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Dear Reader:
On July 14, I discussed "Terrorists Are Warriors, Not
Criminals" on the Washington, D.C.-area Don Kroah Show, hosted that day by
David Stokes. It's 18 minutes long and also includes discussion of the
Hamas-Israel war. Good quality audio. Click here.
Yours sincerely,
Daniel Pipes
Forty Years
after the Invasion of Cyprus
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friends to like this.
Today marks the gloomy 40th anniversary of the day that Turkish troops
overpowered the tiny, almost undefended island of Cyprus in a brutal exercise
of military might whose immorality only intensifies with the passing decades.
Some thoughts in honor of the day:
- The invasion did not take
place under Islamist rule: Although an Islamist (Necmettin Erbakan)
served as deputy prime minister in a coalition government for almost all
of 1974, he was not the key decision maker in Turkey. Rather, Prime
Minister Bülent Ecevit, a leftist, enjoyed that privilege.
- The Ecevit-Erbakan
cooperation in 1974 symbolizes a support among Turks of all political
persuasions for the invasion of Cyprus that still persists. This
near-unanimity is a basic fact of Turkish political life.
- That consensus will
presumably remain in place until the Turkish occupation begins to take
its toll – economic, diplomatic, or even military – on the Republic of
Turkey. After 40 years, this has not even started, making one wonder if
it ever will.
The Republic of
Turkey reminds everyone who runs the northern part of Cyprus through flags
and a quote from Atatürk.
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- But two
recent developments could potentially change the dynamic by turning
Turkish Cypriots against the status quo: (1) their frustration at being
excluded from the incipient gas and oil bonanza on the island and (2)
their growing resentment toward the ever-more autocratic Islamist
overlords in Ankara. As the occupation is ostensibly for their benefit,
if Turkish Cypriots want it ended, they just might make it happen.
- Also to note: the
Republic of Cyprus (the southern, official part of the island) has, as I
put it in recent article titles, both stepped on the world
stage and joined the Middle East.
It held the presidency of the European Union, prompted a world-shaking
economic crisis, is becoming a significant energy exporter, and has
newly-close links to Israel, the military powerhouse of its region. The
"Cyprus Problem" now matters more to the outside world, which
could be constructive.
The occupation that began on July 20, 1974, still brings much suffering to
what could be an idyllic Mediterranean island. It must be but a memory by the
time the fiftieth rolls around. (July 20, 2014)
Related
Topics: History,
Turkey and
Turks This text may be reposted or forwarded so long as it is
presented as an integral whole with complete and accurate information
provided about its author, date, place of publication, and original URL.
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