Why Israel Should Recognize the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus
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A border crossing between the Republic of Cyprus and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.
Photo Credit: Nicholas Hodder
These benefits and the need to respond in some way to various countries’ recognition of the “state of Palestine,” combined with the justice of the Turkish Cypriot struggle are sufficient causes for Israel to recognize the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.
tell a friendAbout the Author: Rachel Avraham is a recent immigrant to Israel. She is the content manager and a writer for United with Israel's website (UnitedwithIsrael.org) and is currently working on an M.A. in Middle Eastern Studies at Ben-Gurion University, the topic of her thesis is "Women and Jihad: Debating Palestinian Female Suicide Bombings in the American, Israeli and Arab Media."
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71 Responses to “Why Israel Should Recognize the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus”
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I am disturbed by the misappropriation of history by this author. Another Greek hating Jew.
You are just another Turk hating Greek.
Jews don't have particular feelings about Greeks. This is delusional.
I am disturbed by the misappropriation of history by this author. Another Greek hating Jew.
"Another Greek hating Jew"?
How on earth did you reach that conclusion?
1 you have no clue what you are talking about. Read some history books you ignorant Jew.
AT LAST SOMEONE CAN SEE THE TRUTH IN CYPRUS. YOU LIKE IT OR NOT THAT IS THE HONEST TRUTH!
The entire world community [Turkey aside] recognizes the fact that Northern Cyprus is under occupation. Like it or not this is the honest truth
RACHEL , WELLDONE AND THANK YOU.
CHRISTOS I ADVISE YOU TO READ HISTORY BOOKS.
you dont need a history book when you, and your entire family was born, raised and then made a refugee there when Turkey conducted a military invasion which coincidently killed many more Cypriots than Turks. In any case, Jewish support of the pseudo-state will just add to the fuel; they support the recognition of a state within a state, but cant do the same in their own back yard. Please do educate me about double standards.
Cyprus was the one who started this by recognizing Palestine. If Cyprus doesn't want Israel to recognize TRNC, then they should have thought about that before recognizing Palestine. After opening up a Palestinian Embassy, Cyprus truly deserves to witness Israel recognize TRNC independence. Your argument isn't convincing to any Israeli audience. TRNC deserves to be a state much more than Palestine. At least they control the territory they claim.
Angela Antoniou BTW, I know of plenty of Turkish Cypriots with similar stories about being refugees and victims of the violence in Cyprus. The violence was definitely not one-way. 103 Turkish Cypriot villages were destroyed before 1963 and 1974. All objective sources recognize that the violence wasn't one way. The difference is that Nicos Sampson had genocidal ambitions, while Turkey merely wanted to force the Greek Cypriots out of a given area so that Turkish Cypriots would have an area to call home.
Sampson was president for 8 days – hardly enough to do any damage, in any case he was also a puppet of the Greek led military junta and not someone whose words you should be quoting in referral to the island as a whole. Furthermore, if Israel decided its foreign policy in according to its wishes for revenge im sure you can find a few other of the more than a hundred countries that recognise Palestine and not just a small island who by the way has always had good relations with your State.O n the other hand, you mentioned yourself that this is just a way to appease Turkey which will never cease to be a Muslim state and as such will always stick with its Islamic brothers- as it should!
Rachel Avraham did you also forget that Turkey recognised Palestine? and those 103 villages you keep repeating your limited data about also had Cypriot inhabitants. Calling them Turkish Cypriot doesnt change anything, there was inter communal fighting on both sides due to a lack of political discussion when the Turkish side sabotaged our constitution and left their positions in Parliament- in preparation for an invasion i might add.
Enjoy picking a fight with the other 100+ states that recognise Palestine, and not the only country in the that still has a divided capital after the fall of the Berlin wall, as well as over 1000 missing persons who did not escape the invasion, and the refugees who left with nothing but the clothes they were wearing while the hotels, houses and businesses they had built where 'adopted' by the invaders and sold!!Sound a little like something your people may have gone through doest it? Granted not to the same extent but your arguments condone violent military invasion
I agree that Sampson was only in power for eight days, yet he did a lot of damage during that period of time and could have done much more if his power wasn't checked. For the record, the reason why I decided that Israel should start by responding to Cyprus because what Cyprus did was hypocritical. They have a section that wants to break off and form a separate country, yet despite this, they recognized Palestine. I also am opposed to Turkey recognizing Palestine, yet Turkey is not as hypocritical on this since they don't have an ethnic minority with effective control over part of their country. However, I definitely would support taking punitive measures against the AKP government in Turkey by recognizing a Kurdish state, even though a Kurdish state exists about as much as Palestine exists. I have zero desire to appease the AKP government in Turkey, to the contrary of your claims. I would like to lesson the hostility, but my main goal in recognizing TRNC is reaching out and building ties with indigenous Turkish Cypriots, who are not AKP supporters. Believe me, I actually hate Erdogan much more than I hate your Greek Cypriot president who recognized Palestine. Erdogan is an anti-semite, pure and simple. He even wrote an anti-semitic play in the 1970's. However, I recognize that there is a difference between AKP and Turkish Cypriots. I support moderate secular Turkish Cypriots, not the AKP.
BTW, I support punitive measures for all countries that have a segment of the population that has effective control over part of a given countries territory and seeks to break away, and then that country recognizes Palestine. I support Israel doing likewise for all countries in a similar position to Cyprus, not just Cyprus. However, since Cyprus was the most recent one, they are a good place to start. As for your history, it is way off. The Greek Cypriots under Makarios forced the Turkish Cypriots out of parliament and were the ones to violate the Zurich and London agreements. There was eleven years of bloodshed before Turkey finally intervened. For every sad Greek Cypriot refugee story from 1974, there are also plenty of sad Turkish Cypriot stories from between 1963-1974. There were many massacres of Turkish Cypriots. These stories matter just as much as the Greek Cypriot stories. You can't pretend like you guys are the only victims of this violence, when you weren't. Furthermore, Greek Cyprus went on to become a state and enter into the EU, while Turkish Cyprus was stuck in limbo, even though the violence started with the expulsion of Turkish Cypriots from the government and Bloody Christmas. Thus, you can't use Greek Cypriot suffering, which did happen and no one is denying it, as an excuse for Israel not to look out for her best interests and ignore the fact that Cyprus opened a Palestinian Embassy.
Some Turkish cypriots were force to move three times
from there homes some four.1958,1963,1967and 1974
Don't worry time is near… Cyprus will be free
@volkan: Using capital letters does not render your arguments valid.
Very well written, thank you Rachel.
Israel should first and foremost recognize the Armenian Genocide, the predecessor of the Holocaust, because: "Who after all speaks today of the annihilation of the Armenians?" – Adolf Hitler, August 22, 1939.
This is a brilliant idea, Israel should recognize Turkish republic of northern Cyprus the way Cyprus has upgraded the Palestinian delegation to Cyprus in order to make it an embassy. Cyprus' double standarts : they did it but they are opposed to other countries recognizing the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. Two-faced.
add me skyipe ramirami12320
This author is making some completely false statements, it seems she doesn't even know the history of the Island. She should not be writing if she does not know enough about the situation.
I wouldn't be too worked up about this…its a small right wing tabloid with only 50000 readers and has limited influence within the Jewish community in America and in Israel itself.
Emily whic statement of hers is wrong
This author is making some completely false statements, it seems she doesn't even know the history of the Island. She should not be writing if she does not know enough about the situation.
amazing 'gobledigook'…strange that such poor analysis got past the editor; this is not even comparing apples with oranges…
whoever Rachel purports to be she has no clue of international law – the so called TRNC is occupied territory by Turkey and the locals are neither the majority nor do they control it – anyway, a rather naive article overall. Leaving aside the merits or demerits of the recent communist Cyprus government's decision, adopted in haste prior to its demise, 131 states have recognised Palestine as a state but only Turkey recognises its puppet as such; that should be enough for now.
More rubbish from ignorant commentators. I was going to add more but I could not be bothered.
Trying to justify and legitimise the so called TRNC when the whole world (apart from Turkey & sometimes Pakistan) do not recognise it is just because the Cyprus government decided (rightly or wrongly) to grand Palestinians consular status is simply pathetic.
My patriot Emily Makedonas. The Author knows the history of Cyprus better than you.
Stupid article…this is the kind of reasoning that has lead Israel in almost total isolation.
Greeks hate Jews, Turks hate Jews. What the Rson to recognize Turkish Cyprus?
There is a difference between the AKP leadership in Turkey, which is no friend of Israel, and the Turkish Cypriot nation and their leadership, which is not hostile towards Israel. You should not confuse the two. There is great potential for a friendship between Turkish Cypriots and Jews; and despite the fact that both Greece and the AKP leadership are no fans of Jews, we should recognize TRNC to send a message to all nations that have territorial disputes that they should not recognize Palestine.
Rachel, with all due respect, you live in delusion – your analysis is totally flawed and replete with inaccurate and skewed interpretations. By the way, which 103 villages were destroyed? Do you mean that all TCs left from maybe 103 villages? Please use accurate language even if you are being biased.
By the way, are you claiming that there is no good will at all between Greek Cypriots and Israel? Are you aware of the decades old friendships that many of us have with Israelis, the multitudes of Cypriot patients that Israeli doctors have treated, the recent close cooperation on gas exploration etc? By the way, your logic also is divisive in terms of Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots who have renewed friendships and would wish for a united future…
According to the British Northern Cyprus Parliamentary group, Greek Cypriots destroyed 103 Turkish Cypriot villages between 1963-1974. This number didn't pop out of nowhere. I never claimed that all Turkish Cypriots are originally from those villages, but many Turkish Cypriots became refugees because of the violence that occurred between 1963-1974. Thus, every thing that I wrote is accurate. I am familiar with how Greek Cypriots did help Jews who were interned in Cyprus by the British and about the recent cooperation on gas exploration between Israel and Cyprus, and I am grateful for that. However, I am also very much familiar with how the Greek Cypriot leadership has supported Israel's enemies as well, and when Greek Cyprus recognizes Palestine, I feel like sending a strong message that resonates with Greek Cypriots that this is not acceptable. As for what Turkish Cypriots want, most favor independence from both Turkey and TRNC. Almost all of the Turkish Cypriots I have spoken to, and I have spoken to many since I visited TRNC, have supported independence from both Turkey and Greek Cyprus. It is true that they have their own grievances against Turkey, yet it is also true that they also have many against Greek Cyprus. Turkish Cypriots used to support reunification under the Annan Plan, yet the Greek Cypriots rejected that peace deal.
you make me laugh – please name the 103 destroyed villages – Cyprus is not that big…there are a couple of abandoned villages but that's about it. Referring to a biased group's report does not render legitimacy to your article; are you sending strong messages to the other EU members which recognised Palestine? what's your gripe with Cyprus? and please be accurate – its not Greek Cyprus – its the Republic of Cyprus.
You also ignore the Turkey's policy of coercing their kin to become and live like internal refugees, a little like Palestinian (Arab) polices which you must be familiar with and also blind to the fact (or you are conveniently ignoring it?) that Turkey ethnically cleansed the north of the island to further their own agenda?
I am sorry, but the report from the British North Cyprus Parliamentary Group is a lot more objective than you. I will trust a report written by them over some talk-back any day. The data came from The Cyprus Question by Michael Stephen. You are welcome to read the book yourself. I am a busy woman and don't have time to list 103 villages just to satisfy a talk-backer, so just read the book. And Turkey is not causing the Turkish Cypriots to live like internal refugees. They grant Turkish Cypriots Turkish passports and provide for their needs, which is more than I can say for all of the Arab states regarding the Palestinian refugees. Furthermore, I never ignored that almost half of the Greek Cypriot population became refugees in 1974. I even mentioned it in another article that I wrote. However, it seems like many talk-backers ignore the 103 Turkish Cypriot villages that were destroyed. And for the record, my only gripe with Cyprus is that they opened up a Palestinian Embassy, despite the whole TRNC recognition issue. Had they not done that, I would not have written this article.
well done Rachel
Recognizing the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus is not the answer, by any nation-state. Negotiations must be done to politically reunited the island. Nobody recognizes it, because it is just a Mediterranean "Bantustan."
This "Bantustan" was created in order to prevent a genocide from being implemented. When fascists attain power, then situations like what occurred in Cyprus are often the result.
Since when is international politics about who's right? Rachel is making a point, a POLITICAL point, that it could be in Israel's interest to use this opportunity to mend things with Turkey without a compensation or an apology about the Mavi Marmara incident, regain an ally and fix the economical relations. You should focus on this.