Readers mail….
By Prof. Dr. Ata Atun..
Sixty years ago, a mistake made at the United Nations (UN), an erroneous decision taken, unfortunately continues to cut the Turkish Cypriots off from the world and negatively affect them.
Let’s remember the UN’s deployment in Cyprus;
In the early morning hours of Saturday, December 21, 1963, Greek Cypriots launched armed attacks against Turkish Cypriots in order to “seize the sovereignty of the island of Cyprus and the state and connect the island of Cyprus to Greece”. The then Greek Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou sent a Commando Division armed to the island of Cyprus starting from the morning of January 1, 1964 to support the EOKA terrorist organization that organized the attacks against the Turkish Cypriots, the militia forces of Interior Minister Polikarpos Yorgacis and the militia forces of Dr. Vassos Lisarides, Makarios’ doctor and later the founder of EDEK. The organized and simultaneous armed attacks against the Turkish Cypriots continued in all parts of the island. The Küçük Kaymaklı area of Nicosia was attacked by Yorgacis’ militia under the command of Nikos Sampson, and the Çağlayan area was attacked by Lissaridis’ militia.
When the Greek Cypriot attacks turned into massacres, looting, robbery and genocide of old men, women, and children, almost a quarter of the Turkish Cypriots were forced to leave their homes, property, livestock and crops behind and migrate to safe Turkish areas.
In order to stop the massacres, robbery, looting and migrations, the Republic of Turkey requested an “Emergency Intervention” from the UN, preferring primarily “political intervention and negotiations”.
On March 4, 1964, the United Nations Organization, which operates in line with the interests of expansionist (imperialist) countries, initiated efforts to send the UN Peacekeeping Force to the island. Upon Turkey’s request, the UN Security Council convened and asked permanent member Britain to draft a resolution.
The British Foreign Office prepares a draft resolution.
This draft resolution includes the recognition of “the current Makarios administration, consisting only of Greek Cypriots on the island of Cyprus, as the representative government of the island”, in complete contradiction to the UN-registered Constitution of the Republic of Cyprus, whose independence was declared on August 1, 1960, and which was agreed upon in the meetings held in Zurich and London in February 1959 – between the guarantor states and the parties consisting of the Turkish and Greek Cypriots.
All the objections raised by Founding President Rauf R. Denktaş, who represented the Turkish Cypriots in the negotiations and meetings, were ignored and the objections of the Republic of Turkey were ignored by the representatives of the US and the UK, who said “This decision is temporary. Let the UN Peace Force set foot on the island and stop the massacres, genocide, looting, robbery and migrations”. Turkey reluctantly accepted this response in order to stop the ongoing massacres, genocide, looting, robbery and migrations in Cyprus. The UN SC Resolution 186 dated March 4, 1964, one of the most inhumane and disgraceful resolutions of world politics, was adopted and put into effect. In line with this resolution, the Greek Cypriots were defined as the “Government of Cyprus”, while the Turkish Cypriots were reduced to the level of a community.
The UN Peacekeeping Force set foot on the island only 2 months after this resolution was adopted. This delay paved the way for the Makarios government to take away the constitutional rights, political rights and human rights of the Turkish Cypriots with illegal decisions adopted under the name of the “Doctrine of Necessity”. /
This disgrace to humanity, Resolution No. 186 of March 4, 1964, lies at the root of the isolation of Turkish Cypriots from the world, their inability to trade internationally, their inability to be represented in international political platforms, their inability to participate in international events and sports competitions, and their inability to establish international postal and telecommunication links in the intervening 60 years.
If the UN wants to intervene and become a party to the Cyprus problem in a fair and human rights worthy manner, it must first adopt a new and modern resolution defining legitimate governments in Cyprus. Otherwise, the negativities experienced for the last 60 years to find a solution to the Cyprus problem will continue until the political balances in the world and on the island change…
Prof. Dr. (Civil Engineer), Assoc. Prof. Dr. (UA. Relations) Ata ATUN
TRNC President Advisory Board Member
TRNC Republican Assembly 1st Term Deputy
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