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Civilian persons in areas of armed conflict and occupied territories are protected by Article 159 of the 4th Geneva Convention of 12 August 1949, concerning the protection of civilians during war.
Occupations are temporary and the occupying forces are responsible for securing the interests of those protected under their rule.
Article 4 of the Convention defines the protected person. Part 3 of the same convention laid down the rules determining the status of “protected persons” in the occupied zone and how they should be treated (Articles 27-141). Thus, civilian persons are protected from murder, torture or brutality and are protected from discrimination on the basis of race, nationality, religion or political opinion.
According to the article 49(6) of the Convention, the occupying power shall not forcibly send or transfer a portion of its own population to the occupied territory.
In various resolutions and statements taken by the United Nations organization regarding the Cyprus problem, the regret for the change in the demographic structure in Cyprus has been expressed. For example, in the UN General Assembly resolution 3395 dated 20 November 1975 says, “all parties are called to avoid unilateral actions that would contradict resolution 3212, including making changes in the demographic structure of Cyprus”. In the UN General Assembly resolution 33/15 dated 9 November 1978, it is expressed that it regrets "all the unilateral actions that have changed the demographic structure of Cyprus". The UN General Assembly reaffirmed this in its resolutions of 20 November 1979 (No. 34/30) and 13 May 1983 (No. 37/253).
As it will be remembered, with the resolution of the UN Security Council dated 18 November 1983 and numbered 541, all countries were asked not to recognize any other Cypriot state other than the Republic of Cyprus.
In the resolution of the UN “Sub-Commission on the Elimination of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities” dated 2 September 1987, it is stated: “There is also concern about the policy and practice of bringing settlers into the occupied areas of Cyprus, which constitutes a form of colonialism and is an attempt to illegally change the demographic structure of Cyprus.”
This population, which is also spoken at the negotiating table from time to time and transferred from Turkey to the occupied parts of Cyprus, is always indirectly mentioned in all UN documents. However, it constitutes one of the main issues that must be resolved during the resolution of the Cyprus problem.
I mentioned this situation in an article I wrote in 2003 titled "The situation of the Turkish population transferred to Cyprus" and I made the following determination at the beginning of the article:
“The Turkish population, who moved to the island under the name of “seasonal workers” after Turkey occupied 37% of the northern part of the territory of the Republic of Cyprus in the summer of 1974, has recently started to be a topic of discussion in the Turkish Cypriot public opinion. The place of the Turkish population in international law, who has disclosed that they have been used as a vote depot to give political support to the occupation regime, by being given TRNC citizenship, is now rightly questioned." (Afrika newspaper, 3-4-5 September 2003)
With the "Agreement on Economic and Financial Cooperation between the Government of the Republic of Turkey for the Year 2022 and the Government of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus" signed in Ankara on April 14, 2022 and published in the Official Gazette on May 20, 2022. Further changes, which are intended to be made in the region of the Republic of Cyprus Turkey, occupied by the Turkish Armed Forces since the summer of 1974, exceed the purpose stated in the protocol and make it necessary to re-evaluate the issue in the context of the 4th Geneva Convention of 1949.
(23 May 2022, Nicosia)
Εξεκίνησα να γράφω για τους φίλους μου τους μέσα. Για το "φιλόδεντρον που εφημερεύει" στο σαλόνι μου κατ΄ακρίβεια. Αλλά είσ̆εν τόσον ωραίον τζ̆αιρόν σήμμερα που έφκηκα έξω τζ̆αι εσυνάντησα τους φίλους μου τους έξω. Αφούς το φιλόδεντρον εφημερεύει, όπως εφημερεύει τόσα χρόνια τζ̆αι διά μιαν άλλην αισθητικήν στην μελαγχολίαν τζ̆αι στην μοναξιάν, να το αφήκω για άλλον κείμενον, διότι οι φιλοι πον να σας παρουσιάσω σήμμερα αλλάσσουν μέραν με την ημέραν.
Όταν σας μιλώ για μοναξιάν, μεν νομίζεται πως σας μιλά κανένας κακομάζαλος ερημήτης. Η σ̆ειρόττερη μοναξιά εν μες σε κακές συντροφκιές ή ακόμα σ̆ειρόττερα, μες την πολλοκοσμίαν με την οποίαν δεν έσ̆ει το πλάσμαν να πει τίποτε. Φίλον ονομάζω τζ̆αι συντροφκιάν, έναν πλάσμαν που έσ̆ει να μου πεί κάτι να μάθω, κάτι να αισθανθώ.
Πέρσυ εκαρτέρουν τους τζ̆ι έν ήρτασιν. Μιλώ για τους ογράκους που έρκουνται τα τελευταία χρόνια τζ̆αι γεννοβολούσιν μες την κολύμπαν που έκαμα για ότι ζωντανόν χρειάζεται νερόν στην γειτονιάν να έρκεται να σερβίρεται τζ̆αι να κόφκουμεν τζ̆αι καμιάν κουβένταν. Οι υδροβιότοποι λλιανίσκουν τζ̆αι στες γειτονιές μου. Ενόμισα ότι εν θα έρκουνταν ούτε φέτη. Άμαν κάμνεις διάλογον με την βιοδιαφορετικότηταν στο ιμιάγριον, ιμιήμερον περιβάλλον, οι ξένοι σου ότι θέλουν κάμνουν. Για μέναν τούτος ο διάλογος εν η χαρά. Να παρακολουθώ πως αντιδρούσιν στες διάφορες επεμβάσεις που κάμνω στον κήπον ή στο χωράφιν. Εν έναν είδος διαλόγου που σου μαθαίννει πολλά για τον κόσμον τους, για τον κόσμον σου.
Μες τον υδροβιότοπον που έφτιαξα, μετά που έβαλα μερικά ιθαγενή φυτά, άφηκα τον κόσμον που θέλει να έρτει να ρτει. Δεν έβαλα σ̆ελωνούες ή χρυσόψαρα. Έβαλες χρυσόψαρα μες το νερόν τίποτε άλλον δεν θα έρτει. Το ίδιον τζ̆αι με τες σ̆ελώνες. Άσε δε που οι σ̆ελώνες διαφεύγουν τζ̆ιόλας τζ̆αι άμαν καταλήξουν στην άγριαν φύση μπορεί να εξολοθρέψουν ολόκληρον βιοσύστημαν που καταβροχθίζουν τα πάντα, δεν έχουν θηρευτές τζ̆αι δεν έχουν ξίλημμαν άμαν πολλαπλασιαστούσιν. Ολόκληρον βάλτον στο Jussy κοντά στην Γενεύην εκάμαν τον βασίλειον τους τζ̆αι εξολοθρέψαν τα πάντα. Οι αχάπαροι από ζωήν pet lovers που εγοράσαν σ̆ελωνούες στα μπάσταρτα τους, μετά που τες εβαρεθήκαν ελυπηθήκαν τες να τες σύρουν του αποπάτου να ποσπάζουνται τζ̆είνες που τα βάσανα, να ποσπάζουνται τζ̆αι τζ̆είνοι που τους πελάες, τζ̆ι επήραν τες να τες αφήσουν ελεύθερες στην φύσην… Καταλαβαίνετε τί ακολούθησεν…
Στον υδροβιότοπον μου εμέναν τα πρώτα που ήρτασιν ήταν δύο είδη καραόλων που ήταν πας τα φυτά που εκουβάλησα για προζύμιν. Ντόπιοι οι καραόλοι, διότι τα φυτά έπιασα τα που την Κλερ Λιζ, που δεν θά έκαμνεν ποττέ το “αμάρτημαν” να νεκατώσει το γενετικόν υλικόν των Άλπεων με εξωτικά φυτά η ζωΐφια που κουβαλούν τα πέτ σ̆ιόπ.Τα πέτ σ̆ιόπ είναι τόποι αηδίας για μέναν. Είναι τζ̆ειαμαί που συναται η αγορά με την έλλειψην τρυφεράδας με την μοναξιάν του σύχρονου κόσμου. Όπου συνταντάται η αγορά, το κίνητρον κέρδους δηλαδή, με την ζωήν γεννά δυστυχίαν. Αρωτάτε ότι επέρασεν που πετ σ̆ιοπ τζ̆αι θα σας πει. Αν καταλάβετε δηλαδή την γλώσσαν του χτηνού.
Με τους καραόλους ήρτασιν τζ̆αι Νωτονέκτες (εν κάτι έντομα του νερού που κωλυμπούν πισινήν λαλεί το τζ̆αι το όνομαν τους notonecta, που κωλυμπά με τα νώτα). Δεν ξέρω αν επετησαν που άλλην κολύμπαν ή αν ήρταν τ΄αυκά τους πας τα φυτά που κουβάλησα, ήρταν πάντως που τον πρώτον χρόνον. Τα βιβλία βιολογίας λαλούσιν ότι παρόλον που εν κολυμβητές, άμαν πολλήνουν πολλά σε μιαν κολύμπαν, μπόρουν τζ̆αι πετουσιν να παν να έβρουν αλλού νερόν. Εν όπως τους νέους επιστήμονες, ειδικά στην Κύπρον, που αν δεν φκάλουν φτερά παρόλον που δεν θα το θέλασιν, θα τους φάσιν τα αρπαχτικά που κρατούν τες θέσεις. Οι νωτονέκτες μου δεν αφήνουν σκνήπαν να σταυρώσει. Δεν έχω σκνήπες χάρη στους νωτονέκτες, στες λιβελούλες τζ̆αι σε κάτι μισ̆ιαρούς του νερού που τους λαλούμεν δακάτω triton. Τρίτωνες δηλαδή. Τζ̆αι τα τρία είδη είναι πραγματικοί εξολοθρευτές άλλων εντόμων. Οι προνύμφες της λιβελούλης, (αεροπλανούθκια τες εβαφτήσαμεν που είμαστιν μιτσ̆οί διότι κανένας δεν μας είπεν τί όνομαν έχουν στην γλώσσαν μας) εν το ίδιον αρπαχτικά, όσον τζ̆αι τα πετούμενα.
Έκατσα πάνω που ώραν σήμερα τζ̆αι επαρακολούθουν τι ζ̆εί μες την κολύμπαν. Δεν ξέρω γιατί μου ήρτεν το ποίημαν του Ελύτη. Εν συνηρμός που που το φιλόδεντρον που εσυνομίλουν με τους φίλους μου τους μέσα; Εν ήρτεν όμως το Άξιον εστι. Εν η πρωτομαγιά που ήρτεν, που “το ημερολόγιον ενός αθέατου Απριλίου” του 1984.
Πιάνω την άνοιξη με προσοχή και την ανοίγω:
Με χτυπάει μια ζέστη αραχνοΰφαντη
ένα μπλε που μυρίζει ανάσα πεταλούδας
οι αστερισμοί της μαργαρίτας όλοι αλλά
και μαζί πολλά σερνόμενα ή πετούμενα
ζουζούνια, φίδια, σαύρες, κάμπιες και άλλα
τέρατα παρδαλά με κεραίες συρμάτινες
λέπια χρυσά λαμέ και πούλιες κόκκινες
Θα λεγες, έτοιμα όλα τους να παν
στο χορό των μεταμφιεσμένων του Άδη
Έφυγα που τες οθονες να ξεφύγω που τον χορόν των μεταμφιεσμένων του Άδη τζ̆αι κατατρέχουν την σκέψην μου μέχρι τζ̆αι το τελευταίον μου καταφύγιον. Μες την σκέψην όμως εν πιο υποφερτοί παρά να τους θωρείς αυτοπροσώπως.
Τζ̆αι έτσι όπως εκάθουμουν ακίνητος για ώραν τζ̆αι βάλε,
Βρεκεκέξ κουάξ κουάξ
λαλεί μου ο όγρακος που την προηγούμενην νύχταν εγεννοβόλησεν τες ταντέλλες με σπορούθκια ζωής που θωρείτε πας την φωτογραφίαν που έφκαλα να μοιραστω με όποιον του αρέσκει τζ̆αι θκιαβάζει τα γραφτά μου. Έκατσα αλλότοσην ώραν να συνομιλώ με τους φίλους μου χωρίς να σκέφτουμε τους μισταρκούς του Άδη, ή τα παιδκιά της νύχτας, τους ψέφτες ή τους κλέφτες.
Researcher-Writer Ahmet Cavit An also denied entry to Turkey
Yenidüzen, Kıbrıs, Havadis, Diyalog, Avrupa (12 July 2021 – press.cydialogue.org)
The list of Turkish Cypriot intellectuals and opinion leaders banned from entering Turkey continued to grow on Sunday after Turkish Cypriot research and writer Dr Ahmet Cavit An (MD) was denied entry into Turkey.
An, a harsh critic, is the second person to be banned from entering Turkey on grounds of constituting a threat to the country’s national security.
Former Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akıncı’s press advisor Ali Bizden was the first person to be denied entry last week on similar grounds. Dr Ahmet Cavit An was also told that he was a “threat to national security” (of Turkey) and informed that he could obtain detailed information from the Turkish Embassy in north Nicosia.
Nonetheless, Cavit An, who is a paediatrician by profession, was allowed to return to the north with the next flight after he was kept in a room with a sign reading: “Immigration Administration.”
Cavit An is also famous for his research papers and books on Cyprus as well as Maraş (Varosha).
Havadis: The UBP plays dumb and deaf (13 July 2021 – press.cydialogue.org)
Following Ali Bizden, Dr Ahmet An’s entry into Turkey was also denied. The National Unity Party (UBP) claims “It is not our problem” While the list of people entering Turkey keeps growing, the senior coalition partner UBP’s General Secretary Oğuzhan Hasipoğlu in response to a question on Havadis web TV, said “This is not UBP’s problem. They (the people barred from entering Turkey) could file lawsuits in Turkey.”
Turkey bans second Turkish Cypriot from entering
By George Psyllides - July 12, 2021 -Cyprus Mail
Turkey has expelled a Turkish Cypriot researcher and columnist claiming he had engaged in activities against national security, reports said on Monday.
Reports said Ahmet Cavit An arrived in Istanbul on Sunday and was told that he was banned from entering.
An was quoted as saying that he was travelling from the north to Smyrni through Istanbul when he was told at passport control that entry was banned as part of a decision made in September 2020.
Airport officials told An that he could get more information regarding the decision from the Turkish embassy in the north.
An, a paediatrician, has been exercising the profession since 1982 and at the same time he does research and writes books on Cyprus.
His expulsion on Sunday followed that of Ali Bizden, former Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci’s communications officer, on July 6 for the same reason. Bizden was banned from entering Turkey for five years.
Bizden said at the time that when he arrived his wallet and mobile phone were confiscated and he was told that by order of September 8, 2020, he was to be deported on the next flight back.
FES (Friedrich Ebert Stiftung – German Foundation of the SPD Party) Cyprus Newsletter No. 110 - July 2021
Former Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci’s press advisor Ali Bizden and researcher, Dr Ahmet Cavit An were barred from entering Turkey on the premises that they were regarded as a threat to Turkey’s national security. It turned out that the decision was made in September 2020 and is valid for 5 years. Bizden on July 7 and Cavit An on July 11 were denied entry into Turkey and were deported back to the island. The decision to bar them from entering Turkey had sent shockwaves through the Turkish Cypriot community and the opposition, reigniting a never-ending debate on relations with Ankara while the government and Tatar maintained their silence. Reportedly, ‘the list’ made in September 2020 includes many more people. (pp.9-10)
Avrupa: The blacklist is quite long
12 July 2021 – press.cydialogue.org
Following Ali Bizden, Ahmet An was also barred from entering Turkey and deported back to Cyprus from Istanbul airport. It’s not only Mustafa Akıncı who is on Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s blacklist but every other Turkish Cypriot who is known for his/her opposition stance. Researcher and writer Dr Ahmet Cavit An who flew to Istanbul yesterday was prevented from entering Turkey. He was also provided with the same excuse given to Ali Bizden, that he was a threat to Turkey’s security. An had won a case filed at the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) against Turkey after being prevented by authorities in the north from crossing to the south in 1992.
Debate on the ban of TCs from entering Turkey continues
Yenidüzen, Kıbrıs, Havadis, Diyalog, Avrupa (13 July 2021 – press.cydialogue.org)
The issue concerning the banning of certain Turkish Cypriots from entering Turkey on grounds they posed a threat to the country’s national security continues to occupy the north’s agenda.
Commenting on the issue, National Unity Party (UBP) General Secretary Oğuzhan Hasipoğlu said that the Turkish courts could provide more clarity on the matter. He added that individuals could apply to the courts to revoke and challenge the decision. “This is about Turkey and its public interest,” Hasipoğlu, who is a lawyer by profession, said.
Speaking on Havadis web TV Hasipoğlu said that every state could exercise a decision to bar individuals from entering its territory and that the issue was not unique to Turkish Cypriots. Responding to the claims that the so-called blacklist is being kept at the Turkish Embassy in north Nicosia, Hasipoğlu said he was not aware if the government launched an inquiry into the matter. “This is not a matter for the UBP nor is it for any political party. This is a matter for the government, and should they see any need, the Foreign Ministry will take the necessary steps to launch the necessary initiatives,” Hasipoğlu noted.
In the meantime, Ali Bizden in a social media post on Monday said he has asked to meet with the Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar. Bizden said he will share his viewpoint on him being barred from entering Turkey, adding that “I also would like to listen to Tatar’s evaluation on the issue.” “I have also asked to be informed if it is not possible to allow me in the office of the president as well,” Bizden concluded.
Ahmet Cavit An who spoke to Yenidüzen questioned the justification and legality of the decision taken. He questioned who had instructed the Turkish authorities to take such a decision.
Head of the Turkish Cypriot Bar Association Hasan Esendağlı who also commented on the issue, expressed concern over the developments, arguing that relations between the north and Turkey were at a breaking point.
Bizden on July 7 and Cavit An on July 11 were denied entry into Turkey and were deported back to the north. Both had been deemed as a “threat to Turkey’s national security” in a decision adopted in September 2020 for five years.
The decision to bar them from entering Turkey had sent shockwaves through the Turkish Cypriot community and the opposition, reigniting a never-ending debate on relations with Ankara while the government and Tatar maintained their silence to date other than a benign statement from the Turkish Cypriot foreign ministry claiming to have “launched the necessary initiatives with the Turkish authorities.”
Foreign Minister Çavuşoğlu did not deny the allegations that some TRNC journalists and politicians were not admitted to Turkey.
The Minister described the decisions taken regarding foreigners entering the country as 'sovereignty'.
17 November 2021 14:47 - t24.com.tr
Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu did not deny the allegations that some TRNC people who were close to former president Mustafa Akıncı or who were warm to the federal solution were not admitted to Turkey.
Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu was asked about the allegations that some people from Northern Cyprus, including politicians, writers and journalists, were not allowed into the country on the grounds that there was an "entry ban to Turkey" against them.
Answering the questions of CHP's Utku Çakırözer, Minister Çavuşoğlu did not deny that some TRNC members were not admitted to Turkey, but described the decisions taken regarding foreigners entering the country as "sovereignty".
Reacting to Çavuşoğlu, Çakırözer said, "The fact that TRNC members are not allowed into Turkey cannot be explained solely by 'sovereignty'. On the one hand, you say, "We will defend the rights and law of the Cypriots", on the other hand, you are violating the law, by not allowing Cypriot journalists, politicians and intellectuals to the country! The reason for this unlawful treatment should be immediately disclosed to both the TRNC residents and the public.”
News about the fact that Ali Bizden, the communication consult of former TRNC president Mustafa Akıncı, was sent back to Cyprus from Istanbul on 6 July and researcher-writer Ahmet Cavit An on 12 July on the grounds that they were banned from entering Turkey. It took place in the Turkish press. Then, in October, there were news that the President of the Press Workers' Union, Ali Kişmir, was detained at Istanbul Airport on his return from Croatia and was not boarded on the plane.
A newspaper published in Cyprus, on the other hand, stated that they had reached the Embassy of the Republic of Turkey in Nicosia and shared the "forbidden list" that allegedly imposed an entry ban on 42 Cypriot dissidents, including intellectuals, writers, journalists and politicians.
Rising anger with Turkey drives calls for reunification in crisis-hit northern Cyprus
With the economy in freefall and allegations of political interference, people have taken to the streets to advocate for federal future
Helena Smith in North Nicosia - Sun 9 Jan 2022 - theguardian.com
In his sun-filled office in north Nicosia, Şener Elcil is plotting his next protest. Anger, he says, is in the air in Turkish-occupied northern Cyprus.
The economy is in freefall, thanks to the self-declared republic’s financial and political dependence on Turkey. Thousands have taken to the streets, spurred by inflation rates that have left many struggling to make ends meet; ahead of parliamentary polls later this month, calls for a boycott are mounting, while a blacklist of Turkish Cypriot dissidents, reportedly drawn up at the behest of Ankara, has spawned consternation and fear.
“Turkey is our biggest problem,” says Elcil, who heads the Turkish Cypriot teachers’ union and is a vocal proponent of reunification of the war-divided island under a federal umbrella with the Greek-run south. “It should keep its hands off Cyprus and take its lira and go away.”
Sener Elcil in the teachers’ union of northern Cyprus. Photograph: Helena Smith/the Guardian
Elcil, 58, is among the statelet’s most outspoken opponents of the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and his unorthodox economic policies.
The recent gyrations of the Turkish lira – adopted by the territory in 1976, two years after the Turkish invasion – have had a devastating effect on daily life for a populace that remains under international embargo and cut off from the rest of the world. The use of foreign currency for property transactions and the purchase of imported goods has made a bad situation worse – even if the lira has regained some of its dramatic loss in value against the dollar.
Amid rising desperation, along with demands for the entity to adopt a “stable” currency, Elcil is far from alone.
“People are tired of international isolation, and they’re aware that it will only get worse,” he says. “Five years ago, a teacher first entering our system earned the equivalent of €1,100 (£920) a month. Today, because of the lira, they’d take home €350 a month.”
The protests come as hopes of reuniting Cyprus have rarely been as bleak. Last week, nearly 15 months after Ersin Tatar, a nationalist hardliner, won presidential elections in the north, the UN secretary general, António Guterres, issued his starkest report yet, warning that “without decisive action” further efforts to reach a negotiated peace settlement appeared increasingly slim.
“Partition is so close,” says Izzet Izcan, who heads the United Cyprus party, one of three leftwing groups that have announced they will be abstaining from the 23 January parliamentary vote. “Tatar is Ankara’s puppet who was elected only after Turkey intervened in our democratic process. His pro-partition policies are not in the interests of our community. The only way to oppose them is to fight all together.”
In the 38 years since the breakaway republic unilaterally declared independence, Turkey’s interference in the entity’s affairs had never been as flagrant, claimed Izcan, echoing a widely voiced concern. “Elections are no longer representative of the real will of ordinary Turkish Cypriots. They’re like a game planned and played by Turkey,” the former MP said. “Our main problem is political. Our economic difficulties are the result of a political situation, of Turkey continuing its military occupation of the north by means of the lira.” Cyprus has been split between a Greek Cypriot south and Turkish Cypriot north since an Athens-backed coup, aimed at union with Greece, prompted Ankara to launch a military operation to seize its northern third. Although Turkish Cypriots voted in favour of reunification in a referendum in 2004, the island entered the EU as a divided state after its majority Greek Cypriot population rejected the prospect of power sharing. Until reunification is achieved, EU laws are suspended in the north despite it also formally being part of the bloc.
The growing disgruntlement follows alarm over the deportation from Turkey of prominent Turkish Cypriots opposed to Ankara’s policies.
Until recently the self-styled state – acknowledged solely by Ankara – was regarded as a safe zone for opponents of Erdoğan and his governing AKP party, one in which Turkish Cypriots and exiled mainland Turks indulged freely in criticism of the president’s authoritarian leadership.
But the appearance of a blacklist, published by Avrupa, a local newspaper, in October has heightened anxiety over the lengths to which Turkey is willing to go to silence dissent. The paper identified 42 politicians, writers, journalists, lawyers, trade unionists and artists as being on the list.
“It’s created fear and uncertainty,” says Mehmet Harmancı, the mayor of North Nicosia, drawing on a cigarette in a cafe near the divided capital’s UN-patrolled buffer zone. “Nobody knows exactly who is on it. All we know is there is a list, a blacklist of people seen as a security threat in Turkey who are blocked from entering the country.”
People previously unafraid to voice opinions were increasingly concerned, he said, about the consequences if they did so. Turkish Cypriots expelled from Turkey had learned of the ban only upon arrival in the nation.
“Even if ours is an unrecognised country we’ve had a longstanding democratic tradition of freedom of speech, of respecting each other’s values and ideas,” says Harmancı. “Since the election of Ersin Tatar, that has changed.”
Tatar, who was raised in the UK and educated at Cambridge before returning to Cyprus, has used his term in office to advocate for a two-state solution to the island’s division after years of failed negotiations to reunite it as a bi-zonal, bi-communal federation – a proposal flatly rejected by the EU. He has defended the travel ban, saying: “Every country has the right not to allow entry foreign nationals on the grounds of security when faced with threats and insults.”
However, Turkish Cypriots thought to be on the list are united in their desire for reunification and opposed to any suggestion that the EU’s most easterly member state should remain partitioned.
For Ahmet Cavit An, who co-founded the Movement for an Independent and Federal Cyprus, the island’s first such organisation, the memory of being stopped by immigration officers at Istanbul airport last summer is still painfully vivid. “I was at the passport control when they said I was persona non grata,” says the 71-year-old retired paediatrician. “I was then told I should write to the Turkish embassy in Nicosia for more information. Five months after my lawyer sent a registered letter demanding an explanation we’ve still not had a reply.”
In a landmark case, won in 2003, An took Ankara to the European court of human rights for being prevented from crossing into the island’s buffer zone to participate in bi-communal meetings. “What I want to know is the duration of this ban so I can get on with my life,” he says.
In October the European Federation of Journalists condemned the arrest of Ali Kismir, who heads the north’s press trade union, after he was detained at Istanbul airport and denied entry into Turkey.
“I was taken to a special deportation area where my photograph and fingerprints were taken,” he recalls. “It makes me very angry to think that I was treated like a terrorist when all I do is write the truth.”
Kismir, the fourth Turkish Cypriot to be barred entry to Turkey, is a well-known columnist who took issue with Ankara’s electoral meddling to ensure Tatar’s election. His convictions are such that he sports a tattoo bearing the word “peace” in both Greek and Turkish on his right arm.
In recent weeks, Turkish opposition MPs have also raised the plight of Turkish Cypriots being banned from Turkey, arguing that this runs counter to the motherland’s professed desire to protect the minority.
But, like almost every Turkish Cypriot opposed to Ankara’s policies, Elcil says time is running out for a community already outnumbered by settlers imported from the mainland. About 2,000 Turkish Cypriots have relocated to the south, lured by jobs and better living standards.
“There have to be more protests that target Turkey, because Turkey is the biggest obstacle to a solution of the Cyprus problem and reunification,” he says. “They call us traitors and Turkish-speaking Greeks but we’re not giving up. We’re here to stay and we’re here to fight.”
Έχω θκυό κατηγορίες φίλους. Τους έσσω τζ̆αι τους μέσα. Για τους έξω έγραψα κατά διαστήματα, για τους έσσω δεν έτυχεν.
Αρκέφκω με τον Πέμπτην. Έφκαλα τον έτσι για να μου αθθυμίζει μιαν Παρασκευήν τζ̆αι κάτι ώρες χαράς, κάτι φόρμες κάλλους, κάτι στιγμές αγάπης. Δεν είναι ζωή να ζεις κλεισμένος στο παρελθόν ή εξαϋλωμένος στο μέλλον. Εν που τον Όμηρον που οι αθρώποι εκαταλάβαν πόσον κατάρα είναι να μεν ζεις το παρόν τζ̆αι να του διαφεύγεις αφήννοντας την ίδιαν την ζωήν να σου διαφεύγει. Η Οδύσσεια η ίδια εν η το καλλιτεχνικόν αριστούργημαν αυτής της φιλοσοφικής στάσης. Ο Οδυσσέας αρνήθην να μείνει στον Άδην με την μάναν του, τους φίλους του τα πλάσματα που πολλά αγάπησεν στο παρελθόν, όπως αρνήθην τζ̆αι το ξάστερον μέλλον μες στ΄αγγάλλια της Καλυψούς, που του έταξεν την αιώνιαν ζωήν να τον έσ̆ει κοντά της για πάντα. Την αιώνιαν ζωήν τί να την έκαμνεν ο Οδυσσέας, αφους τζ̆αι οι θεοί που την είχαν, επεθανίσκαν που ανίαν τζ̆αι ψάχναν την πιπεράτην στιγμήν του παρόντος να ερωτεύκουνται με τους θνητούς;
Όχι δεν έχω διάθεσην να ζώ μες την κατάραν, μες την Οδύσσειαν να ψάχνω το παρόν να πετάσσουμαι που το παρελθόν στο μέλλον τζ̆αι που το μέλλον στο παρελθόν, όπως κάμνει σήμμερα η αριστερά στον κόσμον τζ̆αι ιδίως στην Κύπρον. Παίζοντας με τον Πέμπτην μου, δεν μεινίσκω κλειδωμένος μες τα περασμένα της περασμένης Παρασκευής μου. Παίζω με τον Πέμπτην του τωρά, αναστορώντας, που λαλούν τζ̆αι οι Κρητικοί, τα καλά της περασμένης μου Παρασκευής. Για να μαθαίννω, για να προσέχω, για ονειρεύκουμε. Γιατί η Παρασ̆σ̆ευκή πον νάρτει, πο λάλεν τζ̆αι η στετέ μου η Γριστινού, μπορεί να τζ̆΄η καλλύττερη σου μέρα.
Τωρά όμως, τωρά, εν ο Πέμπτης. Ο Πέμπτης της μοναξ̆ιάς, ο Πέμπτης της γλυτζ̆ιάς μελαγχολίας. Ο Πέμπτης του πολέμου στην Ρωσσίαν. Ο Πέμπτης εν έναν φυλλούιν που έππεσεν που την Παρασκεύήν, έναν πασ̆σ̆ύφυλλον που εκουβάλησα που μιαν ανεμοδαρμένην τζ̆αι λιοπυρωμένην ταρράτσαν στην Σαντορίνην. Άμα ππέσει φύλλον τούτου του πασ̆ύφυτου πάνω σε χώμαν, έσ̆ει την ιδιότηταν να φκάλλει ρίζαν τζ̆αι κλωνούιν. Που τζ̆ειαμαί εγεννήθην ο Πέμπτης τυχαία. Τζ̆αι όταν από περιέργειαν έθελα να τον φυτέψω να δώ τί θα κάμει, έν είχα γλαστρούν. Έτυχεν τζ̆είνην την ημέραν να φάω κάτι ωραία τσαρτέλλια του ττενεκκουθκιού με τα λουφκιά τα βραστά. Έπιασα λλίον χώμαν που την Παρασκευήν που είναι σε έναν πιο μεγάλον ττενεκκούδιν ελαιολάδου “Βιοαρμονία” τζ̆αι έκατσα το φυλλούδιν με την ρίζαν πάνω. Εγίνην φυτόν αυτόνομον ο Πέμπτης, τζ̆αι έσ̆εί τον δικόν του χαραχτήραν. Με το λλίον χώμαν που του έτυχεν καταφέρνει να συνθέτει με τον νήλλιον, έκατσεν του φαίνεται ο τόπος καλλύττερα που της Παρασκευής τζ̆αι είναι απίστευτόν πόσον εμεγάλωσεν όμορφα τζ̆αι αρμονικά. Τζ̆αι το κάδρον του εν επίσης προϊόν της τύχης. Είσ̆ιεν πεταξούμενον έναν σχολικόν έργον της κόρης μου τζ̆ειαμαί δίπλα για τζ̆αιρόν πολλήν, τζ̆αι έππεσεν κάτω τζ̆ι ετσακκίστην. Ούτε αθθυμούμαι τί είσ̆ειν πάνω που την έβαλεν να σχεδιάσει η δασκάλα. Έπιασα το κάδρον τζ̆αι έβαλα το του Πέμπτη μου να μεν τον σιμπουρκά με την χούβερ η κοπέλλα που έρκεται τζ̆αι καθαρίζει το σπίτιν. Που τότες σέβεται τον τζ̆αι προσέχει τον διότι εκατάλαβεν ότι ο Πέμπτης είναι αξιόλογον άτομον. Χωρίς τες πληγές της χούβερ επήρεν πάνω του τζ̆αι θέλει να πεταχτεί τζ̆αι έξω που το κάδρον.
Το ττενεκκούιν όμως των τσαρτελιών αθθυμίζει του τα όρια του, άλλον χώμαν έν έσ̆ει, πρόσεχε Πέμπτη τί ανάπτυξην θα κάμεις, να μεν πάθεις σαν τον Καπιταλισμόν που εσκότωσεν την υλικήν του βάσην τζ̆αι βουρά τωρά τζ̆αι περιπάιζει τον κόσμον πους εν να κάμει πράσινην ανάπτυξην να διορθώσει την ύβρην του προς την γεωσφαίραν που τον ανάγιωσεν. Ο Πέμπτης φαίνεται να τα καταφέρνει καλλύττερα που τον καπιταλισμόν. Με πόλεμον θέλει να κάμει κανενού για να διαχειριστεί την υλικήν του βάσην, με μίσος να καλλιεργήσει για να φάει παραπάνω που τους νικημένους. Μετρά απλά τι μπορεί να του προσφέρει η υλική του βάση, έναν τενεκκούιν της τσαρτέλλας χώμαν, τζ̆αι αννοίει τα φύλλα του να απολαύσει τον νήλλιον ανάλλογα. Τζ̆αι άμαν νώσει ότι δεν τον σηκώννει το χώμαν να κάμει φύλλα παραπάνω, σ̆ιέρεται τα τζ̆είνα που σ̆ιει.
Αυτήν την ιδεολογίαν ο Πέμπτης μου, κουβαλεί την που την Παρασκευήν μου, που εν το πιο όμορφον, το πιο έξυπνον τζ̆αι το πιο ευαίσθητον πλάσμαν που αγάπησα στην ζωήν μου. Αυτός είναι ο Πέμπτης του παρόντος μου, τζ̆αι πίσω που το κάδρον, μια άννοιξη σ̆ιονισμένη.
Μέσα σε τούτον το απέραντον παζάριν, ακόμα τζ̆αι το χώμαν εγίνην προϊόν να του καθορίζει την τιμήν η αγορά.
Οι φιλελεύθεροι οικολόγοι, που θεωρούν ότι η αγορά “με το σωστό περιεχόμενο” θα σώσει την γην με πράσινην ανάπτυξην, πράσινες επενδύσεις, πράσινα κοντράτα, θα έθελα να μου εξηγήσουν τί αξίαν διούν οι νόμοι της σε αυτόν το βουνάριν το χώμαν στην φωτογραφίαν κάπου στα κοτσ̆ινοχώρκα.
Το χώμαν άτε εν τόσα εβρά το αυτοκίνητον. Στο χωράφιν που ετιτσιρώσαν για να φκάλουν το εμπόρεύμαν τί αξίαν διά η αγορά; Τζ̆αι τί αξίαν έσ̆ει τούτη η αξία;
Εντάξει θα σου πουν, έχει νόμους που βάλλουν όρια στην οικονομικήν ανάπτυξην άμα πειράζεται πολλά το περιβάλλον. Μα είντα αγορά είναι άμα θέλει κράτος να την ρυθμίζει. Τι νόμος εν το θεσφάτον της προσφοράς τζ̆αι της ζήτησης; Που τελειώννει ο νόμος τζ̆αι που ξεκινά η ρύθμιση;
Το κείμενο τούτο δεν θα το γράψω για να πω πόσον χάζιν κάμνω με τους θρησκευόμενους της οικονομίας της αγοράς, πράσινους, ροζ, γαλάζιους ή μαύρους, γράφω το για να πω πόσο θλίβομαι να βλέπω την ασυδοσία του καπιταλισμού στην Κύπρο που τίποτε δεν σέβεται. Στα χρόνια των θρησκειών, τα σοβαρά για την ζωήν των ανθρώπων, σωστά η λάθος αξιολογημένα, εταξινόμαν τα η κοινωνία τους στην κατηγορίαν των ιερών τζ̆αι κανένας άνθρωπος, κανέναν εμπόριον, κανέναν αλίσ̆ι βερίσ̆ι δεν εμπόριεν να τα ντζ̆ίσει.
Έναν απείραχτον έδαφος, έσ̆ει μέσα ζωήν. Επειδή λλίοι εκάτσαν να την μελετήσουν κανένας ατζ̆έττης της αγοράς δεν πεϊντίζει την αξίαν της. Χωρίς γαιοσκώληκες, χωρίς βακτηρίδια, χωρίς μύκητες, μια γή πεθαμμένη γίνενται τάκκος. Δεν αερίζεται. Ιδίως το κοτσ̆ινόχωμα τζ̆αι κάθε αργιλώδες έδαφος, κόννος που λαλούμεν. Για να ξαναγινεί το οικοσύστημαν του εδάφους άμα το πειράξεις θέλει 500 χρόνια. Ετιτσιρώσαν τα μισά κοτσ̆ινοχώραφα για να κάμουν κήπους των ξενοδοχείων πας τα κάκκαφα. Πάαιννε να φυτέψεις δεντρά στο τιτσιρωμένον χωράφι που του αφήκαν 10, 20, 30 πόντους χώμα. 10-20 πόντους παράγει κιρτάριν, 30 πόντους μπορεί να κάμεις τζ̆αι πατατερόν με πολλήν νίτρον τζ̆αι φωσφόρον. Δεντρά όμως; Οι επόμενες γενιές που θα κληρονομήσουν το τιτσιρωμένον χωράφιν, εκτός που δεν πρόκειται να ξανάβρουν κοτσ̆ινόχωμαν να γεμώσουν τον λούκκον, θα θέλει αιώνες για να ξαναδούν βιοσύστημαν απείραχτης γης μέσα.
Ούλλες τούτες τες αμετάκλητες αλλαγές που φέρνει η οικονομική δραστηριότητα εν με πολιτικές αποφάσεις που αποτρέπονται άμα εν ανεπιθύμητες για τον ανθρώπινον πολιτισμόν. Καμιά αγορά δεν έχει την παραμικρήν λύσην να προσφέρει. Άρα εν η δημοκρατία που θα δώσει τες κοινωνικές συναινέσεις να αφαιρέσει το “δικαίωμαν” που τζ̆είνον που κρατεί το κοτσ̆ιάνιν να κάμει ότι θέλει. Άσε που στην Κύπρο τζ̆αι νόμους να έχει λλία αλλάσσουν. Παλιά μιαν τσένταν αγγούρκα έκλεφτες που το ποστάνιν του άλλου, άρπασσε σε ο Τουρκόπουλλος. Τωρά τιτσιρώννουν έναν χωράφιν που το κοτσ̆ινόχωμαν του τζ̆αι την ζωήν του, κανένας εν τους είδεν να εφαρμόσει τον νόμον, να προστατέψει τον εθνικόν πλούτον. Φτέρη ολόκληρα φορτώνουν τα πας τα φορτηκά να πουλήσουν την χαβάραν, εξαφανίζοντας χλωρίδαν τζ̆αι πανίδαν που έζ̆εν πάνω χωρίς να δρώσει το φτιν κανενού μουχτάρη. Δεν είναι μόνον το λαϊκιστικόν να σσιωπά για να εν αρεστός τζ̆αι να τον ξαναψηφίζουν, κατά βάθος θεωρεί δίκαιον να “αξιο”ποιήσει κάποιος το μάλιν του.
Ποιόν μάλιν του βρε γάρε μουχτάρη, βρε γάρε ιδιοκτήτη, βρε γάρε που νομίζεις ότι οικονομία είναι άπου αρπάξει; Κοτσ̆ιάνιν σημαίνει δανείζει σου η προηγούμενη γενιά έναν προνόμιον πας έναν κομμάτιν γην να ζήσεις πάνω της τζ̆αι να την παραδώσεις στην επόμενην γενιάν. Να την παραδώσεις στην επόμενην γενιάν. Τζ̆αι αν αγαπάς την επόμενην γενιάν, (“αχ τα παιδάκια μου”), θα την παραδώσεις καλλύττερην, όι τιτσίρικην, να πουλήσεις το χώμαν να γοράσεις μερσεντές.
Η γη η απείραχτη εν γη ιερή. Αλλά πουν την πνευματικότηταν των ανθρώπων να την εβλοήσει; Αφούτις ο αγιασμός των ρασοφόρων δεν κανεί καν για να εβλοήσουν τα όπλα τους, τα στρατόπεδα τους, τα συρματομπλέγματα τους, τα αγάλματα όσον πέμπουν στον τάφον...
Εκεί που φύτρωνε φλισκούνι κι άγρια μέντα, και βγάζει η γης το πρώτο της κυκλάμυνο… Έγραφεν τα ο Γκάτσος που το 76, εμελοποίαν τα ο Χατζ̆ιδάκης, ετραούδαν τα η Φαραντούρη, αλλά ποιός άκουσεν; Ποιός ακούει. Αφού το δάσος θα καεί.
Πραγματοποιήθηκε νωρίτερα σήμερα συνεδρία της Κοινοβουλευτικής Επιτροπής Ανθρωπίνων Δικαιωμάτων και Ισότητας μεταξύ Ανδρών και Γυναικών, με θέμα το «Αίτημα για άδεια εισόδου στην Κύπρο και υποβολή αίτησης ασύλου για την οικογένεια της Σύριας Kawther Abdalaziz”. Στη συνεδρία συμμετείχε η ΚΙΣΑ όπως και άλλες ΜΚΟ καθώς και αρμόδιες κυβερνητικές υπηρεσίες και ανεξάρτητες αρχές και θεσμοί.
H Επιτροπή προχώρησε στην πραγματοποίηση της συνεδρίας με τη συμμετοχή της ΚΙΣΑ παρά το ότι ο Υπουργός Εσωτερικών και σημαντικές για τη συνεδρία υπηρεσίες/τμήματα του Υπουργείου του αρνήθηκαν να παρευρεθούν επειδή, σύμφωνα με επιστολή του προς την Επιτροπή, είχε κληθεί να συμμετάσχει και η ΚΙΣΑ που είναι «παράνομη» καθώς έχει διαγραφεί από το Μητρώο Σωματείων. Αυτή η ενέργεια του Υπουργού κρίθηκε ομόφωνα από την Επιτροπή ως «απαράδεκτη παρέμβαση στο έργο της». Αυτό καταδεικνύει πλέον πέραν πάσης αμφιβολίας ότι η διαγραφή της ΚΙΣΑ, για ασήμαντους και τυπικούς λόγους, ήταν εξ αρχής προγραμματισμένη από τον ΥΠΕΣ, ως μια προσπάθεια φίμωσης της οργάνωσης που εδώ και 23 χρόνια αγωνίζεται με συνέπεια για την ισότητα και για στήριξη των μεταναστών και προσφύγων.
Για το θέμα της διαγραφής της, η ΚΙΣΑ επιθυμεί να πληροφορήσει την κοινωνία για τα ακόλουθα:
Είναι σαφές ότι η ΚΙΣΑ συνεχίζει να διατηρεί το νομικό της καθεστώς στη βάση της κείμενης νομοθεσίας για τις ΜΚΟ και παραμένει ενεργή για την επίτευξη των στόχων της. Η νέα αυτή εχθρική ενέργεια του ΥΠΕ, δεν αποτελεί τίποτα άλλο από ωμό εκβιασμό της ίδιας της Βουλής των Αντιπροσώπων με στόχο τον περιορισμό της ελευθερίας έκφρασης ώστε να μην τεθούν ενώπιον της Βουλής οι πολύ σοβαρές καταγγελίες της ΚΙΣΑ για απάνθρωπη και ταπεινωτική μεταχείριση της εγκύου πρόσφυγα και τις παράνομες επαναπροωθήσεις σε Λίβανο και Συρία. Ο Υπουργός Εσωτερικών δυστυχώς συνεχίζει τη σπίλωση και τη διαβολή της ΚΙΣΑ και των μελών της μέσω της εργαλειοποίησης της παράνομης διαγραφής της από τον ίδιο.
Διοικητικό Συμβούλιο
[i] https://www.coe.int/en/web/commissioner/-/cypriot-authorities-should-investigate-allegations-of-pushbacks-and-ill-treatment-of-migrants-improve-reception-conditions-and-ensure-an-enabling-envi
[ii] https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/TMResultsBase/DownLoadPublicCommunicationFile?gId=26312
[iii] https://picum.org/organisations-denounce-the-ongoing-harassment-against-kisa-and-call-on-the-cypriot-authorities-to-reinstate-their-official-registration-as-a-non-governmental-organisation-ngo/
[iv] https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/eur17/3763/2021/en/
Below are my answers to the questions asked by Haravgi correspondent Costas Pitsilloudes:
a) How likely is it that the announcements of Ersin Tatar, and also of the Turkish ambassador, Ali Murat Bashcheri, that will change the teaching of history in the schools of North to enter into force?
Turkey has an agenda for Turkifying the occupied part of our island since 1974. The governments in Turkey wanted to make the T/Cs feel “more Turkish and more Moslem”. This policy was intensified especially during the power of the “Justice and Development Party” (AKP). On the other hand, they aim mainly the Anatolian settlers and their children who have been living here in the last almost half a century. They were given the citizenship of the “TRNC” and they vote together with the indigenous Turkish Cypriots, who are less in number than the newcomers.
It is well known that Tatar won last year the “Presidency of the TRNC” in the second round only with 4,412 more votes. This was an increase of 9% that was made possible with the interventions of the officers of the “Turkish Embassy” in Nicosia. The votes came especially from Famagusta and Trikomo areas, where the settlers are mostly settled.
It is interesting that 29 governments and 43 cabinets have served in the occupied area of our island in the last 46 years. Turkish ambassador functions as an appointed governor of the “subordinate administration”. With the help of the local collaborators of the occupation regime, many changes were put into force in the past and new history text books will not be an exception!
b) If this event takes place, what impact can it have on the Turkish Cypriot community, but also and to G/c?
Certainly, the new books will propagate the “two states” policy of the separatist T/C leadership and define the free part of the RoC and the G/C community as a potential enemy like it was done in the previous history text books.
As you know, I, as a retired paediatrician and author of 24 books on Cyprus politics and T/C history, was one of the T/Cs who were denied entry to Turkey on 11 July 2021 according to a list of T/C federalists, a list made in September 2020 before the “Presidential election”. I had also won my case against Turkey at the ECHR in 2003 that started the crossings over the dividing line for the first time after 1974. It must be a political revenge of the Turkish state to put a ban on my entry to Turkey, after the new policy, which brought the separatist Tatar to power in October 2020.
The G/Cs used to make touristic visits to Turkey before the COVID pandemic. I don’t know if they will be allowed to do so, when the “two states” policy of Turkey continues and enmity will be propagated also in the mass media against the Republic of Cyprus.
The curriculum taught in T/C schools are very similar to the one in Turkey. All the text books are imported from Turkey. Only the books about the history of Cyprus were written and printed in Cyprus until 2000’s. The author was Vehbi Zeki Serter, who was a chauvinist history teacher and later a member of the governing “National Unity Party” (UBP). Serter’s books were taught for nearly 30 years in the T/C secondary schools and lyceums. They were written with an ethno-centric Turkish nationalist perspective, legitimizing the “national goal” of the T/C community and denying the legitimacy of the “other” community.
Besides the books on history of Cyprus and history of Turkish Cypriots, other locally written books were also introduced: Geography of Cyprus, Human Rights, Traffic and Information about Life. But when the UBP came to power again in June 2009, all these books were left aside since they were regarded as “far from our national identity”. A new commission was appointed by the UBP, comprising of Turkish and T/C teachers of history that prepared new history text books.
This last call from Erdoğan will be the third change of the history text books, taught at the secondary schools and lyceums. It will certainly have an Islamic-fascist perspective, which will be dehumanizing the G/C community as an enemy again.
c) Do you think that the act to change the history books, is placed in a broader context promoted by the Turkish Cypriot Right (UBP, DP etc.) and Turkish government?
Various speakers addressed the panel by saying that “the T/Cs were the grandchildren of the Ottomans who stepped foot on the island 450 years ago and they needed to know their heritage, religion and history”, as if they knew nothing before and as if no other communities live on our island.
(published in Haravgi newspaper on 12 September 2021 and on https://dialogos.com.cy/proothisi-toy-ethnikismoy-sta-nea-vivlia-tis-istorias-sta-katechomena /)
As we write this, potentially thousands of tons of oil are on their way to blanket the east coast of Cyprus, with some of it already reaching Dipkarpaz/Rizokarpaso, irreversibly damaging the sensitive marine and coastal ecosystems of that region. While we are monitoring the situation as it develops, several facts are clear.
First, the spill originated at Baniyas Thermal Station, a power station in Syria that, like in Cyprus and much of the Middle East, uses oil to generate power. As details emerge, it is clear that the plant has been neglected after years of conflict/civil war in Syria.
Unfortunately, countries in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East, including Cyprus, have been prioritising conflict and the pursuit of profit at the expense of health, safety, and the environment. The fact that no country in the aforementioned region has embraced the revolutionary potential of renewables, and instead all continue burning fuel, is a testament to the vice grip that fossil fuel led economic and political interests have on countries all across this region.
Second, the administrations in the north and the south of Cyprus are once again hamstrung by the political situation on our island. While we commend the efforts to “inform” one another about developments, the COVID pandemic has demonstrated a huge lack of a coherent plan for cooperation between the two sides in the face of various crises. This became obvious over the past years with the deadly wildfires which have left behind burned land and destroyed ecosystems. Whilst Cypriot authorities have been aware of the oil spill since 26 August, plans to take action only emerged on 31 August. Even though the Republic of Cyprus has an oil spill response vessel (Alexandria) as well as other technical equipment and expertise to handle the crisis, the Turkish Cypriot administration has chosen to ask for help from Turkey. Every person in Cyprus, directly or indirectly, is dependent on our island’s sensitive ecosystems. We deserve a response that prioritises our island first, and sets political agendas aside.
Third, the extraction of and reliance on fossil fuels in the Eastern Mediterranean means that disasters like this are just waiting to happen. Even as we see oil cover our eastern sea, political elites in this country are unified behind the senseless strategy, supporting offshore drilling in those same waters. There is no such thing as a “natural” disaster anymore. Every wildfire, every drought, every square kilometer of nature destroyed, is a result of political decisions or inaction and our politicians have all been complicit in this regard. Even the “green” or the more “socialist” political parties have done nothing to advance environmentalism or socialism, but rather embraced the hydrocarbon projects, contributing to the commodification of our common sea.
Fourth, the rampant conflict and instability in our region is a recipe for climate disaster. As we have seen just this year with the worst wildfires on record, and recently when we had the worst drought in 900 years, we are going to need a coordinated and region-wide response to the climate crisis. The fact that we cannot even coordinate a response to an oil spill, a disaster which struck the same region before, means that we need to make a drastic change. This means putting aside the politics of mutually assured destruction and embracing a policy for the future, one that prioritises health and safety over the pursuit of power and profits.
We demand that the administrations on both sides of the divide rise up to the occasion and immediately coordinate a response to the Baniyas Oil Spill.
At the same time, we demand for a public commitment for the protection of our common natural heritage, with specific emergency response plans for different types of disasters (wildfires, oil spills etc), as well as a joint declaration cancelling hydrocarbon exploration projects combined with a commitment for an island wide decarbonization strategy.
The post One Sea, One Struggle: Avli Statement on the Baniyas Oil Spill first appeared on AVLI.
Introduction
A focused, just, and monitorable plan for net-zero
For the Long-Term Strategy to truly achieve net-zero, it needs to be focused. It must have specific timelines and boundaries. It must appropriately balance the reduction, removal, and offset of emissions. It must include contingency plans in case measures are delayed and technologies are not deployed as fast as assumed.
The LTS needs to be just. Cyprus has an above-average GDP per capita and above-average greenhouse gas emissions per capita. Our contribution to the solution ought to match our contribution to the problem. Small Island Developing States have committed to using 100% renewable energy by 2030. There is no excuse for us not to match the ambition of these countries. Moreover, our goals must not be undermined by our actions — for instance, by depending on the extraction of fossil fuels outside our borders.
The LTS needs to be monitorable. Of course, global changes in the economy, technology, and society will affect how the LTS is implemented. A plan for monitoring is necessary to detect any divergence from the original trajectory as early as possible in order to enable the necessary course correction. The LTS must be accompanied by a timeline of action, with specific milestones and deadlines. In addition, the LTS will need to be expanded beyond 2050 in due course, with an ultimate aim of moving towards net-negative emissions.
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One Radical Planet 
