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The great divide

In reply to the comments of Anonymous I say as follows: 1. I have no knowledge on land law in Isreal, Bosnia or Serbia. In those circumstances I cannot comment with any accuracy. I suspect that in respect of Isreal stolen property remains stolen property. In respect of Bosnia and Serbia there have been agreements between the parties which may deal with such matters. 2. In respect of the Turkish Cypriots, they were not forced to leave by the Cypriot Government. They were required to move to the Turkish occupied area by Turkey. Their relocation was not forced but voluntary. The land issue is also very different because most transferred their title deeds to the Turkish authorities in return for land (usually stolen) in the occupied area. In those circumstances they have effectively surrendered their interest in what was their land in the free area and are simply not entitled to profit twice by seeking to reclaim what they have already sold. It is because Turkey holds these title deeds that it feels it can negotiate and demand property exchanges. 3. Turkey did not invade the north of Cyprus to protect the Turkish Cypriots. No Turkish Cypriot was in danger at the time of the invasion. It was the actual invasion that changed a conflict between the Greece and the Greek Cypriots into one between Greek Cypriots and Turks. Under the Treaty of Guarantee 1959 Turkey had the right to intervene to end any conflict and restore the sovereignty, terriotorial intergrity and constitution of Cyprus. They did not do this. They carried out a bloody invasion, occupied an area of Cyprus they wanted for their own, ethinically cleansed that area of its Greek Cypriot inhabitants and ordered all Turkish Cypriots south of the Attila Line to relocate to the north and surrender their title deeds. Nothing I have said is secret or requires any significant research. The Treaty of Guarantee is readily available for inspection on the internet and comprises of two pages with five small paragraphs.

25-Feb-2010

6:23 pm