25 July 2008 updates:

Media watch

Cyprus Weekly
Monumental impertinence
'IT IS unbelievable, but true. Turkey is bidding for a seat on the UN Security Council... That would really be something, if it came to pass. It would mean that a country that has been casting Security Council and General Assembly resolutions into a waste paper basket for decades and refusing to implement them would be rewarded for its utter contempt of the most important United Nations branch with a seat on its Council.

19 July 2008 updates:

Events

The Armenian, Assyrian, Greek, Kurdish and Greek Cypriot Genocides and the
Politics of Denialism
House of Commons debate
Discussion at the House of Commons on Monday 21 July between 6 and 7.30pm. The discussion concerns the central themes of Des Fernandes' new book entitled 'The Armenian, Assyrian, Greek, Kurdish and Greek Cypriot Genocides and the Politics of Denialism.' The event is sponsored by David Drew MP and will take place in the Grand Committee Room of the House. The intention of the discussion is to highlight the attempts to deny the various genocides committed against Turkey's ethnic minorities or near neighbours during the last 90 years and the reasons for these denials.

There will be speakers from all the affected ethnic groups including Lobby for Cyprus. For further details contact Lobby for Cyprus +44 (0)20 8888 2556 read more »

Statements

1974-2008 Thirty-four years of Turkish occupation
20 July and 14 August mark commemorations of the brutal Turkish invasions of the Republic of Cyprus in 1974... read more »

CYPRUS End the illegal Turkish occupation
In 1974 Turkey invaded Cyprus, illegally dividing the country and committing war crimes and mass human rights abuses. Hundreds of thousands of Greek Cypriots were ethnically cleansed by the Turkish army. Turkey continues to violate international law and United Nations resolutions that demand the withdrawal of the Turkish army and the right to return for Greek Cypriot refugees... read more » / Download and print as pdf leaflet »

16 July 2008 updates:

Events

Rally for Cyprus
Annual demonstration
"Rally for freedom and human rights in Cyprus. Join and demand with us Turkish troops and settlers out of Cyprus".

Sunday 20 July 2008
Meet at 2.45pm outside the Turkish Embassy, Belgrave Square and then start to march to Trafalgar Square at 3pm. March arrives at Trafalgar Square at 4.30pm.

Organised by National Federation of Cypriots
Main speaker: Stephanos Stephanou, government spokesman of the Republic of Cyprus read more »

The genocide in the Turkish occupied north of Cyprus
Speaker: Des Fernandes
The presentation will include a critique of the Annan Plan, written within the context of a genocide debate and will apply the concepts and definitions of Lemkin, who first used the word genocide, and the UN 1948 Genocide Convention to the polices and practices that Greek Cypriots have been subjected to in occupied Cyprus.

Wednesday 16 July 2008, 7.30pm
Theatro Technis, 26 Crowndale Road, London NW1 1TT
For further details and to confirm attendance contact Lobby for Cyprus +44 (0)20 8888 2556
read more »

European Court of Human Rights

Judgment of European Court of Human Rights dated 26 June 2008 in the cases of Isaak v Turkey (application no. 44587/98) and Solomou v Turkey
The Court held unanimously that, in both cases, there had been:
• a violation of Article 2 (right to life) of the European Convention on Human Rights in respect of the killing of Anastasios Isaak and Solomos Solomou;
• a violation of Article 2 in respect of the failure to conduct an effective investigation into the circumstances in which Anastasios Isaak and Solomos Solomou died. read more »

Judgment of European Court of Human Rights dated 10 January 2008 in the case of Varnava and Others v Turkey - Greek-Cypriot Missing Persons
On 10 January 2008, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) delivered its judgment in the case of Varnava and Others v Turkey by which Turkey was found guilty of violating the rights of nine Greek-Cypriot missing persons and their relatives. The nine were combatants, except for Savvas Hadjipanteli whose remains have been identified. They were all seen alive after their capture by the Turkish army in Cyprus and in Turkey where they had been transported as prisoners of war. read more »

7 July 2008 updates:

Media watch

27 June 2008
Cyprus Weekly
Rights Court blames Turkey for Isaac and Solomou killings
'The Court was unable to accept the Turkish government's versions of facts'
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in Strassbourg this week again blasted Turkey over it continuing violations in Cyprus. In two unanimous Chamber judgments it held this country fully responsible for the death of two Greek Cypriot demonstrators occurring 22 years after Turkey invaded an occupied the northern part of the island.

Cyprus Weekly
Not so balanced
THE new ICG report on Cyprus seeks to present a balanced review of the positions of the sides, but does not conceal its utter contempt for the UN Security Council, and its resolutions.

24 June 2008
Reuters
European court blames Turkey for '96 Cyprus killings
"Europe's human rights watchdog said on Tuesday that Turkey was responsible for the deaths of two men on the divided island of Cyprus more than a decade ago."

1 May 2008 updates:

Media watch

Christian Post
The last church standing in north Cyprus: how the Christian history was erased
"One lone church struggles to survive in a land where hundreds have been damaged or destroyed. But this is no ordinary land; it is the very ground where Apostle Paul took his first missionary journey to proclaim salvation through Jesus Christ to the Roman Empire."

Modern Gov
Lobbying to return
"Some 33 years since Turkey invaded his country, Kyriacos Christodoulou, ex-coordinator of Lobby for Cyprus tells his story, and explains what the lobby is doing to raise its profile."

22 April 2008 updates:

Media watch

London Review of Books
The Divisions of Cyprus
"Cyprus is, in truth, an anomaly in the new Europe. Not, however, for reasons Brussels cares to dwell on. This is an EU member-state a large part of which is under long-standing occupation by a foreign army. Behind tanks and artillery, a population of settlers has been planted that is relatively more numerous than the settlers on the West Bank, without a flicker of protest from the Council or Commission. From its territory are further subtracted – not leased, but held in eminent domain – military enclaves three times the size of Guantánamo, under the control of a fellow member of the EU, the United Kingdom."

15 April 2008
Guardian
Bones don't speak
"For two years, the UN has been exhuming mass graves across Cyprus, reviving harrowing memories of the bloodshed in which 2,000 Greek and Turkish Cypriots disappeared without trace. Angelique Chrisafis explains how finding her uncle's remains after 34 years has helped her family – but also raised painful new questions about the fate of those still missing."

'Three generations of my family were rounded up'
Angelique Chrisafis on how a mass grave has been found containing the body of one of her uncles

Letters

To BBC
I am surprised and disturbed that the BBC chooses to present what seems to be a revisionist account of historical events in Cyprus. Your own BBC news reports of 1974 clearly describe a Turkish invasion of Cyprus yet today this is merely presented as "Turkey deployed troops."

11 April 2008 updates:

WRITE TO YOUR MP REGARDING THE MISSING PERSONS
Call on Prime MInister Brown to press Turkey to comply with the ruling of European Court of Human Rights
"I am writing to you about the missing persons of Cyprus and to ask that you raise this important and tragic issue in Prime Minister’s question time or at any other appropriate time before the House of Commons."
read more » / Download and print letter as pdf »

24 March 2008 updates:

Statements

Property in occupied north Cyprus – the facts
Unscrupulous property developers and estate agents are attempting to sell stolen Greek Cypriot properties in the illegally occupied north of Cyprus. To tempt prospective purchasers to part with their money, a number of untruths are being made to unsuspecting British nationals.
Q: Are title-deeds issued by the regime in occupied north Cyprus legal?
A: No. They are NOTworth the paper they are written on. The ethnically cleansed Greek Cypriots remain the legitimate holders of title-deeds, as reaffirmed by the European Court of Human Rights (Loizidou v Turkey 1996) and the English High Court (Orams v Apostolides 2006).
read more » / Download and print as pdf leaflet »

Britain’s unethical and short sighted policy on Cyprus
Britain has recently entered into a “strategic partnership” with Turkey, which turns a blind eye to Turkey’s continuing human rights violations and illegal occupation in Cyprus. Whilst successive British governments have historically appeased Turkey’s illegal occupation of Cyprus this new partnership goes a step further by rewarding its continuing human rights breaches. Whilst this is clearly unethical and illegal, it is also against Britain’s interests. read more »

Judgment of European Court of Human Rights dated 10 January 2008 in the case of Varnava and Others v Turkey - Greek-Cypriot Missing Persons
On 10 January 2007, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) delivered its judgment in the case of Varnava and Others v Turkey by which Turkey was found guilty of violating the rights of nine Greek-Cypriot missing persons and their relatives. The nine were combatants, except for Savvas Hadjipanteli whose remains have been identified. They were all seen alive after their capture by the Turkish army in Cyprus and in Turkey where they had been transported as prisoners of war. read more »

Famagusta Gazette
Crisis for northern Cyprus property market
"A title deed crisis appears to be brewing in the occupied areas of northern Cyprus. The revelation comes after a Turkish Cypriot daily newspaper reported that local commercial banks are now refusing to recognise title deeds issued by the northern Cyprus "government"."

Overseas Property Professional
Mortgage broker pulls its N Cyprus product after complaints
"“Irish citizens considering the purchase of property in the northern part of Cyprus, which is not under the effective control of the Government of the Republic of Cyprus, are strongly advised to seek qualified independent legal advice due to potential claims related to title and ownership from Cypriots displaced from that area in 1974, which may lead to serious financial and legal repercussions”"

To Financial Times
Please do not perpetuate the myth that the Annan plan was a plan for the reunification of Cyprus. It was a plan for partition...

Published in Financial Times
The Republic of Cyprus is a net contributor to the European Union – it is not "partly supported by EU subsidies". The Republic has prospered in spite of and notwithstanding the brutal invasion and illegal occupation by Turkey of over a third of its territory in 1974. The reward for their hard work was the Annan plan, a proposal that they should have 7 per cent of their land returned to them in stages and forget the rest. Unsurprisingly, they voted to reject that plan.

Occupied Eptakomi »