencies." read more>

Cyprus Weekly
Cyprus welcomed to EU defence
" The ministers stressed that the EU now has its own European Defence force and can operate independently of NATO. This made it possible to include Cyprus and Malta in the EU defence arrangements, over-riding the previous Turkish objections when EU defence was tied to NATO." read more>

Cyprus Weekly
The EU Commission and Human Rights
"Quite apart from its internal situation Turkey is burdened by a far heavier human rights guilt as a result of its war crimes in Cyprus and its blatant refusal to comply with the numerous judgements of the Human Rights Court of the Council of Europe." read more>

Turkish Daily News
Why are we frightened of minorities?
" These people [Greeks and Armenians] either donated their property to their churches, or the churches themselves purchased it. In time, we seized some of it, and for the rest we banned them from hammering even a single nail. We made them incapable of doing anything... A group of women hold a rally. It doesn't matter what the rally is about. They are just voicing their opinion... Do you think they deserved to be attacked violently, pulled through the streets and get their faces smashed? Did they have to be treated this way? Who is ordering the police to do such things? What kind of people are in charge of these policemen? What happened to Turkey adhering to the Copenhagen criteria? read more>

Washington Times
Cold Turkey
"No one noticed as Turkey, an erstwhile ally, nabbed the gold medal recently in the global anti-American stakes." read more>

BBC
Police brutality endangers Turkey's EU bid
"... continuing police brutality and torture, Christian minorities still lack rights, and writers who speak out of turn on the issue of Armenia are criminalised... Denmark's Berlingske Tidende says "the version of Turkey which beat down a women's demonstration in Istanbul using ridiculously violent means is not a nation which belongs in the modern European community"... "The Turkey we saw has no place in the EU. This has to be made crystal clear to Turkish politicians"." read more>

Financial Times
Turkey accused of misleading EU over resettlement
"Turkey's government was accused on Monday of misleading the European Union about progress made in resettling nearly 400,000 people displaced by the civil war between the army and Kurdish separatists in the 1980s and 1990s... Rachel Denber, acting executive director of Human Rights Watch's Europe and Central Asia division, accused paramilitary village guards of "attacking and killing" returnees in some parts of the region." read more>

Cyprus Mail
EDEK sets sights on British Bases
"EDEK honorary chairman Vassos Lyssarides fired a warning shot to Britain yesterday that its actions were not going unnoticed on the non-payment of rent for use of the British Bases on the island and the pressure applied over the Annan plan... Cyprus had international law and the European courts at its disposal to question whether Britain has kept to its obligations from the Treaty of Establishment... “this behaviour does not go unnoticed, that this Parliament has sensitivities and will discuss all the legal means at its disposal to defend against such a hostile policy from a country that is responsible for our troubles, even though it took on the responsibility to protect the integrity and security of Cyprus and enjoys so many benefits from Cyprus.”... “Blackmailing that they would punish the people with separate economic relations with the breakaway state,” he said... Failure to protect the integrity and security of Cyprus “constitutes a violation of the Treaty of Establishment and Guarantee,” said Lyssarides... “Regarding the position of the Bases, I do not have to say that under international law no country is permitted sovereignty over land that is beyond their borders,” he added... all agreements were binding and called on Britain to keep to its obligations." read more>

Bloomberg
EU Criticizes Police, Says Turks Must Implement Laws

Reuters
EU raps Turkey on police violence

Cyprus Mail
US report a blatant threat

Cyprus Mail
‘We will block Turkey over protocol’

Cyprus Mail
Tassos: mediator tried to impose ’easiest solution’ on us

Cyprus Mail
‘As long as the arms belong to Turkey, we’re not doing anything wrong’ US stands firm on tanks delivery to north

Cyprus Mail|
Government tells US to butt out

US State Department briefing for journalists

Cyprus Mail
Tassos stands firm against Famagusta proposal

Cyprus Mail
Raid on Greek class in north

Cyprus Mail
Tassos: Turkey will come round sooner rather than later

Cyprus Mail
EU tells Turkey to sign protocol

Turkish Daily News
Another charge filed against writer Orhan Pamuk
"Writer Orhan Pamuk allegedly says, "30,000 Kurds and 1-million Armenians had been killed in Turkey," a statement argued to constitute a crime according to the Turkish Penal Code. "Almost no one dares to speak out this but me, and the nationalists hate me for that."" read more>

Cyprus Weekly
Wise words by Annan
"UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan declared this week that it is the absolute right of the people of a country to adopt their own constitution. There must be no attempts by outside powers to impose anything the people do not like, he added." read more>

ILLEGAL ENTRY: The US trade delegation disembarks at the illegal Tymbou airport in the occupied north
""...the visit was an “illegal action that violates UN resolutions and Cyprus law."... "completely contrary” to UN resolutions and every legal principle... "This action was taken under the false pretext of lifting the isolation of the Turkish Cypriots, even though it is well known that this isolation is owed to the attitude of the occupation regime and certainly not the attitude of the Greek Cypriots"... "Nicosia had every right to take legal action against the "lawbreakers" under numerous bilateral agreements with Washington"... "overtly provocative act" that was being "tolerated and perhaps abetted" by Washington ..." read more>

Cyprus Mail
Famagusta group lobby MEPs for town’s reopening

Cyprus Mail
Visit to the north roundly condemned
"President Tassos Papadopoulos said: "Such actions cause ill will among the Cypriot population and do not contribute by any means improving relations between Cyprus and the US, nor create the necessary climate for efforts to reunify Cyprus... Today Turkish Cypriots, as indigenous residents are European citizens," he said. "If a separate state is created they would automatically lose this privilege that is theirs through the Cyprus Republic under our own efforts and at our expense". Angelides said entry to the island from airports in the north constituted a penal offence with a prison term of between one and three years. He said Cyprus was legally entitled to ask the US for explanations and if it deemed necessary to issue arrest warrants through the EU, which could be executed in the US."
read more>

Wall Street Journal
COMMENTARY: The Sick Man of Europe – Again
"On a brief visit to Ankara earlier this month with Undersecretary of Defense Doug Feith, I found a poisonous atmosphere -- one in which just about every politician and media outlet (secular and religious) preaches an extreme combination of America- and Jew-hatred that (like the Turkish artists) voluntarily goes far further than anything found in most of the Arab world's state-controlled press. If I hesitate to call it Nazi-like, that's only because Goebbels would probably have rejected much of it as too crude... Forgotten have been decades of U.S. military assistance. Forgotten have been years of American efforts to secure a pipeline route for Caspian oil that terminates at the Turkish port of Ceyhan. Forgotten has been the fact that U.S. administrations continue to fight annual attempts in Congress to pass a resolution condemning modern Turkey for the long-ago Armenian genocide. Forgotten has been America's persistent lobbying for Turkish membership in the European Union." read more>

NTV MSNBC
European Council calls for religious reforms in Turkey
"... the public and the media in Turkey held an attitude that looked down upon minorities. In Turkey's schools books, especially those referring to the Armenians and Greeks, had humiliating and slanderous statements in them, the report said, adding that Turkey should see these elements of society as being part of its cultural wealth. The report also cited instances of some people being attacked for being Jewish and that some parts of the Turkish media made anti-Semitic statements." read more>

Cyprus Mail
'Annan is not being objective'
"THE GOVERNMENT yesterday described as partial the UN Secretary-General’s call on the Greek Cypriot side to make known what changes it sought on the Annan plan, insisting that the international community was well aware of Greek Cypriots’ concerns." read more>

Turkish Daily News
A Briton who regrets ever coming to Turkey
"The Parish family, after retiring in 1997, sold everything they owned in Britain and moved to Milas. They bought 800 square meters of land and built a house there. Five years later, the Turkish state knocked on their door. Since then, their life has been a living hell." read more>

Cyprus Mail
'Turkey hasn’t changed a bit'
"TURKISH Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul’s criticism of DISY leader Nicos Anastassiades comment that some Turkish troops should be removed from Cyprus showed that Turkish policy has not changed, the government said yesterday." read more>

Cyprus Mail
'Cypriots have feelings and dignity'
""Britain must understand that Cypriots have “feelings and dignity”, which they stand up for, and he called on the British ''to stop challenging the feelings of the people of Cyprus on a daily basis, for our benefit and theirs... In an effort to make her [Britain] understand that, while choosing Turkey over Cyprus, she must understand that the Cypriots have feelings and dignity, which they cannot but stand up for"... If the Greek Cypriot side was now seeking changes to the Annan plan, this was because so many of the plan’s provisions "bore Britain’s fingerprints, and in particular those of Lord David Hannay, who now comes up with books from which to hurl his thunderbolts at us," he said referring to Hannay’s book launch on Monday..." read more>

Cyprus Mail
'Britain is our nemesis'
"Christofias was fiercely critical of Britain, which he described as "Cyprus' longtime nemesis". The communist party leader went on to accuse the British government of deliberately trying to undermine the Republic of Cyprus in its efforts for a just and viable settlement. Asked yesterday how Cyprus could break the former colonial power’s hold, Christofias said few doubted Britain’s nefarious role. "Even within the British Parliament there are many who agree with this analysis," he added. Throughout the post-war period, Cypriots had been trying to struggle against "Britain’s efforts to maintain Cyprus for its military purposes"... Christofias added Britain had played a part in all the critical junctures of Cyprus’ history, in 1960, 1963 and 1974, accusing London of exploiting rival nationalisms for its own purposes of divide and rule... the AKEL chief said Britain was using its leverage to promote an EU directive authorising direct trade with the breakaway regime in the north. "This is because they want to enforce use of the illegal airports and ports in the north, bypassing the legitimate government of the Republic... those who sneakily shift responsibility for a new initiative on our side" to turn to Turkey instead, adding that Ankara’s stance was key to progress. He also warned of a concerted effort to discredit the Greek Cypriot side, charging the United States of colluding with Britain in a Machiavellian approach to the Cyprus issue... "bear in mind the hostile statements and threats issued at Cyprus both before and after the referenda." ... According to the AKEL boss, the powers at be in the United States have been striving to extract from the UN Secretary-general a report that would render Security Council Resolution 541 null and void. That resolution designated the breakaway regime as illegal, and called on all UN members to refrain from any dealings with it... Similar sentiments were echoed yesterday by EDEK chairman Yiannakis Omirou, who asserted that “those who claim that Turkish Cypriots are isolated should be ashamed of themselves... How can they say that, when Turkish Cypriots are entitled to free health care, have identity cards issued, and thousands of them are employed in the south?... To claim that we are responsible for the Turkish Cypriots’ economic or other isolation is intolerable hypocrisy... We shall not submit to pressure, and we shall certainly not consent to our own undoing."" read more>

Cyprus Mail
Turkish Cypriots supply new map of mass graves
"TURKISH Cypriot authorities have supplied the CMP (Committee for Missing Persons) with a new map showing the location of seven sites with multiple graves, in the wake of the Trachonas village fiasco. The sites are at the villages of Lapithos, Karavas, Sisklipos, Koutsoventis, Kythrea, Strongylos and Tripimeni. They span the Kyrenia district and part of the Mesaoria plain." read more>

Cyprus Mail letters
Foreign vultures must leave Cyprus to solve its own problems
" The fact is the so-called peace plan would have relegated Cyprus to becoming some kind of protectorate, to existing upon the good will of countries like the UK, Turkey and ultimately (behind the scenes) the so-called freedom loving nation of the USA... If you want to envisage life under a United Cyprus Republic as that version, which was forced on the people of Cyprus, go to Episkopi RAF base and see that it is nothing but an American base in all but name. The same goes for Lefkoniko base in the occupied areas. Freedom, it seems, is only available to those who don’t have the misfortune of living in a strategic area or one that is rich in oil." read more>

New Statesman
Arrested without reasonable cause
"In 2002 the European Court of Human Rights, ruled against Turkey ... Turkey was yet again found to be a torturing nation... It had been hoped that Turkey's proposed membership for the European Union might lead to an improvement of its disastrous track record, especially in the areas of democracy and treatment of minorities. However, only in December last year Turkey sought to confound that optimism by disbanding the ground breaking Torture Prevention Group, seizing files and computer data with many victims details on them. Remzi's arrest shows that rather than enter a meaningful dialogue to achieve a peaceful and democratic solution to the Kurds problems Turkey has chosen to attack Kurdish leaders at home and in the million strong diaspora in Europe. Turkey claiming to defend democracy from terrorist attack while furthering its own draconian measures." read more>

Cyprus Mail
UK 'watching Orams case closely'
"THE BRITISH government is keeping a close watch on the case of a British woman sued for possession the property of a refugee in the occupied north and is advising its citizens to seek independent legal counselling before buying property in the north." read more>

Cyprus Mail
Restoration of shrines in the north
"THE EUROPEAN Commission is to finance the restoration of churches and mosques in the north, as soon as the Council of Ministers adopts the relevant regulation." read more>

Cyprus Mail
Property market slumps in the north
"Seventy to eighty per cent of our business has been lost. It’s just one blow after another" read more>

Cyprus Mail
EU reminds Turkey of Cyprus condition for talks
"THE European Commission yesterday reminded Turkey that it must sign a document extending its customs union with the EU to cover Cyprus before it can begin membership talks with the bloc as planned on October 3. If Ankara dragged its feet for political reasons, the negotiations would not open, senior Commission official Jean-Christophe Filori told visiting Turkish journalists. Asked what would happen if Turkey did not sign the protocol, Filori said: "If the delay is a result of political resistance (in Turkey), yes it would be a problem and the negotiations would not start."" read more>

Cyprus Mail
Vassiliou insists property bill will not target Turkish Cypriots
" The Turkish Cypriot breakaway state has embarked on a frenzy of property sales to eager European opportunists, mostly British, seeking properties at bargain prices. The amendment would allow district courts to issue European arrest warrants for people holding properties illegally. Current legislation, in force for the past 40 years, provides for a maximum penalty of six months in jail or a £400 fine for offenders." read more>

Cyprus Mail letters
Mixing religion into nationalism
"We are proud Greeks of Cyprus, with 2000 years of history behind us, older than many Western Nations... the vast majority of today’s ‘Turkish’ Cypriots are in fact descendants of Greek Cypriot Muslims who were forced to convert to Islam... That is why they live in Muslim villages named after Christian Saints... Every time I see ‘Turkish’ Cypriots I see the result of 500 years of Ottoman tyranny and the rape of our Greek culture. Like a Greek child taken from her mother and reared as a Turk, they now call themselves Turkish." read more>

Lobby statement

Property rights updated section>

Cyprus Weekly
EU Constitution – Magic wand for a Cyprus settlement
"...its implementation will automatically nullify all the unacceptable pro-Turkish provisions of the controversial Annan Plan that grossly violate the European Convention of Human Rights by legitimising the consequences of the ethnic cleansing war crime committed by Turkey, as well as the violation of other fundamental human rights and basis democratic principles... a settlement must be firmly based on full compliance with all the clauses of the EU Constitution, without any derogations, as envisaged by the Annan Plan and those who back it, despite its overwhelming rejection by the Greek Cypriots." read more>

Cyprus Weekly
Cyprus state's survival ensured by Annan Plan rejection – Tassos
"The rejection in the April 24 referendum was "an act of self defence against the specific proposal for the dissolution of the Cypriot state," the President said" read more>

Cyprus Weekly
Orams case gets to court. Illegal deeds produced in court
"If they fail to have the demolition order set aside, they face having the Cyprus court decision enforced against their UK property by the British High Court under an EU regulation." read more>

Cyprus Weekly
Non-recognition unthinkable - MacShane
"The EDM, signed by members of Parliament by all three political parties, also calls on Britain ''to work closely with and to respect the rights of the Republic of Cyprus and its democratically-elected President Tassos Papadopoulos.'' read more>

Quotations updates:
Greek Cypriot | UK | US | Miscellaneous

Cyprus Mail letters
Don't give Britain too much credit
"In 1964 it was the Johnson letter that had prevented a Turkish intervention, and the British supported US government plans to overthrow Makarios in 1964; while in 1974 it seems that the British were unwilling to fulfill their responsibilities to Cyprus." read more>

Cyprus Weekly
Perfidious Albion in all its glory!
"Britain not only rejected this approach [Cypriot independence and constitutional order], betraying its treaty obligations completely, but gave Turkey the green light to proceed with its one-sided intervention in violation of the same treaty and the principles of the United Nations Charter... But the most shocking revelation is that the British government gave full backing from the beginning to the occupation by Turkey of more than one third of Cyprus. It is absolutely incredible that Britain did this while foreseeing at the same time that "the particularly difficult problem (of the Turkish occupation) will be the possible enforced transfer of the Greek Cypriots from the Turkish-occupied zone.'' read more>

Cyprus Weekly
Newly released British Documents for the year 1974 at the Public Records Office. The British Government gives tacit clearance to Turkey to proceed with invasion and agrees to blockade the Greeks from helping Cyprus
"Foreign Secretary James Callaghan whilst in Geneva was fully informed of the Turkish intentions and mounting preparations for the second invasion... although Callaghan knew full well that the Turks in Geneva had no genuine intentions of reaching an agreement, he was working earnestly towards extracting as many concessions as he could from the Greek and GreekCypriot side on behalf of the Turks... "we are working on Clerides to table a counter draft which would at least concede the principle of geographical separation... there would be no United States military pressure, that UNFICYP would not oppose the Turkish forces and that, as a result, there was no prospect of external help against Turkish aggression... as Callaghan knew very well, the Turks were not interested in agreeing to anything". They intended to attack and occupy more territory leaving the negotiating for later... Turkish Foreign Secretary Gunes' plan for six cantons presented at the Geneva conference on the 12 August was the result of pressure by Dr. H. Kissinger who originally disagreed with the bi-regional federation, or bi-zonal federation and which London was promoting together with the Turks... It would suit our strategy if the Turkish armed forces ended up with 25/30 per cent rather than 40 per cent of the island. But they cannot be negotiated with in their present self-confident mood... The particularly difficult problem will be the possible enforced transfer of the Greek Cypriots from the Turkish occupied zone. In one sense this could facilitate the bi-regional federal solution; on the other hand it would increase the danger of reprisals against Turkish Cypriots... According to the British newly released documents a new picture is emerging vis-à-vis the role of Dr. Henry Kissinger. The documents reveal that contrary to what had been promoted since 1974 the real driving force behind the events and policies was indeed the British Government all along and not the Americans. Dr. Kissinger in many ways followed the British... The documents reveal that bi-zonal federation had been accepted by Kissinger on the strong insistence of the British Government... 22 July 1974 - After the fall of Kyrenia Mr. Ecevit is reported as stating it will now remain "forever Turkish"... 31 July 1974 - UN confirms Turkish Army broken Geneva ceasefire by shelling Karavas and Lapithos... It should be noted that the most important documents relating to the coup (reports and FCO minutes) have been carefully retained as well as other documents. Also the Prime Minister's office was very unusually removing documents from selected files as late as days before their release.It should be noted that the most important documents relating to the coup (reports and FCO minutes) have been carefully retained as well as other documents. Also the [British] Prime Minister's office was very unusually removing documents from selected files as late as days before their release." read more>

Cyprus Weekly
Britain considered invasion in 1974
"Turkish Prime Minister, Bulent Ecevit, arrived in London for urgent consultations and m