This is a reply from a Turkish Cypriot point of view to the posting by ‘N13 Gooner’ who has given a really distorted view of the reason why Cyprus is divided, and why therefore the Turkish Cypriots have their own national flag.

He claims that the Turkish Cypriot State was set up “on the back of the ethnic cleansing of the indigenous Greek Cypriot population” but the truth is the exact opposite. The lawful Republic of Cyprus was founded in 1960 by the Greek Cypriots and the Turkish Cypriots together, but the Greek Cypriots destroyed it at Christmas 1963 when they massacred Turkish Cypriot men, women and children, attempting to kill or drive out the Turkish Cypriots and to turn Cyprus into a Greek island.

Do not just take my word for it: On 14th January 1964 "Il Giorno" of Italy reported: "Right now we are witnessing the exodus of Turkish Cypriots from the villages. Thousands of people abandoning homes, land, herds. Greek Cypriot terrorism is relentless. This time the rhetoric of the Hellenes and the statues of Plato do not cover up their barbaric and ferocious behaviour." On 28th December 1963 the Daily Express reported: "We went tonight into the sealed-off Turkish Cypriot Quarter of Nicosia in which 200 to 300 people had been slaughtered in the last five days. We were the first Western reporters there and we have seen sights too frightful to be described in print. Horror so extreme that the people seemed stunned beyond tears."

On 1st January 1964 the Daily Herald reported: "When I came across the Turkish Cypriot homes they were an appalling sight. Apart from the walls they just did not exist. I doubt if a napalm attack could have created more devastation. Under roofs which had caved in I found a twisted mass of bed springs, children's cots, and grey ashes of what had once been tables, chairs and wardrobes. In the neighbouring village of Ayios Vassilios I counted 16 wrecked and burned out homes. They were all Turkish Cypriot. In neither village did I find a scrap of damage to any Greek Cypriot house."

The Turkish Cypriots withdrew into defended enclaves until Turkey rescued them in 1974, and the present state which calls itself Cyprus is a Greek Cypriot pseudo-state with no moral or legal legitimacy. The UN should be ashamed that it has allowed the Greek Cypriots to get away with this, and treated them as the Government of Cyprus. The British Prime Minister, Sir Alec Douglas Home, said in his memoirs "I was convinced that if the Greek Cypriot leadership could not treat the Turkish Cypriots as human beings they were inviting the invasion and partition of the island."

The Greek Cypriots attacked again in 1964, 1967, and 1974, and the leader of the 1974 coup, Nicos Sampson, told the Greek press “if Turkey had not intervened I would have annihilated the Turkish Cypriots.” I too am sure that if the Turkish soldiers had withdrawn after 1974, the Greek Cypriots would have attacked again. How do the Greek Cypriots have the nerve to complain about breaches of their human rights, when they have demonstrated such a total disregard for the human rights of others?

Despite this racist behaviour by the Greek Cypriots, the Turkish Cypriots were willing to try again to live with them, and they voted in favour of the UN Plan in 2004. The “Annan Plan” was endorsed by the EU (including Greece), the US, the UN, and everyone else except the Greek Cypriots as a fair basis for settlement, even though tens of thousands of Turkish Cypriots would have been evicted from their homes in the areas given back to the Greek Cypriots. The Turkish army would have started a phased withdrawal, many Greek Cypriots would have returned to their former homes, and the rest would have been compensated. However, Greek Cypriots were persuaded by their religious and political leaders to reject it, because it would have ended forever their ambition to take over the whole island.

The Greek Cypriots were entitled to reject the UN Plan, but they are not entitled to expect the world to keep the Turkish Cypriots under isolation. Direct trade and direct flights to Northern Cyprus should therefore commence forthwith.

The Turkish Cypriots are proud that they have survived in Cyprus, and their national flag is a symbol of that survival. That is why the Greek Cypriots hate it so much, but Turkish Cypriots are as much entitled to wave their national flag at a football match as anyone else.

(Ed’s note – As usual with this highly contentious issue, some clarification about this website and what it tries to do. Onlinegooner is an open church, and the opinions expressed in online exclusives are those of the contributor, but do not represent any policy or view of The Gooner, onlinegooner.com or the editor, unless it says ‘Online Ed’ (meaning editorial) at the top. We have made the decision to post this offering because of its significance in the light of the national flag ban and by way of a right of reply to a previous exclusive stating a Greek view of the situation in Cyprus. We understand that some website visitors may have no interest in this topic, but we have given space over to both sides of the debate because that very debate is the reason for the emotive circumstances that resulted in the ban on all national flags at Arsenal home matches. The only Gooner policy on this particular issue is that we believe the ban on all national flags is wrong. As to the legitimacy or otherwise of the TRNC flag, or whether or not it should be allowed to be displayed at Ashburton Grove, there is no policy on this website. Thankfully, we can leave that one to the Human Rights lawyers and Arsenal Football Club. We have posted this Turkish side of the story to give it equal prominence to the Greek perspective in the interests of balance. Onlinegooner is not making any judgments on this issue, and does not exist to alienate any groups of supporters, of any race or national creed. What we are aware of is that there are two sides to this story, and by posting this exclusive, we accept that there are some readers who will probably not agree with this view of the situation. Now that we have made this post, we are hoping that the website can return to purely football matters, and that both the Greek and Turkish communities that support Arsenal are satisfied that they have been appropriately represented. For those that do feel the need to continue the debate or express their views, the onlinegooner forum is the place to do it. Barring any major developments on the national flag ban issue, I think it’s time to move on as far as the main part of the website is concerned. Thankfully, one thing which we can all be united about is our support of our football team.)