Joel Bainerman
Why Doesn't Anyone Cry For Cyprus?
By: Joel Bainerman
Zichron Yaacov, Israel ---I recently had the good fortune to visit the small island state of Cyprus and wanted to offer you my observations of what the problem there is all about.
To do so, you need to ask yourself: what happened in Cyprus back in the summer of l974? Why did Turkey invade the independent nation of Cyprus and continued to occupy it for the next 28 years? Why has there been no organized campaign to stand behind the Greek Cypriots and demand that Turkey remove its occupying forces? Why has such an unjust act never even been noticed by the world's "political intellectuals" and "international affairs pundits" in the West? How come nobody cares about what happened to Cyprus? A clearer act of international piracy there will never be. Why has it allowed continuing so long and with absolutely no support from the enlightened world? How come there is not "violence" to this conflict, but it is classified in "UN jargon" as an "area under conflict"?
I never had to give it much thought about how it happened. All I knew was that there was an invasion and Turkey is still there. How things happened was never explained to me in my high school history classes. We just learned that events just happened without any understanding of why. It was only recently that I discovered what really took place in the summer l974 and how unjust the act was against a country that had done very well for itself up until then after only 14 years of political independence.
One day back in the summer of l974 Cyprus was a country that had fought for its independence against the British and had done quite well for itself. Nearly 15 years of independence the country had a thriving tourism industry, a very small government apparatus, and a relatively high standard of living compared with the rest of the developing world. All of a sudden, completely out of nowhere, one day, a foreign country first invades and then remains (i.e., occupies) one third of your country. One day out of nowhere and with no history of a conflict, the government of Turkey (a respected member of the world community, totally without provocation brutally invades another respected member of the world community. Considering how many tears are shed by the "enlighten intellectual leadership in the West" for the Palestinian cause, one would expect some recognition of Turkey's completely unjust occupation of another country.
Allow me to explain the events surrounding the "Turkish invasion" of Cyprus in July 1974. The Nixon administration at the very same point in time had been paying Turkey not to grow Opium or at least that is what the New York Times told us claiming it was part of the White House's "war on drugs" (the first "war on drugs", not to be confused with the Reagan-Bush's "war on drugs"). Why a country the size of the United States has to pay Turkey not to grow an illegal drug is the real question that needs to be asked. It looks like the Turks asked the US if they would mind if they invaded Cyprus, and then Kissinger turned around to the Greek dictator and tell him the US wouldn't mind if Greece invaded Cyprus, and so that is how it happened. Why did the UK not come to Cyprus's aid? Why has W. Europe had nothing to Turkey over their aggression? No European country ever threatened to break off ties with Turkey if Turkey didn't withdraw from Cyprus.
Despite having been raped of a third of their country by foreign countries (this happened in the mid- l970s, not the mid-1500s) and yet within 20 years of those horrible days back in the summer of 74, by the mid-l990s, the Cypriot Greek nation had built a prosperous and efficient island nation state which provided for all the needs of its million or so inhabitants and foreign residents. It has a huge, very developed tourism industry, and an offshore financial industry, and an industry of retirees from the UK and Europe.
The Greek Cypriots have done an incredible job in building up a divided country. By the late l970s Cyprus was in a very bad state. Today the GNP per capita is $15K.. Today it can look back on the past 28 years since that horrible summer when it was raped and pillaged of a third of its nation state, and stand before the world as a proud member of the world community. All done with no external aid from anyone. What a remarkable job these people have done to survive and prosper almost without any attachment to any world power or alliance. All of this with out a population of 650K people. I take my hat off to your people. You are a nation of gifted, hard working people who have done so much with so very little. Against all odds not only have you survived, you have prospered.
The rebound of the economy (and the tourism industry specifically) is nothing short of an economic miracle. This country is a shiny example of what a people can do if they are really a people and do it on their own. I learned that the Cypriots consider it an insult to imply they are part of the Middle East. They wanted to be compared to Europeans where they feel they belong.
I can only wonder what the reaction would have been it was Norway that was invaded by a foreign power in the dark of night and lost a full one third of its land mass and had it country occupied by a foreign power who had no legal right to invade Norway nor occupy Norway's territory. Yet this is exactly what took place and what has continued to take place for the past three decades.
Why this outrage was allowed to happen and why there has been no international public outcry for so many years as never been fully explained. The Cypriot people deserve an answer.
To do so, you need to ask yourself: what happened in Cyprus back in the summer of l974? Why did Turkey invade the independent nation of Cyprus and continued to occupy it for the next 28 years? Why has there been no organized campaign to stand behind the Greek Cypriots and demand that Turkey remove its occupying forces? Why has such an unjust act never even been noticed by the world's "political intellectuals" and "international affairs pundits" in the West? How come nobody cares about what happened to Cyprus? A clearer act of international piracy there will never be. Why has it allowed continuing so long and with absolutely no support from the enlightened world? How come there is not "violence" to this conflict, but it is classified in "UN jargon" as an "area under conflict"?
I never had to give it much thought about how it happened. All I knew was that there was an invasion and Turkey is still there. How things happened was never explained to me in my high school history classes. We just learned that events just happened without any understanding of why. It was only recently that I discovered what really took place in the summer l974 and how unjust the act was against a country that had done very well for itself up until then after only 14 years of political independence.
One day back in the summer of l974 Cyprus was a country that had fought for its independence against the British and had done quite well for itself. Nearly 15 years of independence the country had a thriving tourism industry, a very small government apparatus, and a relatively high standard of living compared with the rest of the developing world. All of a sudden, completely out of nowhere, one day, a foreign country first invades and then remains (i.e., occupies) one third of your country. One day out of nowhere and with no history of a conflict, the government of Turkey (a respected member of the world community, totally without provocation brutally invades another respected member of the world community. Considering how many tears are shed by the "enlighten intellectual leadership in the West" for the Palestinian cause, one would expect some recognition of Turkey's completely unjust occupation of another country.
Allow me to explain the events surrounding the "Turkish invasion" of Cyprus in July 1974. The Nixon administration at the very same point in time had been paying Turkey not to grow Opium or at least that is what the New York Times told us claiming it was part of the White House's "war on drugs" (the first "war on drugs", not to be confused with the Reagan-Bush's "war on drugs"). Why a country the size of the United States has to pay Turkey not to grow an illegal drug is the real question that needs to be asked. It looks like the Turks asked the US if they would mind if they invaded Cyprus, and then Kissinger turned around to the Greek dictator and tell him the US wouldn't mind if Greece invaded Cyprus, and so that is how it happened. Why did the UK not come to Cyprus's aid? Why has W. Europe had nothing to Turkey over their aggression? No European country ever threatened to break off ties with Turkey if Turkey didn't withdraw from Cyprus.
Despite having been raped of a third of their country by foreign countries (this happened in the mid- l970s, not the mid-1500s) and yet within 20 years of those horrible days back in the summer of 74, by the mid-l990s, the Cypriot Greek nation had built a prosperous and efficient island nation state which provided for all the needs of its million or so inhabitants and foreign residents. It has a huge, very developed tourism industry, and an offshore financial industry, and an industry of retirees from the UK and Europe.
The Greek Cypriots have done an incredible job in building up a divided country. By the late l970s Cyprus was in a very bad state. Today the GNP per capita is $15K.. Today it can look back on the past 28 years since that horrible summer when it was raped and pillaged of a third of its nation state, and stand before the world as a proud member of the world community. All done with no external aid from anyone. What a remarkable job these people have done to survive and prosper almost without any attachment to any world power or alliance. All of this with out a population of 650K people. I take my hat off to your people. You are a nation of gifted, hard working people who have done so much with so very little. Against all odds not only have you survived, you have prospered.
The rebound of the economy (and the tourism industry specifically) is nothing short of an economic miracle. This country is a shiny example of what a people can do if they are really a people and do it on their own. I learned that the Cypriots consider it an insult to imply they are part of the Middle East. They wanted to be compared to Europeans where they feel they belong.
I can only wonder what the reaction would have been it was Norway that was invaded by a foreign power in the dark of night and lost a full one third of its land mass and had it country occupied by a foreign power who had no legal right to invade Norway nor occupy Norway's territory. Yet this is exactly what took place and what has continued to take place for the past three decades.
Why this outrage was allowed to happen and why there has been no international public outcry for so many years as never been fully explained. The Cypriot people deserve an answer.