ΔΕΝ ΞΕΧΝΩ - DON'T FORGET THE TURKISH OCCUPATION OF CYPRUS

32 tears ago, on July the 20th, 1974, the turkish army invaded the independent state of Cyprus, under the cover of the NATO and of the United states of America. The "official" "justification" of this act was the need to "protect" the Turkish-Cypriots (18% of the Cypriot population at this time) from Greek and Greek-Cypriot extremists.

The Turks profited from the discoordination of the Cypriots beacause of the military coup that the Dictators of Athens had organised against Makarios, the legitimate Cypriot President, and of the TREASON in the ranks of the pro-Dictatorship administration of the Greek Army (who did not respond at all to the invasion, obeying orders given by the NATO). Facing minimal (albeit heroic) resistance, the Turkish ATILLA troops (the official turkish name of the invasion), occupied the northern part of the island, nearly half of it, killing hundeds of Greek-Cypriots, quite a lot of civilians among them, and sending hundreds of thousands of people to the south as refugees. As a result, in a few days, the 7-year-old military coup in Athens finally fell into pieces, and its leaders have been heavily condemned for their acts and for their omissions.

Since then, for 32 years now, multiple United Nations resolutions have ORDERED Turkey to evacuate the ILLEGALLY OCCUPIED territories in Cyprus ASAP. NO country in the world, except of course Turkey, has recognised the fantom state of "Turkish Northern Cyprus", that Turkey has "created" in 1981. Furthermore, this illegal state is officialy under a status of international boycottage, that a few countries are sadly not respecting. Nevertheless, the Turks hold well their grip on the occupied lands, not showing the slightest sign of willing to respect International Law and the resolutions of the International Community.

A greek song by Dionysis Savvopoulos says:

It's not about a terrain that's being trambled
It's not about a national craze
it's about Cyprus, hated by the Merchants of the World
and about our being orphans beyond words

We do not have the right to forget. WE WON'T. Not until the ATILLA returns to Turkey, where he came from, and all the Cypriots, both of greek and of turkish origin, are left free of the iron grip of the Turkish military state. Free to live in peace, as they did for centuries before the invasion, as they do today in southern Cyprus and in western Thrace.

Mavros Gatos