Cyprus

I am reproducing a letter printed in the Guardian by Peter Droussiotis President of the Cypriot Federation of UK.

It is imperative that all TU activists campaign for the unification and integrity of the sovereign state of Cyprus in accordance with numerous UN resolutions. The partition/division of the island will be a catastrophic end result of a long process. The two communities are capable of resolving their dispute if left on their own in a federal unified bio communal state without outside interference.

From P Droussiotis

Dear Sir,

Jack Straw, in his article No ifs or buts, Turkey must be part of the EU, makes many points several of which are valid, while others are grossly inaccurate and misleading. However, the entire premise of the piece ignores three critical reasons why Cyprus remains a barrier to Turkey’s EU accession: human rights, justice and international law. Rather than blindly repeating his claim that the EU needs Turkey more than Turkey needs the EU, Mr Straw ought to ask himself why the international community has steadfastly refused to legitimise Turkey’s military occupation of northern Cyprus and why the United Nations has repeatedly re-affirmed its condemnation of that occupation. The answers are too numerous to list here but amount to one basic fact – Turkey’s invasion and continuing military occupation are illegal and breach human rights on a scale that the EU cannot possibly bear within its ranks. As ever, the key to a solution is in the hands of the Turkish government, whose control of the puppet regime in occupied northern Cyprus is indisputable. A solution that reunites the island for the benefit of all Cypriots, and which leads to the withdrawal of the Turkish occupation army from the island, will boost Turkey’s chances of joining the EU like no other single factor. But this requires Turkey to change its bullying behaviour and give the Cypriot people a chance to live in peace, in their own free and reunited country.
Yours faithfully,

Peter Droussiotis
Federation President