Embargoed! Newsletter March 2024

Introduction by Chris Elliott.....

For anybody who is supportive of the Turkish Cypriots and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus and their fight for justice and equality and an end to the 60-year-old Embargoes, we are sharing this newsletter from "Embargoed.org" with our worldwide readers to keep the TRUTH of CYPRUS reverberating in the World's News Headlines!

"Greetings to all Members and friends of Embargoed!

As detailed in last month’s Newsletter, the 4th March 2024 marked 60 years since the beginning of the embargoes on the Turkish Cypriot people. Embargoes which deny political representation in the international fora, prohibit trade, communication, travel, cultural and even sporting ties.

While we were lamenting this bitter anniversary, incredibly, the UN thought it appropriate to celebrate their 60th year on the island with a medal parade and the unveiling of a monument outside the Ledra Palace Hotel. Lunch was served, medals were dished out and drinks were had. Modesty and self-reflection, like conflict resolution, is clearly not a strong point.

Why has UNFICYP stayed longer than 3 months?

Given the United Nations Forces in Cyprus (UNFICYP) were deployed to the island for 3 months, simple logic would tell you that the fact they remain there 60 years later (with a settlement even further away than when they arrived) their ongoing presence is not a cause for celebration. It would be wrong to say that they have achieved nothing. But only because nothing would be an improvement. Instead, their continued presence and their political meddling have made things infinitely worse. They have utterly failed the Turkish Cypriot people, both militarily and politically. And while they may be blind to truth, it is had to argue that they have not failed the Greek Cypriot people too.

Why did UNFICYP not stop the Greek attacks on the Turkish Cypriots ?

As a military force, they failed to stop the violent onslaught against the Turkish Cypriot people. The killing and the oppression continued for 11 long years, from 1963 to 1974. They failed to remove the encirclement of Turkish Cypriot villages and enclaves and they allowed their presence to become a tool to aid the restriction of provisions into those areas. Relief only came after the Turkish armed forces intervened on 20th July 1974. Not because of the UNFICYP.

It could reasonably be argued that the Greece led coup d’etat - which itself caused the Turkish intervention - occurred because the UN’s acquiescence (or collusion?) had given Greece the impression that they had carte blanche to do as they pleased. That is, to attempt to achieve Enosis (the union of Cyprus with Greece).

What have UNFICYP achieved?

Equally, since UN Resolution 186 was passed on 4th March 1964, they have failed the Turkish Cypriot people politically. The role of the UN is – or should be - to act with impartiality. Had they done so they would have set about brokering negotiations for a settlement between two equal partners, just as the 2 communities were defined in the Republic of Cyprus constitution. Instead, they chose to reward the aggressor and to punish the victim. They chose to treat the Greek Cypriots as the sole legitimate authority of the entire island (in complete contradiction of the Republic of Cyprus constitution) and the Turkish Cypriots as ‘secessionists and rebels’. In doing so, they have helped to cement the status quo and have made a negotiated settlement all but impossible.

The month of April will bring another anniversary stained with the dirty fingerprints of the UN. The 2004 ‘Annan Plan’. But more on that next month…

Last Month

4th March 1964 / UN Resolution 186 (1964) Protest

The 4th March saw Embargoed! joined by members of the British Turkish Cypriot Association (BTCA), Young Turkish Cypriots (YTC) and other members of the UK’s Turkish Cypriot community. The group gathered on Parliament Square to protest the UN’s role and continued presence in Cyprus – and specifically the consequences of UN Resolution 186. An excellent analysis of the situation can be found here.

Following the Parliament Square protest members of Embargoed! and BTCA hand-delivered letters to the UN Association in Whitehall Court and also handed in a separate letter to the Foreign Minister, David Cameron, at the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office in King Charles Street. Embargoed! also hand-delivered letters at the UN compound at Ledra Palace in Lefkoşa /Nicosia and at the UN Association Offices in Vía Laietana, Barcelona.

The 4th March protests were covered by countless media in the UK, Turkey and Cyprus:

İngilteredeki Kıbrıslı Türkler ambargolara karşı protesto düzenleyecek - Kıbrıs Gazetesi - Kıbrıs Haber, KKTC Son Dakika ve Gündem Haberleri

https://x.com/takajansi/status/1764561878749962750?s=46

Kıbrıslı Türkler Londrada BMGKnin 186 Sayılı Kararını Protesto Etti - Kıbrıs Raporu

KIBRIS Gazetesi on Instagram: İngiltere Parlamentosu önünde toplanan Kıbrıs Türkleri, Birleşmiş Milletler Güvenlik

Konseyi’nin (BMGK) Kıbrıs’a barış gücü gönderilmesini içeren 4 Mart 1964 tarihli 186 sayılı kararın 60. yılında protesto düzenledi. İ

Kıbrıslı Türkler, 60. yılında BMGKnin Kıbrısa barış gücü gönderilmesi kararını Londrada protesto etti

İngiltere’deki Kıbrıslı Türkler, 186 sayılı BM kararını Londra’da düzenledikleri eylemle protesto etti - BRTK

Kıbrıslı Türkler, 60. yılında BMGKnin Kıbrısa barış gücü gönderilmesi kararını Londrada protesto etti! - Kıbrıs Gazetesi - Kıbrıs Haber, KKTC Son Dakika ve Gündem Haberleri

BM’nin 60 yıl önce aldığı Kıbrıs kararı, İngiltere’de protesto edildi

https://fb.watch/qD8F-y7qsB

- Waltham Forest Council – Flag Vigil

 

Another month at Waltham Forest Council for Nejla and James.

The vigil continues into what is now its 3rd year.

 

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Middlesex University / Barnet Council

Middlesex University hosted an event named ‘Human Rights in Cyprus’, hosted by the Mayor of Barnet and a Greek Cypriot posing as the ‘Mayor of Morphou’, alongside a delegation ‘from the town’.

Embargoed! were able attend the event in question alongside BTCA. Other members of the Turkish Cypriot community were due to attend too. However, after reserving the first few tickets, they were suddenly unavailable. A cynic might wonder if the sudden interest from a flurry of Turkish names led to the withdrawal of tickets because, uponarrival, we noted how the room was half empty. Maybe there was a very convenient IT failure…

To explain why the event was a cause for concern, the town of Morphou/Güzelyurt is actually located in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. It has a Mayor, Mr Mahmut Ozcinar, who has been duly elected by the residents of the

town. However, he was not the ‘Mayor’ present at this ‘Human Rights’ event, and the delegation who joined him are also not resident in the town. It may be the case that they were born there or resided there 50 years ago.

In a tried and tested formula, the Greek Cypriots like to elect ‘Mayors’ to towns which they no longer inhabit, and to then lament (very publicly) that they are unable to take up their posts due to the town being “under occupation”. By the same token they have been known to build roads which come to an abrupt halt at the Buffer Zone, at which point they will gather to take photos, proclaiming that “one day, when Cyprus is liberated, the road will be finished”. If they can force some tears for the unfinished road, all the better.

This would be almost comical, were it not for the fact that they are playing with people’s real emotions on both sides of the Green Line. No-one is doubting the sadness at losing one’s home, whether they be from Morphou/Güzelyurt or elsewhere. But you can and should question when those emotions are used for political propaganda. One must also acknowledge that their loss did not come about by Turkish aggression, but as a consequence of the Greek Cypriot leadership attempting to claim rule of the entire island, first by violence between 1963 and 1972 and then via a Greece led coup d’etat.

Furthermore, if we take the concrete example of Morphou/Güzelyurt, it is a fact that the former residents remain exiled today (although they can and do visit freely) as a direct consequence of their leadership and their fellow Greek Cypriot citizens having rejected 15 of the 17 settlement plans for Cyprus. At least one of those plans (the United Nations sponsored ‘Annan Plan’) specifically showed Morphou/Güzelyurt as being one of the areas to be ceded to the Greek Cypriot area in the event of a solution. As we are all aware, while the majority of the Turkish Cypriot people took the brave and painful decision to accept the Annan Plan, the overwhelming majority of the Greek Cypriots rejected it. It is for this reason that they are not residents (or Mayors) of Morphou/Güzelyurt today.

Letters of complaint were sent to the Mayor of Barnet and to Middlesex University who, knowingly or not, had allowed themselves to be used for Greek Cypriot propaganda. Middlesex University are yet to reply to Embargoed!, but have reponded to T-Vine. The Mayor of Barnet replied to Embargoed! to confirm their neutrality in the Cyprus issue and apologised if the impression was given that they had a hand in organising the event. They laid the blame squarely on the shoulders of the organisers, EventBrite, for suggesting that Barnet Council were somehow involved. That would have been a positive reply, were it not for the Mayor of Barnet then confirming how Morphou (no mention of Güzelyurt) is twinned with Barnet. And that it was on this basis that she had received a delegation ‘from the town’. It was apparently not a political act. This will be news to the actual Mayor of Güzelyurt and its current residents. One can only imagine the fallout if the Turkish Cypriots were to elect a Mayor of Larnaca/İskele and then twin it with, say, Stoke Newington. All without mentioning anything to the Greek Cypriot inhabitants. Maybe we could also smooth things over by going on to claim it was not a political act.

The event, including some excellent input from BTCA’s Ersu Akrem and Kenan Yaman, can be viewed here

Turkish Women’s Philanthropic Association

On a far happier and relaxed note, Embargoed! attended the Turkish Women’s Philanthropic Association (TWPA) lunch for International Women’s Day & Mother’s Day.

Support Embargoed

Join

If you are not already a member of Embargoed!, please consider joining us. Membership is only £10 per year and helps us immensely. If you are a Member, why not urge family or friends to sign up too?

Embargoed! prides itself on having no set ideology. Whatever your view on a potential solution for the Cyprus problem, if you agree that the Turkish Cypriot community should not be isolated, then you have a place among us.

Promote or Donate

If you are already a Member, thank you!

We are extremely grateful to all of our Members and are very excited to see our numbers growing in recent months.

We would really like to see that trend continue, so please spread the word with family and friends. Change will only come with action. And that action is easier with greater numbers – and funds.

While the work undertaken by our team is entirely voluntary, we do require funds to work effectively. Among other things, we need to create and print material, run our website and attend events to ensure that our voice is heard. Your membership fee and any donations make up 100% of our income. If you can spare any more, please consider donating.

All monies in and out of Embargoed! can be scrutinised in our accounts. Embargoed! is a strictly not-for-profit organisation with no salaried staff.

Volunteer

We always need more volunteers to spread the workload. Taking action is not all about marching in the streets (although we have been known to do that sometimes too). It can take many forms. So, if you have some time or expertise to offer, please consider volunteering. You can give us as much or as little time as you feel able and you can be based anywhere in the world.

In addition to our website (which is soon to be updated. Please bear with us!), you can also find us on Facebook and Twitter. Please give us a Follow and use the Comments sections to speak up for Turkish Cypriot equality.

Best regards
https://cyprusscene.com/2024/03/29/trnc-is-embargoed-for-60-years-and-still-fighting-for-justice-and-recognition/