A letter dated 3 October 2017 from the Permanent Representative of Cyprus to the United Nations about Turkey’s attempts to impose a wider, political, economical and social agenda in the occupied areas along the lines of similar policies in Turkey, was circulated as a UN document on Wednesday.
In the letter, Kornelios Korneliou conveys a grave concern regarding the alarming deterioration of the human rights situation in Turkey and the direct impact of this anomalous situation in the areas of the Republic of Cyprus currently occupied militarily by Turkey.
Noting that more than a year has elapsed after the attempted coup in Turkey, the state of emergency is still in force and the measures enacted and enforced through the emergency decrees have often been excessive and disproportionate, with grave and far -reaching negative consequences for Turkish society.
Cyprus, however, he says, has additional reasons to be worried about these negative developments in Turkey, as these have a direct impact on the everyday life of a significant number of Cypriot citizens who live under Turkey’s full political, military, administrative and economic control in the areas of Cyprus presently occupied by it.
Korneliou notes that the Turkish Government has been extending to the occupied areas of Cyprus its purges of persons allegedly linked to a “terrorist organization”, meaning the Fettulah Gülen movement, by proceeding with arresting people on the basis of a list.
“The information about the extension of the purges to the occupied part of Cyprus cannot be disassociated from a wider methodical attempt by the Turkish Government to impose a political, economic and social agenda in the occupied areas along the lines of similar policies in Turkey. In this connection, we have witnessed, lately, an intensification of Turkish attempts to change the demographics of the
occupied areas of Cyprus through colonization and a “citizenship” granting process
for Turkish citizens”, he adds.
Furthermore, he said the full economic dependency of the Turkish Cypriot community on Turkey constitutes yet another significant parameter of Turkey’s plan to dominate and fully control every single aspect of life in the occupied areas. The Turkish political institutions operating in the occupied areas, headed by the so- called “Turkish Embassy”, in collaboration with business and economic circles close to the Turkish Government, have been pursuing an agenda of fully subordinating to Turkey the economic activities and development of the Turkish Cypriots. The most indicative example of Turkey’s evident imposition of full control over the occupied areas is the illegal water connection of the aforesaid areas, through a subsea water pipeline, with Turkey.
“Turkey not only holds ownership of the water and of the relevant installations, but also dictates the terms of its management and monopoly in its own interest”, he adds.
The Cypriot diplomat notes that the “the future of the Turkish Cypriots, as one of the two Cypriot communities, is inextricably linked to the future of all Cypriots and of the whole of Cyprus. This is why my Government follows closely the alarming developments in the occupied areas and reiterates its expression of grave concern for the predicament afflicting part of the people of Cyprus, the Turkish Cypriot community. “Their identity and future seem to be in serious jeopardy as a result of Turkey’s assimilation polices, especially in view of their extremely limited ability, under the present conditions, to react, disagree or criticize.
Concluding, Korneliou adds that it is is the expectation of the Government of Cyprus that the international community will demonstrate the same concern for the human rights situation and the security of Cypriot citizens in the occupied part of Cyprus as it has for the Turkish citizens in Turkey.
Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third. The latest round of UN-backed negotiations, in Crans Montana, Switzerland, ended inconclusively at the beginning of July 2017.