“The first medal of Cyprus”
Under the above title, journalist Raif Ortunc refers in his column in Turkish Cypriot daily Gunes newspaper’s (10.08.12) sport pages, to the silver medal won by Pavlos Kontides in sailing in the Olympic Games in London and reports that this is the first medal won by the Republic of Cyprus 52 years after its establishment. Ortunc notes, inter alia, the following:

“…As a man of sports I am happy when a medal comes out in a huge organization such as the Olympic Games for an athlete born raised and brought up in Cyprus, either this athlete is Turk, Greek, Armenian or Maronite. Therefore, the fact that Pavlos won a medal has made me happy. Pavlos is an athlete who came out from our beautiful island on which we live and about which we give great struggles. He is an athlete who promotes Cyprus in a sense. I think that everyone of us should be happy with the fact that an athlete who won a medal in the Olympic Games came out from the island of Cyprus after 52 years. We as Turkish Cypriots have a different approach for sports. As Turkish Cypriots we do not have a chauvinistic and racist approach. Therefore, we do not take offense at the fact that an athlete from the Greek Cypriot sector won a medal in the Olympic Games…”

Ortunc goes on and writes that the breakaway regime’s self-styled minister of sports should establish a team for making “openings to the outside world’ and hold contacts with various international organizations. He expresses the view that they should examine the regulations of the IOC and secure the necessary resources for that team in order to make “serious attacks” before this international organization.