Theodoros Theodorou (left) with journalist Marcus Papadopoulos of RT London
The annual Lobby for Cyprus dinner & dance took place on 13 December 2015 in North London.
Present at the event were His Excellency the High Commissioner of Cyprus Euripides Evriviades, Bishop Tropaiou Athanasios, Dr. Matthew Offord MP and Mrs Offord, Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Party Mr. Kisham Devani, Deputy Mayor of Barnet Cllr Alison Cornelius, Deputy Mayor’s Escort Cllr Richard Cornelius, President of the Federation of Cypriots in the UK Mr. Christos Karaolis, Cllr Jason Charalambous, Cllr and leader of Merton Council Stephen Alambritis and many community association representatives as well as representatives of the Cyprus political party London branches, Mrs Maria Papalouca head of the Cyprus Educational Mission in Britain and Mr. Louis Papalouca.
The following speech was given by Lobby for Cyprus Coordinator Mr. Theodoros Theodorou at the event:
We have gathered here today exactly one month after the murderous attacks in Paris on 13 November 2015 and at an exceptionally dangerous time in history. On the one hand one, our beloved island of Cyprus lays at the front line in the campaign to confront the so-called ‘Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant’. On the other hand, our beloved island is within the sights of that barbaric entity which reportedly wants to extend its so-called ‘Caliphate’ to encompass Cyprus and other parts of the European Union, including Bulgaria, Greece and Spain. What does all this have to do with Lobby for Cyprus? Let me single out three reasons, among many I could cite.
Firstly, the so-called ‘Islamic State’ has engaged in precisely the sort of criminality exhibited by Turkey when it illegally invaded, occupied, ethnically cleansed, ethno-religiously restructured and segregated the Republic of Cyprus in 1974 and when it helped its illegal subordinate regime to make an illegal declaration of independence in 1983. Indeed, both Turkey and the so-called ‘Islamic State’ and Turkey have murdered people or uprooted them from their homes because of their ethnicity or religion. Both Turkey and the ‘Islamic State’ have despoiled churches and sites of historic importance. I could go on, but time is precious.
Secondly, the occupying power in northern Cyprus, Turkey, stands accused of actively supporting or turning a blind eye to the so-called ‘Islamic State’. Indeed, if President Putin is correct – and the evidence is piling up to suggest that he is correct – Turkey has been an ‘accomplice’ of the jihadists who are fighting in Syria, just a stone’s throw away from Cyprus. To make matters worse, President Erdogan has transformed Turkey into a menacing neo-Ottoman and Islamist autocracy which shows scant regard for the rule of law and fundamental human rights.
Thirdly, the two island states we hold dear, the Republic of Cyprus and the United Kingdom, now have common enemies. These enemies are: the so-called ‘Islamic State’; what Prime Minister Cameron has described as the ‘poisonous ideology’ of Islamist extremists; and, though Mr Cameron would never openly say so, Turkey.
The snag is that the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and much of the international community has chosen to perpetuate the long-standing policy of engaging in the appeasement of Turkey and thereby allowing Turkey to get away with its multiple crimes and other violations of international law.
The policy of appeasement of Turkey
The policy of appeasement has resulted in a ‘leader-led’ settlement process with twin objectives which are divisive, defective and dangerous – dangerous for the Republic of Cyprus and dangerous for the United Kingdom and the remainder of the European Union as well. One objective is bi-communalism, which seeks to divide citizens into two separate ‘communities’ defined with reference to Christianity and Islam respectively. The other objective is bi-zonality, which seeks to divide territory into two separate ‘zones’: one for Christians and the other for Muslims.
At a time when the Prime Minister and Home Secretary of the United Kingdom are trying to promote the virtues of integration and to clamp down on segregation, why is the UK endorsing constitutional and territorial segregation in the Republic of Cyprus? At a time when so many Member States of the European Union are struggling to maintain the unity of their populations and the integrity of their lands, why is the European Union endorsing the ‘bi-communalisation’ and the ‘bi-zonalisation’ of one of its member states? Kάτι δεν πάει καλά! Something is not quite right!
Let me wind back to 2004 and the infamous Annan plan.
We are aware that the security of the UK hinges upon the SBAs, the co-operation extended to the UK by the Republic of Cyprus and the common struggle to destroy the so-called “Islamic State”. If the Republic is ever turned into a BBF, the successor of the illegal regime would be in a position to (a) veto any venture to co-operate with the UK over a matter such as the bombing of jihadists in Syria and (b) veto the proposed use of Paphos air base by the French air force.
If the Annan Plan was in force today, the following provision would have covered the situation unfolding in relation to Syria:
Article 8.4 of the Main Articles: “Cyprus [i.e. a post-BBF Cyprus excluding the SBAs] shall not put its territory at the disposal of international military operations other than with the consent of both constituent states; until the accession of Turkey to the European Union, the consent of Greece and Turkey shall also be required.”
Next week marks the 50th anniversary of the adoption of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination which Turkey, surprise surprise, had not ratified when it invaded Cyprus in 1974. I would therefore like to end by delivering four messages.
Firstly, in response to the murders in Paris, the brutality on display in the Middle East and the criminality exhibited by Turkey, none of us should ‘wallow in the valley of despair’. By the same token, none of us should respond to darkness with even more darkness. In other words, Lobby for Cyprus must not and will not respond to one form of extremism with another form of extremism. Instead, Lobby will do what it has always done: campaign peacefully, call for the application of the three Rs and offer a humane democratic alternative to ‘bi-communalism’ and ‘bi-zonality’.
Secondly, nobody who calls himself or herself a democrat should accept the on-going occupation of northern Cyprus and the occupying power and segregator-in-chief, Turkey. Nor should any true democrat endorse bi-communalism, bi-zonality, segregation or any other odious forms of division.
The UK should turn its back to bicommunalism and bizonality
Thirdly – and I am looking to the future as I say this – the United Kingdom needs to wake up, confront the truth and ‘be true’ to what it has signed up to on paper. For its own sake, as much as for the sake of the Republic of Cyprus, the United Kingdom must start to apply in Cyprus the uplifting and enlightened values of liberal democracy, such as human rights, the rule of law, the principle of equality, the prohibition against discrimination, the principle of liberty and the principle of dignity. The United Kingdom also needs to turn its back on ‘bi-communalism’ and ‘bi-zonality’.
Before it is too late
Finally, I leave you with this thought. In the Foreword to the British Government’s Counter-Extremism published on 19 October 2015, Prime Minister Cameron ventured some candid thoughts. Mr Cameron did not refer to Turkey, let alone British policy towards Cyprus, but he might well have done. This is what Mr Cameron actually wrote: ‘In the past, I believe governments made the wrong choice. Whether in the face of Islamist or neo-Nazi extremism, we were too tolerant of intolerance, too afraid to cause offence. We seemed to lack the strength and resolve to stand up for what is right, even when the damage being done by extremists was all too clear.’ Mr Cameron was right. But, he needs to be true to his words and abandon his policy of appeasement and stand up to Turkey before it is too late. I would remind Mr Cameron of what was once said by one of his predecessors, Winston Churchill: ‘An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last΄.
