Barabaric Turks destory 520 Churches in occupied Cyprus on invasion anniversary
Agamemnon
Commemorations to be held overseas as well
CYPRUS is preparing to mark yet again the dark anniversaries of the July
1974 Athens junta coup and the ensuing Turkish invasion, the dire
consequences of which still weigh heavily on the population and the country.
On Sunday, Archbishop Chrysostomos II will officiate at a memorial service
in Pallouriotissa church for those who fell in the coup defending democracy.
Education Minister Akis Cleanthous will be the key speaker.
Following the service, a prayer will be said at the graves of the victims in
the Nicosia cemetery.
On Monday, an event to mark the invasions will take place in the
Presidential Palace, which will be open to the public.
The event will start at 9pm, with a speech by President Papadopoulos and
finish with a music concert by Greek singer Haris Alexiou.
Cathedral
The sombre anniversaries will also be observed in Athens and in London,
where large Cypriot communities include many refugees from the Turkish
invasion.
In Athens the main event will be a memorial service at the city's cathedral
on Sunday with Mayor Nikitas Kaklamanis as the key speaker.
A wreath-laying ceremony at the monument of the Unknown Soldier will follow.
Memorial services will also be held in Salonica, Rhodes, Patras and other
major cities.
In London, the Cypriot community will hold its commemoration event and
protest on Sunday, organised by the National Cypriot Federation of Great
Britain.
The protest march will set off at 3.45 pm, local time, from Whitehall and
finish in Trafalgar Square, where the rally will be held.
The key speaker will be a representative of the Cyprus government, while the
President of the National Federation Peter Drousiotis, the President of the
World Federation of Overseas Cypriots, Haris Sophoclides, and British MPS
will also address the rally.
The Mayors of the refugee towns of Famagusta and Morphou are also scheduled
to attend the rally, while in London for contacts.
Churches
As part of the commemoration events, a photographic exhibition showing the
destruction of religious monuments in the occupied areas was held for one
day at the Westminster Abbey in London.
The exhibition was attended by religious representatives, MPs, diplomats,
including a Foreign Office representative, people of the arts and other
British personalities.
Thyateira Archbishop Gregorios and Orthodox bishops, together with Cyprus
High Commissioner George Iacovou, led prominent members of the Cypriot
community.
The exhibition included 240 photographs of about 100 churches and cemeteries
from 50 villages, the work of photographer Doros Partasides and Panayiotis
Yiakoumi who edited the material.
According to the literature of the exhibition, out of 520 Orthodox, Armenian
and Catholic churches in the occupied areas, 68 have been converted to
mosques, 14 are being used by the Turkish army and the remaining have been
looted or are used in sacreligious ways. Most of the cemeteries have been
destroyed, 26 of them completely.
The main speaker to the exhibition was Guy Goodwin-Gill, international law
professor of All Souls college, Oxford.
He expressed regret that international legal moves had so far failed to
provide effective remedy for problems of this kind, but said things might
improve through the strengthening of legislation in the framework of the
Council of Europe.
High Commissioner George Iacovou, presented with a picture of the destroyed
church of his village, Peristeronopygi, spoke of his personal experiences
and stressed how important the church and sacred places in general were for
one's identity and life.
Religious matters
THE organisers extended an invitation to Prime Minister Gordon Brown to
attend the exhibition.
He replied through his secretary that though he was very interested in
religious matters, he could not attend, due to other engagements. He wished
the exhibition every success.
http://www.cyprusweekly.com.cy/default.aspx?FrontPageNewsID=304_5
Another snub to the Cypriot community from the Labour government and Blair
and Brown.
PLEASE SIGN THE PETITION TO THE PRIME MINISTER and pass this message on to
your friends.
http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/JoanRyan/
We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to reconsider the
appointment of Joan Ryan as the government's special envoy to Cyprus.
BRITISH MP - PROTEST
CNA 1/7/7
British MP for Chipping Barnet, Theresa Villiers, has written to new Foreign
Secretary David Miliband to protest about Joan Ryans appointment as Prime
Minister Gordon Browns advisor on Cyprus, noting in statements that she was
"shocked to learn of this appointment", which is "a slap in the face for the
Cypriot community"
"If the community thought that Tony Blairs resignation would mean that the
Labour government started to see sense again on Cyprus, this appointment
shows there is no hope of that. Gordon Brown is clearly going to continue
Mr. Blairs discredited approach on Cyprus which has completely let down all
those who fled their homes during the 1974 invasion", she pointed out.
Villiers noted that ``Joan Ryan has not taken a balanced or fair approach on
Cyprus issues and I am deeply worried about the prospect of her deciding
what the British governments approach on this issue should be.``
``I oppose this appointment and I have appealed to David Miliband to meet me
and representatives of the Cypriot community so that he can hear at first
hand why Gordon Browns decision has caused such anger and outrage in his
first three days at Number 10,`` she added.
In her letter to Miliband, Villiers explains that she represents a large
British Cypriot community, noting that many of her constituents are deeply
concerned about the appointment of Joan Ryan as the Prime Ministers advisor
on Cyprus.
``They believe that Ms Ryan has not taken a balanced or fair approach on
matters relating to Cyprus. I have to say I sympathise with their point of
view,`` she notes.
BARNET LEADER RYANS APPOINTMENT
CNA 2/7/7
Councillor Mike Freer, Leader of Barnet Council, says in a press release
that he was ``appalled`` at British Prime Minister Gordon Brown`s
appointment of MP Joan Ryan as the government`s special envoy to Cyprus.
``When Prime Minister Brown announced change would be his watchword, I was
hoping we would see a change in the failed and misguided policy on Turkey
and Cyprus,`` he notes.
Freer adds that ``appointing Joan Ryan underlines that this government will
continue its biased approach against a just and fair solution with ultimate
aim the division of Cyprus.``
``I suspect the appointment is more to do with helping Ms Ryan hold onto her
super marginal seat at the next general election than finding a lasting
solution,`` he says.
PLEASE SIGN THE PETITION TO THE PRIME MINISTER
http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/JoanRyan/
Protagoras
rick murphy
http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/detaylar.do?load=detay&link=116575
After 33 years, Turkish Cypriots lay their missing to rest
During a highly emotional ceremony on Thursday at the Lefkosa
Cemetery, Turkish Cypriots laid to rest 13 men killed in violence
during the civil unrest that surrounded Turkey's 1974 military
intervention in northern Cyprus.
Scores attended the unprecedented ceremony for the men, the first
identified among hundreds of people missing since the 1974
intervention and more than a decade of inter-communal strife that
preceded it. It was the first such mass burial of people who have been
missing for at least three decades. The coffins covered with both
Turkish and Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (KKTC) flags were
carried by Turkish Cypriot soldiers.
The 13 men, known as the Alaminyo martyrs, were shot dead after being
taken captive by the Greek Cypriots during the July 20, 1974,
intervention. Relatives of those were still weeping at the ceremony
held for Tahir Osman (Kaptanoglu), Hasan Ali (Kandirali), Ali Hasan
(Cenk), Güney Hüseyin (Alaminyolu), Zafer Hasan (Imamoglu), Osman
Mehmet (Reis), Mehmet Ali Bodo (Kozok), Ali Ali Bodo (Kozok), Hüseyin
Dildar (Özersay), Hasan Dildar (Özersay), Ahmet Halil (Alkim), Mustafa
Ali (Tasbel) and Ömer Ali (Tasbel).
"The flames still burn within us 33 years on," Kudret Özersay, whose
father was among those buried, told the gathering. "For years these
men had been deprived of their basic right to a humane burial. Now
they have achieved it."
The men's remains were buried with military honors after a religious
ceremony. Turkish Cypriot President Mehmet Ali Talat, his predecessor
Rauf Denktas and senior officials attended the ceremony. "We will keep
holding you in our hearts. We have always been proud of what you did
and we will always do," Özersay said.
The remains of the Turkish Cypriots were found in a roadside ditch
outside the once-mixed village of Alaminyo, near the southern port of
Larnaca, during excavations that began last summer. The 13 were among
15 men executed by a group of Greek Cypriot militia and Greek soldiers
on July 20, 1974. The 13 victims, between 18 and 65, were members of
the Turkish Cypriot resistance but were unarmed when they were
captured and executed.
UN experts are expected to continue excavating Alaminos to search for
the remains of the two other Turkish Cypriots still unaccounted for.
According to the UN, 1,468 Greek Cypriots and 502 Turkish Cypriots are
still listed as missing from inter-communal violence in 1963-64 and
from the 1974 Turkish intervention. Unlike the Turkish Cypriot north,
the Greek Cypriot south refuses to declare its missing as dead -- a
point the north slams as "purely political," but which Greek Cypriots
insist is being made for humanitarian reasons.
The recent identifications are a groundbreaking first on the island.
The case is a highly charged and divisive issue in Cyprus between
ethnic Greek and Turkish Cypriots. After many false starts and years
of recriminations, both communities last year decided to expedite a
process of exhumations of suspected mass graves. Anthropologists have
since exhumed some 300 bodies from multiple graves on both sides of
the line now partitioning the Mediterranean island.
13.07.2007
Today's Zaman with wires Ankara
Agamemnon
"rick murphy" <Richard...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1184467294.9...@x35g2000prf.googlegroups.com...
http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/detaylar.do?load=detay&link=116575
"The remains of the Turkish Cypriots were found in a roadside ditch
outside the once-mixed village of Alaminyo, near the southern port of
Larnaca, during excavations that began last summer. The 13 were among
15 men executed by a group of Greek Cypriot militia and Greek soldiers
on July 20, 1974. The 13 victims, between 18 and 65, were members of
the Turkish Cypriot resistance but were unarmed when they were
captured and executed."
There you go, out of the devils own mouth. The 13 Turks were TERRORISTS.
That's why they were put to death by their captors and thats why they were
buried with military honours by the Turkish occupation regime.
G/C - T/C MISSING IDENTIFICATIONS - BURIALS
CNA 12/7/2007
Fifteen Greek Cypriots listed as missing since the Turkish invasion in
Cyprus in 1974, whose remains have been exhumed and identified recently
in Cyprus, are being buried during solemn ceremonies in the government
controlled areas of Cyprus.
The first burial, that of Pieris Adamou from occupied Gialousa, was
held Sunday in Derynia, while Savvas Kallis Hadjipanteli also from
Gialousa will be buried this Saturday. Other funerals will take place
later on.
Meanwhile the remains of 13 Turkish Cypriots were buried today in the
occupied areas during a military ceremony.
Committee on Missing Persons in Cyprus has so far notified the families
of 28 persons, 15 Greek Cypriots and 13 Turkish Cypriots, listed as
missing, whose remains have been exhumed recently in Cyprus.
