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As Muslim terrorists attack civilian targets in Israel, this is a good time to remind the world that Cyprus has been under occupation by a Muslim power for 32 years.

Cyprus has been in the news lately. As the fighting intensifies in Lebanon and Gaza, Western nations have begun evacuating their citizens from Lebanon to the nearby island of Cyprus.

As Muslim terrorists attack civilian targets in Israel, this is a good time to remind the world that Cyprus has been under occupation by a Muslim power for 32 years.

In the summer of 1974, Turkey invaded Cyprus, a tiny island-nation off the coast of Syria.

In a clear violation of U.S. law, Turkey used “defensive weapons” sold or given to Turkey by the United States to attack a peaceful neighbor without provocation.

More than 6,000 Greek-Cypriots (mostly civilians) were killed by the Turks and another 1,600 disappeared behind Turkish lines. Thirty-two years later, there still has not been a full accounting by Turkey of the whereabouts of 1,300 men, 116 women and 133 children trapped behind the advancing Turkish army.

The invasion of Cyprus lasted a few weeks, but Turkey managed to drive out 200,000 Greek Cypriots from their homes in the northern part of the island. One out of every three Cypriots became refugees in their own country.

Turkish troops set up what became known as the “Attila Line” and a Turkish occupation force of 35,000 troops have guarded the occupied territory since 1974, preventing Greek-Cypriots from returning to their ancestral homes. Turkey continues to occupy 37 percent of Cyprus.

The Turkish regime set up a puppet state known as the “Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus,” recognized by only one nation — Turkey.

So when you hear on the news that Americans have been evacuated to Cyprus, it’s on the southern end of the island, which is the officially recognized and legitimate government of Cyprus.

Over the past 32 years, more than 120,000 Muslim settlers have been brought from mainland Turkey to occupied Cyprus, forever changing the ethnic and religious balance of a Christian nation that once hosted the Apostle Paul, who preached on Cyprus during his first missionary journey. Paul also converted the Roman governor of Cyprus during his visit, establishing Cyprus as the first nation in the world to be governed by a Christian.

The invasion of Cyprus and the annexation of the northern third of the island by Turkey have been condemned repeatedly by the United Nations, but we all know how effective U.N. resolutions are. They’ve been ignored continuously by aggressor states like Turkey.

Relations between the United States and Greece have been strained since the 1974 invasion. And our so-called ally, Turkey, has repeatedly turned its back to U.S. requests to use its air space and U.S.-built military bases for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

More than 60,000 American soldiers were supposed to invade Iraq from the north in 2003 to prevent the escape of Saddam Hussein’s army and sectarian militias, but Turkey refused to grant the U.S. permission to use its air space for the assault.

As a result of Turkey’s decision, American soldiers are dying today in Iraq at the hands of fighters who escaped the 2003 invasion. Inexplicably, billions of U.S. dollars in military and economic aid continue to flow into Turkey each year. The top three beneficiaries of U.S. foreign aid are Israel, Egypt and Turkey.

Since the 1974 invasion, every American president has pledged to find a peaceful resolution to the Cyprus problem, but every single president — Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush — has failed to persuade the Turks to leave Cyprus.

The United States has always maintained a double standard when it comes to Turkey. The U.S. criticizes North Korea and Iran for human rights violations and aggressive actions against their neighbors, but will not do the same with Turkey, which has openly violated U.S. law and thumbed its nose at the U.S. repeatedly.

Had Turkey consented to allow the U.S. to open a second front against Saddam’s forces during the 2003 invasion of Iraq, thousands of Saddam loyalists — the so-called insurgents who are now killing Americans — would have been captured or killed. Instead, they fled the advancing U.S. forces from the south and set up for the guerrilla warfare we now see in Iraq. Every time an American soldier dies in Iraq, Turkey has blood on its hands.

The only just solution to the Cyprus problem is the immediate withdrawal of Turkish troops from the island and the removal of the 120,000 illegal Turkish settlers.

The only way to force Turkey to comply with U.S. and international law is to stop sending American tax dollars to Turkey. Write to your congressman today and ask why billions of U.S. tax dollars are being spent to support a rogue nation like Turkey.

For more information about the invasion and occupation of Cyprus, I recommend the following Web sites: www.lobbyforcyprus.org and www.kypros.org

     Belgian, French, American, Canadian, Italian and other European nationality citizens evacuate flaming Lebanon and arrive in Cyprus.

The horror of war. The cruelty of war. The innocent dead civilians. For what? Sacrificed in the name of what? And for whom?

Why?

  Israeli, Lebanese yachtsmen recall better times > Lebanese captain Jean-Philippe el-Khazen stands yesterday on his yacht, one of three Lebanese boats stranded at the Cypriot port of Larnaca due to Israel’s air and sea blockade. Cyprus and its coastal resorts, which have long played host to sworn foes in the Middle East, are once again gearing up to serve as a safe haven for a troubled region.

LARNACA - In the charming if somewhat run-down marina of Larnaca, the cedar-emblazoned flag of Lebanon flies proudly from a yacht as nearby Israelis clad in yarmulkes and prayer shawls prepare for the Sabbath.

Cyprus and its coastal resorts, which have long played host to sworn foes in the Middle East, is once again gearing up to serve as a safe haven for a troubled region.

But given the bloodshed just 160 kilometers (100 miles) away across the water in Lebanon, the Israeli boats moored alongside the Lebanese yacht have opted to play it safe and not hoist the Star of David.

For it was here, in a violation of the unofficial Arab-Israeli truce on this Mediterranean island, that a PLO commando killed three Israelis on their boat in Larnaca marina in September 1985, claiming they were Mossad agents.

«That was cold-blooded murder. Am I Mossad? I have been coming here for the past 20 years,» said Joel Chezer, a 68-year-old retired doctor from Nahariya in northern Israel where Hezbollah rockets have rained down in recent days. Chezer, who has served in the US Army and as an Israeli reservist doctor during the 1982 invasion of Lebanon, sailed to Cyprus on holiday with his friend Yitzhak Bongay 48 hours before the crisis erupted on Wednesday.

«In my opinion, Lebanon was always the best neighbor of Israel… until the PLO and then Hezbollah came along,» said Bongay, 60, an architect who lives in a village just 7 kilometers (4 miles) from the Lebanese border. «I remember the days in the early 1970s when we would wave to each other across the border as we passed by,» he said.

«Even now, we do not consider ourselves at war with the people of Lebanon,» he said. «Lebanon could once again be the ‘Switzerland of the Middle East’ like it was before the Palestinians came… if we can get rid of Hezbollah.» Bongay acknowledged that the onslaught against Israel’s northern neighbor - that has killed over 165 Lebanese - would do nothing to endear the two peoples.

«I don’t think this is right to turn the Lebanese people against us, but we have no choice… I don’t believe this can be settled by force, but who are we supposed to speak to?» he asked.

Both Israelis laid the blame squarely on the Syrian-backed Shiite Muslim militia Hezbollah, which has been raining rockets on northern Israel ever since its capture of two soldiers triggered the crisis.

«That’s why the (Israeli) security zone (in south Lebanon) was there (before 2000), so we would not be shelled,» said Chezer, who fondly remembers skiing in the mountains of the Christian heartland of Lebanon after the invasion. «At the time of the pullout, I thought it was wrong to dismantle the zone, but until now I had been proved wrong. It had stayed quiet,» he said.

When the security zone was in place, along with an Israeli-allied militia, «we had patients at our hospital from south Lebanon,» said the orthopedic surgeon and keen sailor.

‘Out of the blue’

Both Chezer and Bongay said the current crisis came «out of the blue.»

«This time, I don’t think Israel has gone far enough. How long could I allow you to keep slapping me in the face before I respond?» said Chezer.

Bongay said another surprise has been the military capabilities of Hezbollah, especially given Israel’s much-vaunted intelligence services.

«We are wondering how brilliant our intelligence is when they (Hezbollah) managed to hit our corvette (killing four Israelis on Friday) with a radar-guided land-to-sea missile,» he said.

Jean-Philippe el-Khazen, the 50-year-old skipper of a 10-meter (34-foot) yacht, one of three Lebanese vessels stranded in Larnaca by Israel’s air and sea blockade, had nothing but praise for his Cypriot hosts.

«The Cypriots always welcome us… They really put us at ease and are ready to assist in everything we need, even to take us by car to the supermarket,» he said.

«The management of the marina has offered us their total assistance: free phone calls, Internet access, whatever we need. They have also tightened security and given the police instructions to be vigilant,» he said.

Khazen and shipmate Tony Abu Jawdeh, a 50-year-old Maronite trader, explained that the crisis broke when they were already at sea and headed for a planned five-day break in Cyprus.

“It feels a bit strange to be next to Israelis, but as fellow yachtsmen there is a civility between us. I think they (the Israelis) don’t feel proud of what is happening on the other side of the water,» said Khazen.

Abu Jawdeh said, «This takes us back to the bad old days of the (1975-1990) civil war when we often came for long stays in Cyprus with our families to escape the fighting.» Like their Israeli neighbors, the Lebanese have been in constant touch with the latest news by radio (both Israeli and Lebanese airwaves reach Cyprus) by mobile phone or through a network of friends at the marina.

For Dr Chezer, holidaying with the «enemy» is not a problem. «I was swimming next to a Fatah political chief in Polis (on the northwest coast) a few years ago. I had no problem. There is enough water for both of us. We are all guests on this island,» he said.

«There is a natural camaraderie between boat people, and I believe there is a natural camaraderie between different people in general. That is the normal way to live, not by firing rockets at each other,» said Chezer.

With an extended holiday in store, Khazen and Abu Jawdeh, are likely to be joined by many more Lebanese among the thousands of people, mostly foreigners, being evacuated via Cyprus this week.

The Greek ferry Ierapetra entered the port of Beirut near a docked Italian warship yesterday. The vessels have been sent to Lebanon to evacuate hundreds of stranded civilians following days of air strikes by Israeli forces. The Greek vessel has been chartered by the French government, which has some 20,000 nationals in Lebanon, a former colony.

Cyprus yesterday braced for an influx of hundreds of people being evacuated from Lebanon via air and sea lifts organized by a host of foreign governments, Yannis Behrakis reported for Reuters.

A Greek cruise ship which has been chartered by France to collect hundreds of French and Europeans, including 200 unaccompanied children, from Beirut, is due to dock at Limassol today, the ministry said. The Ierapetra will then conduct a series of additional crossings, the ministry said.

Greece has sent a navy frigate to Lebanon to collect about 100 people and has another three warships on standby.

An Italian warship carrying nearly 400 evacuees was expected in Larnaca yesterday evening. Sweden has also chartered three ships to bring Swedes from Beirut to Cyprus. Britain evacuated some 40 people by Chinook to its Akrotiri base yesterday and sent an aircraft carrier and warship to the Middle East. The US brought 21 Americans to Larnaca by helicopter and asked Cyprus to be the hub of its evacuation operation.

Scores of Europeans filed silently off the first ship to arrive from Lebanon in Cyprus the Reuters reports from Larnaca, Cyprus.

“I am glad to be out, but on the other hand I am so sad at what is being done to Lebanon,” said Mona Demachkieh, 27, originally from Milan.

“I regard it as my country.”

The Italian naval destroyer docked at Larnaca on Monday in the first large-scale seaborne evacuation. It brought 366 Europeans, including two Italian nuns. “We are glad to be out, but that [situation in Lebanon] is martyrdom,” 80-year-old Sister Josephina said.

Tamara Hasoun, 14, travelling with her Italian mother, said her Lebanese father had stayed in Beirut for the time being.

“We were so scared. There were a lot of bombs; we could hear them everywhere,” she said.

Yesterday, France evacuated about 900 people to Cyprus on a Greek ferry.

“It was supposed to bring back 1260 people but with night falling we had to close the doors,” a French diplomat said. “There were security reasons.”

Most on board the boat were French and they included about 200 children, 80 of them travelling without their parents.

A second ferry was scheduled to leave Cyprus, which lies just 85 kilometres from Lebanon’s Mediterranean shores, last night. “Those left were not abandoned. There will be a second route tonight,” the diplomat said.

Swedish diplomats said a ferry capable of carrying 1600 was expected to sail to Beirut from Crete to pick up evacuees. It was expected back in Cyprus today.

The stream of people fleeing Lebanon through Cyprus, a European Union member, has intensified in recent days.

Thousands of foreigners left on Monday, some travelling by road to Syria, others waiting for places on United States and European ships. Syrian authorities said more than 100,000 people, three-quarters of them foreigners, had crossed into Syria from Lebanon over the past five days after Beirut’s airport was bombed and forced to close.

The US flew out more than 40 citizens by helicopter and prepared to evacuate thousands more by ship.

As Europeans gathered near their embassies in Beirut, the European Union urged Israel to guarantee the safety of tens of thousands of EU citizens.

“Several times I have been in touch with the Israeli minister and urged them to give clear guarantees these people are not endangered,” the Finnish Foreign Minister, Erkki Tuomioja, whose country holds the EU presidency, said.

Nicosia - Cyprus, itself a victim of war more than three decades ago, has once again opened its ports and airports to help evacuate thousands of Lebanese and foreign nationals from the war- torn neighbouring country.

As Israeli gunships and aircraft pounded Beirut’s airport and seaport along with major highways out of the Lebanese capital, the Cyprus government pledged to provide every assistance to foreign and Lebanese nationals seeking shelter on the island.

A senior government spokesman said that visa applications for Lebanese living in Europe and wishing to travel to Cyprus would be relaxed, reminiscent of the days during Lebanon’s 15-year civil war, when the port towns of Limassol and Larnaca were dubbed Little Lebanon.

Gone are the days when high street boutiques would have signs in Arabic, and every restaurant waiter would utter the occasional greeting of Salaam al-Aykum and recite the day’s menu in Arabic or French, while offering free servings of Arak, the aniseed spirit similar to the Greek ouzo.

Some of the few who stayed or married locally rushed to help Cyprus authorities with translations, while foreign governments are seeking bilingual or even trilingual speakers to assist at the ports and airports.

The sleepy port of Larnaca, where the occasional cargo ship would anchor once a week, has come back to life. It is bustling with military and commercial ships and now has docked an Italian navy ship, which brought 483 Italians, Cypriots and others late Monday night, most of whom were bussed to nearby Larnaca airport to catch relief flights home.

Anchored in the next berth is a Greek navy ship, its captain monitoring Olympic Airways flights from the Syrian cities of Damascus and Latakia to Larnaca and on to Athens. The nearby airport has a few stranded Middle East Airlines jets parked just off the runway as the area starts to be crowded by civilian and camouflage carriers emblazoned with government seals, almost like a mini-NATO convention.

The French government chartered the 1,200-passenger Greek ferry Iera Petra, which is scheduled to arrive Tuesday morning in Larnaca with French and Swiss nationals on board and later return to Beirut to shuttle more stranded Europeans.

Nayiri Mouradian - originally from Lebanon but married in Cyprus for two decades - was quoted by the local website Gibrahayer as saying: ‘We were contacted by the Cypriot consul, who arranged for us to gather at the Greek Embassy on Thursday evening. From then on it was a long drive to the Syrian border, and everyone was scared because the Israeli bombing had not stopped.’

‘For people who have not gone through this kind of experience it was very scary. My sons did not stop asking questions throughout the journey. They were frightened but relieved on arrival,’ she said after arriving at Larnaca airport on board a Cyprus Airways flight.

An 80-member Australian folk dance group of the Hamazkayin Armenian society opted to drive over the mountains and through Syria to Jordan to catch a rescue flight from Amman.

Others sought to escape over land, but seven Canadian nationals and tens of other Lebanese lost their lives despite driving clearly marked mini-buses.

The United States airlifted non-essential citizens Sunday from Beirut to Larnaca using a squadron of Marine CH-53 helicopters, while a commercial cruise ship will help evacuate more US citizens.

Even the British Royal Navy has dispatched its aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious from Gibraltar to help evacuate British citizens, while the amphibious assault ship HMS Bulwark is reported to be on its way to the area as a precaution.

The European Union has urged Israel to guarantee the safety of its citizens in Lebanon, as many crowded outside their embassies in Beirut, desperately looking for a way home. But that is all Brussels can do, stopping short of telling Israel to stop its shelling.

For now the, EU is evacuating its citizens to Cyprus, the closest it can call home and a safe destination, despite being just 240 kilometres off Lebanon’s bombed coastline.

With many roads impassable and the airport disabled, European and other governments are resorting to chartering ships to pull their nationals out of the Lebanese capital and off to Cyprus to get final transport home.

Once on Cyprus soil, the island’s people are determined to repeat their warm hospitality and assistance, which brought Lebanese and Cypriots closer together in the last two decades.
Source and Copyright © 2006 dpa-Deutsche Presse-Agentur

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