16 November 2005
Ken Livingstone
Mayor of London
Greater London Authority
City Hall
The Queen’s Walk
London SE1 2AA
Dear Mr Livingstone,
I wish to complain in the strongest terms on behalf of the sizeable Greek Cypriot population in the UK regarding the recent decision by Viacom to allow advertising on public transport for holidays in the occupied area of Cyprus.
Not only are the adverts a serious offence to those refugees in London whose property was stolen during the invasion of 1974 and remains illegally occupied, but the adverts are also an affront to the basic human principles of human rights and social justice.
Furthermore, Viacom Outdoor has clearly breached its own laudable and considered terms of compliance for advertisers on several counts. Viacom Outdoor’s first condition for adverts is that they “do not comply with the law or incite anyone to break the law.”
Since the illegally occupied area in the north of Cyprus is globally unrecognised, with the sole exception of Turkey, the adverts in question incite the public to travel to an area embargoed under international law. The Council of Europe and UN Resolutions 541 and 550 condemn the illegal and invalid Unilateral Declaration of Independence and call for its revocation.
Condition 2 states that adverts must not “offend the general travelling public… or offend ethnic, religious or other major groups on account of the nature of the product or service being advertised, the wording or design of the advertisement or inference contained therein.”
The assertion that it is offensive to advertise holidays in properties, some of which were those very properties taken by force from customers on London Transport, surely does not require a lengthy explanation.
Condition 8 disqualifies adverts that “are of a political nature calling for the support of a particular viewpoint, policy or action, or attacking a member or policies of any legislative, central or local government authority.”
These adverts display an obvious disregard for the sanctity of human rights and social justice and imply attacks on the policies and resolutions repeatedly and unambiguously set down by the United Nations and its institutions and in international law. Article 17 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that “no one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property”, so the very decision to holiday in an internationally unrecognised area, on stolen property, represents support for an illegal regime and therefore the rejection of the international community of legislatures.
In a letter to Viacom from Peter Hendy in December of last year, he justifiably stated that adverts of this type “fall within a category that enables us to insist for this operating company not to carry them”.
I urge you to follow the principled approach of Mr Hendy and to comply with the longstanding and well-founded global opposition to the occupying regime in Cyprus. Please act accordingly so that these adverts, an ethical insult to all right-minded people as well as a bitter personal affront to Greek Cypriots, are immediately withdrawn and safeguards against similar adverts are put into place and paid due regard.
Yours sincerely,
Haris Sophoclides
President
National Federation of Cypriots in Great Britain