The Turkish Embassy inLondon last wee shut its doors and battened down the hatches in a bid to deny British Cypriots their voice. As usual, the Turkish Ambassador failed to acknowledge the Federation’s delegation and refused to accept its letter of protest which had to be posted under the Embassy’s door.
But a vocal demonstration, organised by the National Federation of Cypriots in the UK, made itself heard as it protested the 29th anniversary of the unilateral declaration of independence byTurkey’s puppet regime in occupied northernCyprus.
Federation member associations, UK Cypriot youth organisations and Cypriot students in theUKshowed their resolve against the illegal occupation and the self-proclaimed pseudo-state, which remains unrecognised by all countries in the world exceptTurkey.
Peter Droussiotis, President of the Federation, was accompanied by Federation Secretariat and Executive members, as well as UK Cypriot youth representatives, as he tried to deliver a letter to the Turkish Ambassador but the door of the Embassy stayed firmly shut in a discourteous but now typical reflection ofTurkey’s refusal to engage on theCyprusproblem. The letter, which was pushed under the door, demanded the withdrawal of the Turkish occupying army and he Turkish colonists illegally transferred byTurkeyto the north ofCyprusand called on the Turkish government to abide by the resolutions of the UN Security Council and international law. It also called uponTurkeyfinally to resolve the human tragedy of the Cypriot people who went missing during its invasion of the island in 1974.
Expanding on the contents of the letter, Mr Droussiotis said:
“Turkey’s bullying behaviour and its regular threats againstCyprus, as well as its disgraceful efforts to derailCyprus’s presidency of the Council of the European Union, are wholly at odds with a country that claims to want EU membership.
“Turkeygains nothing but much-deserved opprobrium and a diminished international reputation because of its total failure to meet its international obligations in relation toCyprus.
“The world will not and cannot tolerateTurkey’s injustices inCyprusindefinitely. The puppet regime in the occupied area is testament toTurkey’s aggression against littleCyprusand will forever be a blot on that country’s human rights record.”