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Will there ever be justice for Cyprus?
Comment
Yesterday's ruling by the European court of human rights on Turkey's invasion of Cyprus in 1974 should bring some redress - that is, if anyone in government is listening, writes Paul Hamilos
In a devastating judgment yesterday, the European court of human rights ruled that Turkey had violated the human rights convention on 14 counts by its invasion and occupation of northern Cyprus in 1974.
But, despite the damning nature of the case, is anybody outside Cyprus interested? It seems not. This ruling is one of the most significant made by the court, yet it has received very little coverage (much like a similar, less wide-ranging decision from 1996) and seems set to be brushed under the carpet.
Why is this? The answer, as far as Greek - and, indeed, Turkish - Cypriots are concerned, is hard to fathom. The conflicts in Israel and Northern Ireland receive acres of column inches in the papers and hours of television coverage, while the "Cyprus problem" barely warrants an occasional paragraph in the broadsheets. It's not for lack of news; not so long ago a boy was stoned to death when he tried to raise a Cypriot flag on the border between the north and the south.
As a Greek Cypriot growing up in London, the issue of Cyprus's division has formed a great part of my understanding of the nature of international politics and the insularity of the British media's agenda. What makes this more surprising is that there are thousands of Cypriots in England, for all of whom the conflict provides a backdrop to their daily existence.
My father left Cyprus in the late 1960s, before the invasion, but planned to return to his home once he had completed his university education in London. He married my mother in northern Cyprus in 1973, indeed they left their wedding gifts in his village, with the intention of returning there the following year to begin setting up a home.
But during the summer of 1974 there were few flights into Cyprus, other than those of Turkish fighter planes. Greek Cypriots living in the north were killed, maimed and raped as Turkish forces ravaged the island. What really grates is that these actions were carried out with the tacit approval of both the British and American governments which, for strategic reasons, wanted to see the island divided - as a visit to Kew public records office will attest.
The British government had, after the Suez crisis, lost its access to the Middle East and believed, by dividing the island, that a settled military listening post could be established. This makes talk of the end of the British Empire coming in the 1960s, when many colonies were granted independence, seem like so many lies. The British army may not have carried out the invasion, but imperialism at first remove is still imperialism.
As a result, talk from British MPs that they "understand our pain" and "want to see the island reunited" is not just ineffectual, but offensive in the extreme. It is time that the government accepted its moral responsibility to its former colony and began to put real international pressure on Turkey. Now that the European court of human rights has made this decision, those in power should not turn their backs on it.
My father is in his 50s. One day I hope to walk with him around the village in which he was born, to see the house in which he grew up and to visit the church in which my parents were married. This is something that most people take for granted. It is only when such things are denied that they become important.
Far more important, of course, are the lives of the 200,000 refugees forced to live in the overcrowded southern part of Cyprus, which has been further damaged by the need to rely on tourism to keep the economy moving along. There are also still hundreds of people missing as a result of the war and thousands of families that will never be able to move on from the past. A visit to the border in Cyprus is an enlightening experience for those who believe that the West is a force for good around the world.
Every year, the beach resort of Ayia Napa (also home to a very important monastery) is crammed with thousands of marauding British tourists, intent on getting away from the stress of life at home. Do they know and, if they did, would they care, that their government played a crucial role in preventing Cypriots from being able to live such simple, carefree existences in their own country?
Email
paul.hamilos@guardian.co.uk
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