Mr Jack Straw, MP
House of Commons
London SW1A 00A
Dear Mr Straw
In your letter to The Times (8.11.2010) you presented no tangible arguments for your support of Turkey’s accession to the European Union.
The spirit of your letter and your subsequent radio threat of partition unless the Republic of Cyprus withdraws objections to Turkey’s EU accession amount to a gross blackmail reminiscent of colonial times practices.
In pursuing your strong pro-Turkish stance, during your time as Foreign secretary and currently as an MP, not only you undermine issues such as the military invasion and occupation of 40% of Cyprus, the ethnic cleansing and 36 years of violations of fundamental human rights and liberties by Turkey, but you also suggest a reward for the instigator of these injustices.
I hope you reflect on these points and reconsider your one-sided, biased and unjust viewpoint.
Yours sincerely,
Leonidas Leonidou
President of EKEKA
(Federation of Cypriot Refugees in the UK)
3 Elmwood Avenue
London N13 4HG
10.11.2010
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Mr Jack Straw, MP
House of Commons
London SW1A 00A
Dear Mr. Straw,
Your article in The Times 8 November 2010
There are indeed no ifs and no buts in Turkey’s accession negotiation process.
Your despicable article is in contempt of Law and Justice as we know it in order to appease Turkey. From one hand you are actually calling upon the British Government to commit illegal acts in defiance and violation of United Nations resolutions (541 of 1983 and 550 of 1984) which is unthinkable especially coming from a Member of Parliament through a national newspaper, and from the other you are indeed “forgetting” that Cyprus is no longer a British colony to mess about as you please, your jurisdiction and free hand to cut and join has long gone since 1959…
Turkey’s accession negotiations are a totally separate issue. If Turkey wishes her application to proceed smoothly she has to abide with the rules of the game. Turkey has not fulfilled her obligations expected of her and the EU will not proceed with her entry negotiations unless she does fulfil in full those obligations. As simple as that. No ifs and no buts. Therefore it is not Cyprus’s fault, another member of the EU, if Turkey is stubbornly refusing to meet those demands one of which is the paramount need and obligation to recognise the Republic of Cyprus.
There are no two stories to the Cyprus situation as you wrongly claim. But only one and very clear one – Turkey invaded Cyprus in 1974 and still is there occupying half of the Republic of Cyprus, an EU member, depriving 200,000 Greek Cypriot refugees from returning to their stolen land and properties and in violation and contempt of numerous UN and EU resolutions calling for her to withdraw her troops and 160,000 (or so) settlers she imported into the occupied area. No solution without restitution of our properties in the occupied.
Your article is full of prejudice against the Greek Cypriots and their plight for justice. It is a venomous outburst which has its roots back in 2004 when you were furious with the 76% NO of the Greek Cypriots who overwhelmingly and DEMOCRATICALLY rejected through the referendum imposed on them, the racist apartheid solution of the so called “Annan Plan”. Which was based on the Turkish demand of bizonal bicommunal federation. And you vowed at that meeting in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office on the 26 of April 2004 to revenge the Greek Cypriots, late President Tassos Papadopoulos and the Republic of Cyprus for not bowing to your and to Turkish demands to commit suicide to please Turkish interests and ambitions.
Your article also appear with disrespect to two major London Court of Appeal decisions a) Apostolides v Orams and b) the very recent one (published The Times 9 November 2010) “Flight refusal justified” when Lord Justice Richards rejected the Turkish appeal for direct flights to the occupied area in Cyprus. Lord Justice Richards said that the granting of permits sought by the “Kibris Turk hava Yollari and Another” would constitute a breach of the United Kingdom’s obligation to respect the rights of the Republic of Cyprus and would be unlawful.
Finally no need to repeat the Cyprus Spokesman’s response that your pro-Turkish article will affect the very existence of the British military bases in Cyprus.
Yours faithfully,
Fanoulla Argyrou
Researcher/Journalist and refugee from occupied Nicosia
London.
c.c. Rt. Hon David Cameron MP, Prime Minister
c.c. Rt. Hon William Hague MP, Foreign and Commonwealth Secretary
Cyprus High Commission
Press
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