The Cyprus Peace Operation:

Why It Is Called The Peace Operation

A Brief History of Cyprus

Cyprus is a Mediterranean island located roughly 75 miles from Turkey’s Southern Coast. It was captured in 1571 by the Ottoman Empire from Venice, a strong city state and a naval power that controlled a large part of the Mediterranean. After 300 years the island was by Britain in 1878,

to protect the ailing Ottoman Empire against Russia. Britain established naval bases that would control the Eastern Mediterranean and protect its colonial interests in the Middle East. To Ottoman claims on Cyprus most of the island’s Turkish population was encouraged or induced to emigrate to the Turkish mainland, gradually reducing the Turkish Cypriots to a minority.



After World War II the island’s Greek-speaking majority

for independence while most of them called for its to Greece. In the face of stiff resistance from Britain which still regarded Cyprus as invaluable to its strategic interests in the region, the Greek Cypriots a violent campaign of terrorism against the British with their infamous EOKA organization. British civilians and their families were targeted in the campaign, along with Turkish Cypriots that opposed the end of colonial rule. The Turkish community preferred the rule of law and equal citizenship under Britain to living under Greek rule as a second-class minority with its obvious possible consequences, as they have been graphically in the Balkans for the past hundred years.

Cyprus Becomes An Independent Republic

In 1960 a compromise

was reached between all parties when Britain granted Cyprus its independence in return for keeping its military bases on the island. Under the treaties signed in Zurich and London Cyprus became a Republic where Greek and Turkish Cypriots would be equal citizens under the law, and represented in the government in proportion to their respective populations. Archbishop Makarios of the Greek Orthodox Church became the President, while the Turkish community leader Dr Fazil Kucuk his Vice-President. Some of the ministerial posts in the Republic’s cabinet were filled by Turkish Cypriots. Britain, Greece and Turkey were signatories and the guarantors to the treaties. The Zurich and London treaties provided for joint or unilateral

military intervention in the event that the Republic’s constitution and the rights granted to the two communities under the treaties were violated.

Greeks Renounce The Treaties They Signed

In 1963 Greek Cypriots renounced the treaties and the Republic’s constitution, called for the complete Greek control of the island and its annexation to Greece. Turkish members of the island’s joint police and military forces were disarmed, while Greek militias comprised of former terrorists and army regulars attacked Turkish villages throughout the island. Atrocities were committed against unarmed Turkish Cypriot civilians which enraged the people of Turkey who called for military intervention to protect the Turkish community. Britain was not interested in getting involved. Greece, the other guarantor of the treaties, was already heavily involved : as the main provocateur and the supplier of arms, logistics and finances to the Greek Cypriot Militia. The treaties of London and Zurich allowed Turkey and Greece to maintain a token military presence on the island, of 600 and 1200 troops, respectively. By 1970 the number of Greek army regulars on Cyprus had grown to over 16,000, while the Military Dictatorship in Greece had formidable

military force with tanks, armor and heavy artillery. The Military Junta in Greece operated in Cyprus as if it had already annexed it to its territory, and threatened Turkey with an all-out war and the breakup of NATO if it intervened under the Zurich and London treaties.

Turkish Cypriots Become Hostages On Their Homeland

In less than 3 years the Turkish Cypriot citizens of the Republic of Cyprus had been reduced from equal citizens to a community of virtual hostages

living under siege in enclaves and protected safety zones throughout the island, most of their rights under the constitution having been suspended. Since they could not travel freely unless they wanted to emigrate, and restrictions had been placed on their freedom by the Greek rulers of the island, many of them depended for their livelihood on aid from Turkey. The Turkish Cypriots’ survival depended on Turkish Air Power which kept Greek armor and artillery at bay. Most Turkish males had been conscripted on a permanent military service to protect the Turkish villages, enclaves and safety zones from Greek occupation. In respect to Turkey’s obligations as a member of the NATO Alliance, the man who had kept the country out of World War II exercised an extraordinary degree of restraint

in the face of public calls for military intervention. Ismet Inonu, who was the Prime Minister at that time, exhausted all diplomatic initiatives to end the crisis and return Cyprus to the rule of law as intended under the treaties and the Republic’s constitution. This was in vain, since neither the Greek Cypriot Government nor the Government of Greece had any intention of giving up their objective of subverting the multi-ethnic Republic of Cyprus, and turning the island into an all-Greek territory. The Government of Greece shipped Colonel Grivas, a former guerilla officer to train the Greek Cypriot National Guard in guerrilla warfare and to complete the island’s ethnic transformation.

Turkish Air Power Stops Ethnic Cleansing

The reluctant old soldier who told Winston Churchill that Turkey would never fight a war again tried all diplomatic channels for a peaceful solution, including appeals to President Johnson and European leaders, but in vain. Prime Minister Inonu first used Turkish Air Power in 1964 when the Greek National launched

an assault with tanks and heavy artillery against the Turkish enclaves and safety zones. Turkey became the first to use air power successfully to prevent ethnic cleansing. As it was also recently demonstrated by NATO in the Balkans, the Turkish Air Force at that time became the only guarantee of survival for the Turkish community in Cyprus. With Inonu’s reluctance for a full-scale military intervention, conditions for Turkish Cypriots constantly deteriorated

as they became the pawns in a game of power between the Greeks that wanted to unite with Greece and the other Greeks that wanted an all-Greek but independent Cyprus. Archbishop Makarios was reluctant to relinquish his power in favor of union with Greece.

The Cyprus Peace Operation: How The Turkish Army Restored Democracy To Greece

The breaking point for Turkey came in 1974 when a former EOKA terrorist condemned to death by the British seized power and became the president of Cyprus. Mr Samson, tired of the military stalemate, made no secret of his intentions. He was confident that his Greek National Guard was now powerful enough to take full control of the island and, with the help of the Military Junta in Greece and the Greek Army, to thwart

any intervention by Turkey. When Britain did not respond to his call for joint intervention, the Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit decided to exercise his prerogative under the treaties of London and Zurich. The Turkish Military Operation he ordered partitioned Cyprus into Greek and Turkish sections, ending years of violent ethnic conflict. While the two communities had to be separated, and there naturally had to be an exchange of populations between the Turkish one-third and the Greek two-thirds of the island, this was a small price to pay for the peace that has reigned on Cyprus between the two communities since 1974. Another reason this was termed the Cyprus Peace Operation is the fact that the Turkish intervention restored democracy to Greece, ending years of the brutal oppression of the Greek people under a Military Dictatorship. When it became clear that the Greek generals in power could not make good on their bluff of an all-out war against Turkey, the regime collapsed and democracy was restored. Who would have imagined that Greece, the cradle of ancient democracies, would one day have to thank the Turkish Army for its democracy ?

The abusive, homicidal spouse is unrepentant, but wants back:

Want To Buy Some Modern Greek Fiction?

Since the Greeks realized their mistake in openly pursuing Cyprus’ annexation to Greece, they have pretended since the partition that they only wanted to live happily as a unified nation of equal Cypriots under the Cypriot flag until the Turkish Army came along and separated them from their beloved Turkish. compatriots With an intensive misinformation campaign they made the world forget how they dishonored their own constitution and treaty obligations, and their treatment of the Turkish community, which left no option but the partitioning of the island and the physical separation of the two communities. Greek Lobbyists are adepts at distorting and manufacturing facts and blurring

the perceptions of the most sensible and educated people. The process could be called Kalamari Politics. Many people in Europe and North America have bought this modern Greek fiction spread by the low-end members of the news media which appeals to latent ethnic. prejudices Greek Propaganda focuses on the need for the reunification of the island nation, an idea as absurd as the reunification of a couple that tried to kill each other. Preposterous analogies have been drawn to the Berlin Wall. Anyone remotely familiar with history and geography know that there are two distinctly different nations on Cyprus separated by ethnic and religious differences aggravated by historical grievances and violent conflict. The Green Line that divides the two communities is not a Berlin Wall, it is the restraining order that keeps an abusive

spouse at bay. Since 1963 Turkish Cypriots have seen nothing but hostility from Greek Cypriots, not the least of which is the fact that they have turned this issue into a Christian Crusade against the Moslems. In fact, the only thing the Greeks have not tried so far is a genuine and credible offer of goodwill and friendship. The Greeks have not fooled the Turkish Cypriots even into sitting at a negotiating

table, but their propaganda seems to have been bought by several politicians in Europe and North America who wish to put Cyprus again on the agenda. In view of the recent events in Bosnia and Kosovo, and the solutions imposed

with a lot of difficulty by the application of international military force, it defies any logic why anyone would even consider taking Cyprus back to the conditions of 1963. Do they need another slaughter televised on CNN?

History and contemporary events show that the Cyprus Peace Operation partitioning the island was and still is the best solution for the lasting peace. For the Turkish Cypriots the only other viable( kabul edilebilir) option, if the international recognition is still withheld(saklamak, and sanctions(onay) not lifted, is to unite with the motherland.