Can Dundar: There is no such thing as Kemalism

Interview by Ali Keskin and Alkan Chaglar
Following a Conference on the “Rise of Turkish nationalism during the EU process” at LSE, Toplum Postasi journalist Ali Keskin and London Community Post journalist Alkan Chaglar had an exclusive interview with Turkish journalist Can Dundar.
Q. Last year there has been a struggle for power in Turkey, the presidential election crisis, and the people marched in favour of secularism, General Chief of staff took side in this argument and then AKP’s Abdullah Gul was elected President. AKP actually increased its electoral support unexpectedly. Do you think the winner of this struggle was AKP or the struggle still continuing?
A. I believe we should look at the issues from a wider perspective. There is an ongoing struggle for democracy in Turkey. Turkey is trying to become more democratic. And in this process there have been major conflicts and problems. The silent groups are starting to speak. Issues like the Kurdish problem, the Armenian Question that haven’t become problems until now, are starting to become problems now. People are starting to question these issues. Local elections, early legislative elections and presidential elections and the head scarf crisis…I believe these are all stages in the democraticisation process. If we look at the last elections you can see that 40% of people change their political party. The people are always changing their minds though, those who elected DSP or elected MHP (Turkish Nationalist Movement Party) supported AKP in the last election. But who knows who they will back in the forthcoming elections…We can say AKP is the winner of these elections only.
Q. There are interesting developments taking place in Turkey at present, on the one hand a majority of the people are protesting on the streets in favour of lifting the head scarf ban at universities. On the other hand other people are marching to Anitkabir (Ataturk’s Mausoleum) claiming that secularism is in danger. Again on the one hand we saw thousands of people marching to protest of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrank Dink and saying “We are all Armenians,” but on he other hand nationalists who sympathised with the killer of Hrant said “We are all Ogun.” This is very confusing when we look at Turkey from outside, in your opinion which face is the real Turkey?
A. Turkey is becoming democratic and this is a reflection of the process Turkey is going through. After six hundred years of an authoritarian tradition and eighty years of a republican experience, now Turkey is trying to become a democracy. This is important and healthy, I believe. But at the same time it is a terrifying process. And naturally these fears occupy everybody’s minds. I too am afraid because I am a journalist with my own free views and because I had problems because of my views in the past. I have a child which I want to see grow up. I am looking forward to my future in his country as well, that is why I am scared but I am also an optimist. I believe Turkey needs to face these fears.
Q. It seems when it comes to the Kurdish problem, Turkey is stuck. Why doesn’t Turkey take the experience of other countries? For example: Northern Ireland.
A. When you compare the age of British democracy and Turkish democracy, British democracy has been in transition for centuries, Turkish democracy is only 80 years old. And during these 80 years there have been four military coups. We have to look at Turkey carefully. I mean, there haven’t been any brave leaders in Turkey so far. Secondly the Kurdish movement has its own problems. For instance Hrant Dink who was an important symbol for Turkey adopted an attitude in which he was also questioning his own community’s actions.
Q. Do you believe the Cyprus problem is important for Turkey in the process of EU accession?
A. The Annan Plan would have been an important element in this if it was successful. But today nobody is talking about this plan anymore. Cyprus is an important problem for Turkey when she walks in the corridor of the EU. Turkey will always be questioned over this problem. This problem will always act as an obstacle for Turkey. I believe a solution in Cyprus will help Turkey in its efforts to join the EU.
Q. Recently in northern Cyprus, nationalist media have launched their usual attack on progressive Turkish Cypriots calling anybody who seek a solution to the Cyprus problem a “traitor”, how do you as a journalist feel about this?
A. Although I do not know the case in full, I do want to say that when we are taking sides as Turkish, Kurdish, Secularists, Islamists, North Cypriots, South Cypriots – this is not right. We should not put people into these categories. If we re going to put people into any categories they ought to be those in favour of democracy and freedom, in other words those who do not preach hate, separatism and enmity, and those against all these things. The Greeks and Turkish Cypriots in Cyprus who are in favour of more freedom, democracy and free speech are all really on he same side. However, now if you say the ‘other,’ some Turks understand this to be Greeks, but the ‘others’ should be a question of those who support democracy and freedom and those who are against it.
Q. Turkey has had its border with Armenia closed since 1996, do you think it is time Turkey reopened its border?
A. This is important as this is the only border Turkey has with any country that remains closed. When Abdullah Öcalan was based in Syria, and when the two countries were at the brink of war the borders with Syria remained open! We don’t have such an issue with Armenia, so why do we keep our border with Armenia closed. It makes no sense. Turkey is ready to open this border but there are problems at Karabağ. But I believe it is beneficial to both countries to open the border and from what I understand the people and Mayor of Kars (a city in Eastern Turkey) have been lobbying hard to open the border for years now. Armenians too want to reopen the border. This would be important for business as well as reconciliation.
Q. Do you believe Kemalism is compatible with Turkey’s EU aspirations and democratisation?
A. It depends what you understand by Kemalism. For me there is no such thing as Kemalism. Mustafa Kemal did not leave us Kemalism before he died. I am a researcher of Mustafa Kemal, I like reading about Mustafa Kemal but from what I read he didn’t leave a legacy called Kemalism. This is merely people’s interpretation, which was produced after he died. His biggest legacy however was positivism. But still, 1930s World and the World of today is very different. If you try to take Kemalism as an ideology from 1930s and apply it today it will not work. In fact to do so is an insult to Turkey. Therefore I don’t believe Mustafa Kemal was a Kemalist.

National Federation of UK Cypriots reaches out to Turkish Cypriots

Interview by Alkan Chaglar
Born in the mixed village of Pera Chorion Nissou in Cyprus, Peter Droussiotis still remembers the former Turkish Cypriot quarter of the village before coming to England as a child. Peter also remembers that his father worked beside Turkish Cypriots at the British Bases before leaving Cyprus in the mid1970s. Elected in June 2007 as the President of the National Federation of Cypriots in the UK, Peter is the first second generation Cypriot to have attained this position.

REUNIFICATION
The National Federation of Cypriots in the UK, which is made up of approximately 70 community associations, was created soon after Turkey’s military action in 1974 to co-ordinate the work of the Cypriot community in the UK with a view to lobbying the British government about the division of the island. “The Federation’s core objective was and remains the reunification of Cyprus and the withdrawal of Turkish troops,” says Peter. Talking about how he hopes to use his new role in continuing that work, Peter said: “I’m hoping to bring in younger people of Cypriot origin. It is important for the new generation to be engaged with what we are trying to achieve, in particular to lobby the British government in relation to the Cyprus problem, to help bring about the unity of the country for the benefit of all Cypriots.”

DIALOGUE
A firm believer in the merits of open and explorative discourse, Peter continues: “As President of the National Federation of Cypriots I can say that one of my key objectives is to reach out and develop a meaningful dialogue with Turkish Cypriots in the UK. In terms of the organisation’s composition, Peter explained that “the Structure of the Federation is such that you have to be a member of a community organisation in order to join it. All member organisations subscribe to the Federation’s constitution and to its vision which is to bring about a reunited island free from the army of occupation. “One of the tasks we contemplate is to form a joint committee composed of leading British Cypriots from both communities and use that as a platform for dialogue. But what we must establish, above all else, is that it should be Cypriots deciding the future of Cyprus. And British Cypriots are well placed to make a significant contribution to the need for rapprochement between the two communities on the island,” he added.

THE FEDERATION WANTS TO ENGAGE WITH TURKISH CYPRIOTS
Peter admits that despite the fact that there are Turkish Cypriot members within some associations in the Federation, it is essentially made up of Greek Cypriots, although he is also quick to point out that other Cypriot communities in the UK, notably Maronites and Armenians, are also well represented. However, Peter wants to appeal to more Turkish Cypriots. He says: “I would like to see more Turkish Cypriots represented in the Federation but for this to happen they must be members of UK Cypriot organisations which condemn the coup and invasion of 1974 and which are willing to accept and work actively for the objectives of the Federation – that is a requirement for all member organisations. Since my election I have met with some Turkish Cypriots in the UK and I’m delighted that we have agreed to develop a dialogue and to endeavour to broaden the network of contacts between the two communities.” Asked if he wanted Turkish Cypriot community associations to be included in the National Federation of Cypriots, Peter said: “Ultimately, yes - our vision must be for all Cypriots collectively to be organically integrated into Cypriot organisations and Cypriot structures at all levels. “That will be the only way in which we can achieve true unity.”

CYPRIOTS MUST RISE ABOVE DIFFERENCES
But asked why he is keen for the Federation to engage with Turkish Cypriots, Mr Droussiotis said: “We have to reach out to Turkish Cypriots as a Federation. It’s important for progressive Cypriots to take it upon themselves to reach out to each other and to the wider community. We should be brave enough and visionary enough to be guided by the ultimate objective which is to bring about a reunited island, free from foreign interference. Cypriots need to rise above any differences that they may have because these differences would only be exploited by Turkey as well as other parties to secure their own interests rather than the interests of Cyprus and the Cypriot people.”

ONE CYPRIOT VOICE
Aware of the difficulties and of the threats experienced by Turkish Cypriots who seek to work alongside Greek Cypriots, Peter asserts: “The message has to go out that people who work for a reunited Cyprus, particularly Turkish Cypriots, far from being ‘traitors’ are, in fact, true Cypriots. They put the good of Cyprus above the interests of any third parties. These people have to be embraced and supported at every opportunity.”
“It is important to accept that all Cypriots have suffered and are continuing to suffer as a result of the invasion and what has been happening in the last 33 years. Our ambition is for the island to be reunited so that all Cypriots can live in peace and security, able to take advantage of the opportunities that are offered to Cyprus by virtue of its membership of the EU; so that all Cypriots can benefit from the natural wealth of the island.” Asked what he requires from Turkish Cypriots, Peter says: “What we are asking of British Turkish Cypriots who want a reunited Cyprus is to speak with one voice with their Greek Cypriot brothers in this country and say to Britain that Cyprus is for Cypriots and that the British Government should work constructively with all parties in order to bring about a really independent and united island. We should not allow the voices of division which want to keep this beautiful island apart to dominate. If this happens our dream of a reunited Cyprus would not materialise,” he adds.

HUMAN RIGHTS OF ALL CYPRIOTS
When I asked Peter how this could be realised, he said: “The achievement of this noble goal requires leadership and determination as well as the willingness to put the human rights of all Cypriots above political expediency. London represents the best possible platform for Cypriots from all communities to come together and work together for the benefit of Cyprus. We can come up with specific ideas of things we can do as members of the Cypriot diaspora in order to contribute towards an equitable settlement.” Offering an example of the kind of work Greek and Turkish Cypriots can do together, Peter adds: “We could create a youth forum, for example, that could bring together young members of the Cypriot diaspora and inspire them to work for our vision of a reunited island.”

TURKISH CYPRIOTS ARE CITIZENS OF THE REPUBLIC OF CYPRUS
Asked what he thinks of Turkish Cypriots on the island, Peter says: “Turkish Cypriots on the island are citizens of the Republic of Cyprus, with the same rights as all other Cypriots: they can travel using Republic of Cyprus travel documents and many cross over to the Republic daily for work. I want that to continue and I believe all Cypriots should be able to take advantage of the benefits that are legally available in the Republic of Cyprus.” However, Peter warned: “What is not acceptable is for Turkish Cypriots to expect the illegal entity created by virtue of Turkey’s invasion and its continuing military occupation to be upgraded and effectively recognised. All that will achieve is the entrenchment of the division and the permanent partition of the island, which will not benefit Cypriots as a whole. And more widely, it would send out the message that military aggression pays.”

MESSAGE TO TURKEY
Peter’s view of Turkey is one of potential partnership with Cyprus. He asks: “What does Turkey have to gain from having an army in Cyprus? Cyprus represents no threat to Turkey.” Raising the issue of Turkey’s ambition to join the EU, Peter says it is in Turkey’s interest to support the reunification of Cyprus. After all, he argues, “A Cyprus reunited on the basis of a solution supported by a majority of all Cypriots could be a potential ally of Turkey and a future partner in Europe. A reunified, bi-communal, bi-zonal Cyprus would mean that Turkish Cypriots would be partners in the new federal government; such a resolution of the Cyprus issue would provide peace and security for all Cypriots, a state that is run in accordance with the EU which Turkey aspires to join. This would be a positive development not only for Cyprus but for the entire region.” Peter adds, “Turkey has nothing to gain from keeping its army in Cyprus. “This only shows lack of good will on the part of Turkey and hampers international efforts to reach an equitable solution.”

CONTINUOUS DIALOGUE
When I asked him to elaborate on how Cypriots can help contribute towards a Cyprus solution, Peter asserted: “Cypriots need to develop the fora to enable all Cypriots to communicate regularly with each other. We (diaspora Cypriots) have a clear opportunity in this country, in the absence of occupation, to create the conditions necessary for a meaningful and continuous dialogue, to make a valuable contribution towards the reunification of this beautiful island that is unjustly divided. “ Proud of his Cypriot identity, Peter recounts that as a child his grandmother told him how Cypriots of all ethnicities lived and worked together side by side, while celebrating their diversity, which he adds “enriched their lives.” “This is what we need to return to and rebuild together,” he continues.

NOW IS TIME FOR ACTION
Questioned when diaspora Cypriots can expect to see actions to this effect from the National Federation of Cypriots, Peter answers without hesitation: “Now. Now is the time to move forward to inspire our communities to take this road to unity. There is no time to lose and we owe it to our children and their children to rid Cyprus of division and realise that vision. We need to start spreading the news that Cypriots can and want to work together. The message needs to get out loud and clear, but it’s up to Cypriots to get it out. It’s up to both communities to communicate the message.” Making a pledge, he adds: “As President of the National Federation of Cypriots in the UK, I undertake to do whatever I can to articulate that vision.”

In the "chambers of memory"- Neshe Yashin

Sevgul Uludag

Until she said it, perhaps it was not so crystal clear that you cannot divide love... Neshe Yashin uttered the first words, to make a stamp on our hearts and remain there for so manyyears because peace is still elusive:`One should love ones homelandSo says my fatherBut my homeland is divided into twoWhich part should I love?`She was refusing to love one part or the other. As a Cypriot poet, there was no `one part` tolove, she loved the whole...Her life reflected this because these words were not slogans, it was her essence. This is how shefelt, this is how she moved, this is how she loved... There could be no division in love... Youcould not divide love, even if you did, again love would come out of the `division` as she said inone of her poems...She `crossed` the division because this was the only way for love to survive. And love was theonly thing that could make us realize our utopia: that Cyprus was one and only, one you could notdivide... Her life was like almost any other life of a Cypriot, affected by the conflict... She was born in1959, the dark years of EOKA and TMT, heading towards bloody confrontation. Her family was fromthe Peristerona village, a place of peace and tranquillity in the beginning... As the conflictgrew in 1963, they were displaced and started living in Nicosia. Her father, Ozker Yashin was afamous poet, journalist and activist at the time... He was the leader for the Turkish Cypriotrefugees of 1963... He published poems of war and suffering, poems widely read at the time... Hepublished a newspaper called `Savash` meaning `War`... These were the years of conflict... Neshesbrother Zeki was born in 1960 but in 1963, as her mother Jale expected another baby and was readyto deliver, there was no way out of the village Peristerona... Two Turkish Cypriots decided tobring her to Nicosia for the birth of the baby but on the way they were arrested by EOKA asprisoners of war and Neshes mother and grandmother were brought to Nicosia General Hospital...The name given to the baby born under such conditions was `Savash` (War). Later a Greek Cypriotman helped to smuggle her back to Peristerona with the grandmother and the baby... So as Sartrehas said, `Hell is other people` but `Heaven is also other people` we can add. Because you couldfind the darkness but also the light, the crime but also goodness in `other people`. Later, hermother had another baby girl under better conditions, so they called her `Barish` which means`Peace`. She was born in 1972 and they named her `Peace` to reflect the desire for peace on theisland. One baby was `War`, perhaps with the new baby called `Peace`, peace would finally come tothe island...We were friends since childhood  Kutlu Adali, the murdered journalist (my sisters husband) hadopened `an account` for me in her fathers bookshop. Even though my mother was a librarian and Igrew up in the library, books were not enough for me! I used to go to the `Ozker Yashin Bookshop`to get books and Neshe used to come to the library. Books were not enough for her either! We werereading, she was writing poems from a very small age like 3 or 4... As soon as she learnt to walkand talk she started writing I guess, because these are what poets are made of: words to describelove, suffering, words to describe the unseen world by others, the unnoticed or repressedfeelings, the flow of life and everything that surrounds us...Later we went to the same school and were in the same class: The English College... We wouldcompete together in poetry competitions and would write notes to each other in class. Sometimes wewould argue and not speak with each other  we were growing up with all the pain and sufferingaround us, all the poverty and misery... But with all the love and joy of being young and reachingout to the impossible because thats what dreams are made of and so long as youre alive, as Chehas said `Be realistic, ask for the impossible!` In 1970 her father was elected to the Turkish Cypriot parliament as an MP and we would go togetherto the makeshift parliament (the building is now the headquarters of the National Unity Party UBP Eroglus party). We would sit and listen to the arguments, discussions and we would be the onlykids in the Turkish Cypriot parliament. We would sit at the back of the room and try to understandthe issues and politics at the time, sometimes giggling and sometimes getting bored and going backto the library or to her fathers bookshop to find more interesting things to talk about or reador write or do our homework. At one time, we had exactly the same shoes: they were red and wewould admire our new red shoes!In 1976 she went to Turkey for her university education, later got married there and had a babywhom she called `Hazar`. She only returned to the island in 1985. These were the darkest years forour progressive struggle  the regime was very arrogant... You could not find a job, even if youdid, you would be thrown out after some time because of your political views, activism  thebiggest sin was saying `Yes, we can live together with Greek Cypriots` and Neshe was one of theones committing this `sin`: ` One should love ones homeland/So says my father/But my homeland isdivided into two/Which part should I love?` She suffered like many of us: From 1985 till 1997, shedid odd jobs to survive on the island... She would write and be in headlines of the newspapers ofthe regime... She would write and be thrown out of her job... She was a teacher for one year atLapta Secondary School (Lapithos) on a temporary contract but the regime could only put up withher for a year... In punishment of what she was saying out loud, her contract was not renewed. Itwas the time when we set up the `Womens Movement for Peace and a Federal Solution` and the attackof the regime on the women, calling us `names` and trying to make us the `laughing stock` of thecommunity, trying to marginalize us and finally punish us... My husband, myself, Neshe and otherswere all unemployed... You could not find jobs even in the private sector  the regime took careof that and there are letters when my husband had applied for a job in the private sector:`Because of your effective past, we cannot employ you!`You could not take credit from the banks either, to start a business:`Why dont you go to your party?` they would say and humiliate you... The regime did not have toput you in prison  they would destroy your economic means of survival so that you would leave...She had committed another `big sin` while she was in the northern part  she had run a`conscientious objection campaign` for Salih Askeroglu. Salih had refused to go to serve in thearmy  he is the only one so far... How dare he refused to go to the army? And how dare Neshehelped organize this campaign? I remember that those were one of her worst times in Cyprus  theregime openly had her followed by secret police and the army, harrassed her friends and everyonewas afraid to come to contact with her... They stole her address book, terrified everyone aroundher and tried to completely isolate her... This was one of the darkest time of her life in thenorthern part. In 1997 Neshe decided to go to the southern part of the island  this was her biggest `crossing`.She would be going to a different environment but it would still be her homeland. Previously whenshe wanted to `cross` she depended on `permission` from the military authorities to `cross thedivision`. Many times we went to the Ledra Palace check-point to see if there was `permission` forus to `cross` since they would never tell us beforehand, if we would be `allowed` to cross or not.We would be arranging meetings with Greek Cypriot women or would be doing activities for peace andmany times we would be refused the `permission` to cross. As a way out, we would try to arrangemeetings abroad which was difficult, costly, time-consuming. In order to `cross` from Nicosianorth to Nicosia south, Neshe would be flying to Istanbul to Athens to Larnaca or Istanbul toLondon to Larnaca and back... Since our homeland was one and a whole in our hearts, to speak tothose living in `the other part of the island` was an essential necessity  we would be lackinghalf of us if we chose only to look into our own `part`... Neshe started living in the southern part  many of us could not understand it at the beginning this was a big taboo... Later we all started comprehending what she was trying to do... She waschallenging a taboo in our brains that `Turkish Cypriots should live in the north and GreekCypriots in the south`. How could a Turkish Cypriot live in the south and still be a TurkishCypriot who loved her country? Wasnt this a scandal? It took time for all to get used to thisidea  she was setting an example that no one had dared before... A year after she went to thesouth, she found a teaching job in the university and now that she was in the southern part, shehad the task to connect with the northern part, always trying to maintain her relationships, herfriendships and her voice that would speak to us closely even though she was beyond the `barbedwire`. And it did not matter where she lived because she was still the `target` of the regime... Eventhough Dervish Ali Kavazoglu was murdered four decades ago and buried in his grave in Dali, therestill is a campaign by the regime against him... Even though the lawyers Ahmet Muzaffer Gurkan andAyhan Hikmet who published the newspaper CUMHURIYET have been killed by the regime four decadesago and buried in their graves, even today there is a campaign against them... So it did notmatter that Neshe lived in the southern part  she still had a voice and an influence in all ofCyprus so she had to be stopped and marginalized... So the dirty campaigns against her continued.When her novel `The Secret Story of Sad Girls` came out two years ago, all the erotic parts fromthe novel was `copied and pasted` together and a big campaign ran against her, claiming that shewas telling her own sex life and encouraging the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot youth to havesex together! Even Rauf Denktash made a statement during this dirty campaign, accusing her andmaking her a target...The `opening` of the checkpoints in April 2003 changed her energy: `Because of this division itwas as though there was a block in my energy but now everything flows, I can feel it even in mybody` she told me in an interview... She was in Istanbul during the `opening` and I called her tocome back...`Come on Neshe, you cant miss this!` I had Robert and Lilian with me, two young filmmakers fromBerlin who were making a movie about her life. So she flew to the north, crossed to the south withRobert and Lilian, went to her house, took a shower, changed her clothes and came back to thenorth! This was like a miracle for her  now she could `cross` any time she wanted and stayanywhere she wanted... `For me, unification is the unification of people... I dont care aboutstates and percentages, our country is not a company, I care about other things, about how peoplewill be reunified...` she said... This week we recieve news from her on the e-mail that her new book of poems called `The Chambersof Memory` has just come out in Istanbul... On her birthday, 12th of February, there will be acocktail party in honor of her new book in Istanbul... And on the 15th of February, we will go tolisten to her new poetry, the poetry she put together after the `opening` of the checkpoints,together with the ones she wrote before...Once, in her poem called THE BIG WORD she wrote:`When the poem utters the big wordall the weapons will hush at once,the word that's the voice ofthe spilled blood and the cry of sufferingthe word that's uttered by the chorus of the deadand by the exiled crowd of history.It will be whispered by the flowerthe weeping cloud in the sky the rapturous waves of the seaand the childred who do not wantto join the army.That day, a new love will emergefrom the foams of the seathat is distinct in nationality.War will die of shameas the silence starts taking revenge from historyand the magic wordswill kiss the wind of love.IF being disloyal to the halfwill bring me the whole native landyour nationalism will be a cuckold's eggI shall betray youeven with your bloody armies after meI shall make love with all the enemiesI shall betray youon all the continents of this earth.When the poem utters the big wordall the deals and negotiationswill come to an end with nothing left to sayall the mediators will be unemployed.The history will surrenderunder that big word which carriesthe stars and the riversthe endless love making of all timesthe sounds, the rain, and the seas.When the big wordwill be uttered by the poemeither all the poets will be executedor peace will descend on earth.`So she will be speaking to us from her `Chambers of Memory` and here is one of the poems from hernew book that she sent to me: My premonition about the light rising inside meWho knows perhapswhile you shot at the barricadesthat killed our house (home)I used to mellow into a childish sadnessdeaths passing through my deep sighsI knew back thenone day you would steal my soulWhile I ran off to the spaces between stairscrying over family murdersit whispered dreams of the futurethe light born(rising) inside me(my premonition about the light)Three angels appearedone brought a red poppythe second a gentle kiss from youthe third was empty handedembarrassed looked me in the faceAnd then the ghosts of martyrschased me in their blood soaked clothesmy history teacherread out lies at the gates of HeavenI waited for such a long long time for youin desolate Babylon towersTake off your soldiers clothesand come close to megive me three babies from the souls of the deadOne to make me forget all painthe other to console the earththe third to wander the city in the nightand hold crying mothers by the hand`(*) Article published in the ALITHIA newspaper on the 30th of January, 2005.

Does the TRNC really represent Turkish Cypriot self determination?

Alkan CHAGLAR

In the Turkish Cypriot community one recurrently hears calls by our many leaders to take ownership of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC). With this attitude, the TRNC is presumed to exclusively represent or symbolise Turkish Cypriot interests, and if ever one deviates from this way of thinking by claiming that perhaps Turkish Cypriots already have their own state – the Republic of Cyprus, then you are accused of treachery, disloyalty or of demoting Turkish Cypriot self-determination. However, does the TRNC, an entity designed one thousand miles away in Ankara really represent Turkish Cypriot self determination?

ORIGINS OF TRNC
To embark on any attempt to answer this question one is compelled to look at the origins of this political entity. The TRNC may or may not have Turkish Cypriots working within its structure, to some extent it serves a purpose for running the day to day affairs of the North, but one cannot avoid the fact is it was never founded by the popular will of the Turkish Cypriot community. Recalling the November 15 1983 declaration of independence, there was no prior campaign, no prior popular demonstrations on the streets for independence, nor a plebiscite to consult the Turkish Cypriot community on such an important issue.
In typical military style, foundations for the TRNC were laid behind doors far away. In fact, despite the harrowing events that unfolded during the civil war in Cyprus, hardly any Turkish Cypriots envisaged breaking away from the Republic of Cyprus as a solution to political problems or as a way of restoring self-determination. Indeed self-determination was not the underpinning idea behind the creation of the TRNC, but the protection of the strategic interests of Turkey. Turkey had long sought to protect its southern flanks and avert any possible Greek annexation of the island, but Ankara knew it had to do more than send troops to protect her interests in the long-term; a chosen leadership, a state through which that leadership could control and politically active settlers was essential.

SELF-DETERMINATION
Yet in spite of these strategic interests, the principle of self-determination normally coined together when referring to nations is still used by many to justify the formation and longevity of the existence of the TRNC. But without lending support to any notion of nationhood, self-determination in my view is not separate from the principles of human rights in general, that is to say, political freedom, freedom of association, freedom of speech and religious freedom and others, which all communities and individuals deserve and strive for. Contrary to scepticism by successionists, both individual and collective political freedom can be achieved within a single state and within the framework of international law, without dispossessing another community. Yet misused by groups intent on justifying why one group of people should have its own sovereign territory or which country’s sovereign territory they should belong to (i.e. Greece or Turkey), the notion of self-determination is often hijacked as a tool by those seeking Apartheid separation.
However, those postulating the representation of self-determination by the TRNC should note a few irregularities to their claim. Firstly, after the meclis (parliament) of the Turkish Federated State of Cyprus (TFSC) approved Ankara’s new state, pluralistic politics were hardly encouraged. Turkish Cypriot opposition leader and Presidential candidate at that time, Ozker Ozgur had been charged in connection with an article published in the newspaper Yeni Duzen was put under house arrest. At the time he faced a possible seven-year prison sentence for criticizing the Denktash leadership.
Having consulted a copy of the European Parliament Resolution for 9.7.1987 the heads of the three Opposition parties in Northern Cyprus, Mr. Ozker Ozgur Mr. Ismail Bozkurt and Mr. Ismet Kotak, who together represented 55% of Turkish Cypriot votes in this period, all had appealed to the international community at the time to denounce the policy of “suppression, intimidation and blackmail” carried out against the Opposition by Ankara’s chosen leadership. According to the report, the three leaders denounced the “destruction of democracy” and the “decadence and corruption” in Northern Cyprus.

A STATE OF COHABITATION
Secondly, in a bid to anchor the new “baby homeland” to Turkey, Turkish settlers from the poorest provinces of Anatolia were shipped in to increase support for the new state. To the shock of disenfranchised Turkish Cypriots, the new arrivals were encouraged to vote on their first day. This new arrangement effectively transformed the TRNC into a state of cohabitation between the interests of Ankara, the Turkish settlers, and then indigenous Turkish Cypriots. To date, the TRNC is possibly the only place in the world to import its voters.
Given free homes or plots of land whose Cypriot owners had previously been forced to leave, the new arrivals who today number half of the North’s population thanked the President of their new home for his gifts by voting for him time and time again. The votes were not only useful in allowing the President of the day to consolidate his grip of power but were useful in changing the tide in elections. During the legislative election of 06 May 1990, UBP a party that favours the unity of Northern Cyprus and Turkey gained 54.7%, while pro-solution, pro-reunification DMP (an election alliance party for CTP, TKP, YDP) gained 44.5% of the popular vote. Settler votes were crucial to keeping the same faces in power; it is hardly surprising Turkish Cypriots complained of disenfranchisement for so long. Faced with such tactics on the part of those who had filled the new TRNC power vacuum and who were backed of course by the occupying Turkish military, it was hardly surprising that the biggest export of the TRNC, an entity long regarded as “legally invalid” by the United Nations, was mainly young Turkish Cypriot people.

REALITY of TRNC
No doubt the TRNC provides a mechanism for governance in Northern Cyprus despite being surrounded by illegality, however, faced with its origins, purpose and such a poor record for actually representing the Turkish Cypriots themselves the TRNC proves that it is not synonymous with the political freedoms of Turkish Cypriots. The fact that this entity, which has only proved to be a state of cohabitation between interests of Ankara, the settlers followed by the Turkish Cypriots in recent years is no accident, but a reality of what the TRNC was designed for in its early days.
No closer to grasping political recognition today than it was 23 years ago, the status of the TRNC also raises questions as to why we as a community hesitate to regain our status in the Republic of Cyprus and dispute the Greek Cypriot monopoly of this state, whose unchallenged policies often are to the detriment of the needs and interests of our community. Those seeking the unlikely goal of recognition, an act that international law and the UN opposes, must realize that even if this was one day achieved, the TRNC with its origins and continuing tide of settlers will not be a state any more representative of the political freedoms of Turkish Cypriots than it is now - it would pave the way for the North to become a recognized satellite Turkish state.

The story of Manuk Mangaldjian… A heart, full of memories…

Sevgul Uludag

I meet Manuk Mangaldjian through Puzant and Arto…
Arto actually grew up near the famous Victoria Street but he does not have so many vivid memories from childhood: `We didn’t go out to play in the street so much` he says.
Puzant has a better idea: To go and meet Manuk Mangaldjian, who is 86 years old… `He’s practically like a walking encyclopedia` he says, `Knows everything about Armenian Cypriots, all the little details…` `What about Rosa Bakkalian, the `missing` Armenian woman from Neachorgo Kythrea? What about the Bohdjalian family? Nowadays, the Bohdjalian konak is a restaurant… I know that the only person left from this family is a woman… I need to speak with her…
And what about the Bedelians?
My brother used to take violin lessons from him since a very early age…
Everyone knows the Bedelians, so I need to follow the story…` ` Whatever you might want to ask, you can ask him…` Puzant says… So together with Arto, we walk to the shop of Manuk Mangaldjian in the old town. Here he is selling oilcloth for the tables by the meter…
At one point, I see the `arshin` (the yard) in his shop. `But isn’t this the arshin?` I ask him… `Yes` he says, ` you know those from the village could never get used to the meter… They come to buy oilskin and ask for arshin!` I had not seen the `arshin` for so many years and this makes me happy! Once upon a time, Mr. Manuk used to work in the Khan… He would drink at the tavern of Mustafa the Hammal… This was a very famous `meyhane` (bar) in the 50s and 60s… There isn’t anybody he doesn’t know from those times…
`Dr. Kuchuk used to be our family doctor. When he came to our house, there were always jokes! He would tell my grandmother, `You must always wear wool! Then all your pains would go away!`` He talks about the Bakery of the Crazy Huseyin… `Mr. Huseyin used to be a very close friend of my father’s… When my father had to go somewhere, he would leave me in his bakery… `Don’t leave from here` he would tell me…`
We speak in Turkish, perfect Turkish from Anatolia mixed with a slight accent and words from Cypriot Turkish.
Look` he says, `I even have a dictionary here!` Yes! A Turkish dictionary!
As he talks of the past, telling me stories about people and places, I gradually realize that what unites us is the language…
But no, it is not only language but a shared history, shared memories from the past… ]
He is from a time when `nationalism` did not poison relationships among the communities, when people worked together, drank together, laughed together, shared a joke and shared the pain of loss together… This was the simple life of old Cyprus - it did not matter whether you were a Turkish Cypriot, an Armenian Cypriot or a Greek Cypriot – whoever you were, there was a place for you on this island. Blood did not flow between communities, armed underground organisations did not exist yet to tear apart the good, simple life on the island. People were poor but this did not matter – what mattered were the simple, human relationships, the neighbours, the relatives, the friends and the hard work to survive together… In those times, Manuk would help one of his Turkish Cypriot friends to find a job in his company, as a cigarette distributor and would even convince his English boss, to give him a little bit more money than usual because his Turkish Cypriot friend had five sisters and his father was only trying to survive by selling suvla… It did not matter in those times, that they carried different names or worshipped different Gods, the poison of nationalism was not effective back then among the simple people of the island. What mattered was to live and to survive and to try to have a few laughs, to build a family, to grow up children and to lead a decent life. Politics did not spill its poison yet on the island…
`Manuk means baby` he says, smiling… `So even if I grow to be 90 years old, I would still be a baby!` His Turkish mesmerizes me and I sit there wanting to ask more and more things about the past…
Time simply flies and I realize I need to get back to work…
He is a kind person and he says kind things about the Turkish Cypriots he knew…
His mother and father were from Adana in Turkey, Mrs. Verkine and Mr. Kevork… Kevork was a saddler… He was so famous that he would go all the way to Istanbul to fix the `garutsas` of the pashas of those times… Kevork had a friend in Adana, Ahmet who was a poor man and was trying to make a living.
One day, Ahmet came to Kevork… `I need to get a garutsa and some horses` he said. `But I don’t have the money…` `Don’t you worry` Kevork told him. `You know, I understand from horses. I will go and check and get you the horses and the garutsa, so you can work and support your family… Later, when you have money, over time, you can pay me little by little…` So Kevork went and got the horses and the garutsa for Ahmet. They had such strong friendship, Kevork and Ahmet, that when the troubles were beginning in 1915-1920, Ahmet ran to find Kevork…
`Come on, pack up, we are going…` he said to Kevork. `Going where?` `I will bring you and your family to Aleppo (Halep) and get you settled there…` So off they went to Aleppo, Kevork and his wife Verkine, and their two children, Artin and Vartui… Manuk was not born yet… On the way to Aleppo, they had encountered gangs who wanted to kill them but Ahmet was brave and he had a gun: `Don’t you dare touch them! Don’t you dare come near us!` he would say… So safe and sound, they arrived in Aleppo to be settled by Ahmet in a rented room – Ahmet went and bought blankets and food for them and said, `I will return next week`. He did indeed return the following week to check on his friends and to find a place for Kevork to work making light shoes…
Later they would move to Damascus and from there to Cyprus. When they came to Cyprus, Manuk was a one month old baby, landing in Limassol in his mother’s arms. They would be settled in Larnaca but since neither Kevork, nor Verkine spoke any other language than Turkish, they would move to Nicosia, to stay among the Turkish Cypriots and Kevork would work in the Khan, back in his profession as a saddler.
At that time, many Armenians were living mixed together with Turkish Cypriots, since they could only speak Turkish… Later, they would move to live among the Greek Cypriot community, after the conflict of 1963. But many kept their good memories and as soon as the checkpoints opened in 2003, they tried to look up their old friends… For a long time, I could not understand why the Armenian Cypriots had left the Turkish Cypriot mahalles to go and live among the Greek Cypriots because all I heard from people were good stories, friendship stories, memories that touched people’s hearts… So what was the reason for this abrupt decision to leave?
Even Vartan Malian could not answer my questions about why they had left: `I was not in Cyprus at that time – my family being afraid, had left…` Many were afraid that the violence might touch them, like Mrs. Nouritsa in whose mahalle, the family of a Greek Cypriot baker, Mr. Kurtumbellis was killed. An old Turkish Cypriot woman, who lived in this mahalle, Koskluciftlik, later would give me clues about why the Armenian Cypriots had left: `They did not leave, you know…` she would say… `What do you mean, they did not leave?` In a way they were frightened and chased away – I remember in those days, a kind of a statement of `Warning` was thrown under their doors, telling them that they have to evacuate their houses in three days… Later, in some mahalles, some soldiers went round knocking on their doors and telling them that they had to evacuate their houses in three days…
That’s how they left… We never had any problem with living together with Armenians…`
Perhaps also, with the arrival of the conflict in 1963, their collective memory of 1915-20 would urge them that there might be danger and perhaps also this played a role in their leaving… Today, there are almost no traces left of Armenian Cypriots living together with Turkish Cypriots…
Only in the hearts of those who lived together in those times, you might still find traces of the good memories of the times they had been together…

A refreshing kind of gentle energy in the garden of Mrs Nouritsa

Sevgul Uludag

Their energy is so fantastic, so open and refreshing that it takes some time for me to realize this… Perhaps the root of all this is the suffering they have gone through because sometimes going deep down in pain creates wisdom and this wisdom is something you can draw from…
Perhaps the root of all this is the skills they have developed to survive throughout the ages and perhaps, they know more, the value of being alive than others around us… Perhaps this gentle form of energy comes from their being a minority – and through many instances and forms of discrimination, they have learnt to develop their skills of survival… And perhaps this makes them quite different from some of the Armenians you would meet from the diaspora…
But whatever the root of this positive energy is, it is definitely refreshing and I feel pity that I had not had the chance to try to understand them much before… I had known a few Armenian Cypriots and did some interviews with Vartan Malyan and Madam Shirin but when I meet Nouritsa Nadjarian, and Manuk Mangalciyan, it is quite a different story… Nouritsa is the mother of a friend, Puzant (Jean) and she is an amazing woman… For the first time, I start feeling what they must have all gone through… Even though the `Cyprus conflict` was supposed to be between Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots, they too, have suffered and had to pay a dear price to be able to survive on this island. We sit in the garden of Mrs. Nouritsa, her husband Vahan Nadjarian under the carob trees. I have come here together with my friend Murat Kanatli because Murat knows Mrs. Nouritsa and she hugs him and says caring words to him. But the first initial shock for me is her garden…
Imagine in the middle of Acropolis such a garden, below the level of the road that when you step down, you are rendered breathless! No, it is not a garden that is very elaborate. It is simple and natural but it is this caring and refreshing energy that you feel that renders you breathless! `Isn’t there the flower of henna here Mrs. Nouritsa?` `No… But there is another tree that is similar to it – it’s called the Pakistani Nights… At night time, it has such a beautiful smell!` `I know that smell! My sister has that tree…But I wish there was a tree of henna here, it would suit this garden so well…` This is a typical, old Cypriot garden – all the things I used to see as a child are here – old tins used for flowers, bottles turned upside down and lined up to show the conteur of the flower beds… We sit around a round table under the carob trees and as Nouritsa talks, hours pass by – the garden is so magical that we don’t realize how many hours have passed by and that evening has come down gently… Once upon a time, when Armenians came to Cyprus back in the 1920s, they had settled in areas where Turkish Cypriots lived. The reason? They could only speak Turkish and this begun the relationships of Turkish Cypriots with the Armenian Cypriots. The children would play together in Nicosia at the Victoria Street or at the Keushkluchiftlik area or in Kumsal – the different Turkish mahalles of Nicosia…Men would work in the Buyuk Khan or in Arasta or Asmaalti, watchmakers, makers of pastirma, yogurt or goldsmiths… Skilled labor of those times… My friend Puzant whom we call Jean, who is 53 years old now, grew up in one of the streets of Keushkluchiftlik, in a street called Gunduz Tezel Sokagi… Their house was number 18. Puzant, or Jean, as we call him, would walk to school in the yard of the Armenian Church in the Victoria Street, together with his brother Levon, who was three years older than him…
Gunduz Tezel Street was mixed – Jean says, `Maybe 80 per cent were Armenians, the rest Turkish Cypriots. There was also a baker at the end of the street who was a Greek Cypriot…` It was the time of Christmass Nuritza remembers when the fighting between Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots began… And it was at that time that the close family of the Greek Cypriot baker Kurtumbellis was killed by some Turkish Cypriot soldiers. `I heard the shots` Nouritsa says, `and felt afraid! We left soon afterwards, to go to Victoria Street, to where my auntie lived. From there I took my daughter and went to the Armenian church… And then my husband and my two sons came and after some time, we went to Melkonian to stay and work…` Vahan was a very skilled turner (dornadoros) so he found work immediately and Nouritsa was working in the hospital of Melkonian, taking care of the sick and the elderly… Puzant says `Only after I began to live among the Greek Cypriots that I realized, there are other languages in the world! I was nine years old then, back in 1963… Until then, at home, I would speak Turkish with my grandmother Lusia because she only spoke Turkish, she could not speak Armenian. She learnt the Armenian after we began going to school and learning Armenian at school. She would learn it from her angoni! At home we would speak Armenian with my mother and father… If we went to the Greek Cypriot bakkalis Yiannis near the school, unless we told him `Ena gulluri`, he would not give us anything, we knew. So we would say `Ena gulluri..` But only after coming here, I realized that there were also other languages. And at school, then, we started learning Greek and English…` With Nuritza, we speak Turkish – it is such well-spoken Turkish with very old idioms she uses that, I am amazed – it is an Anatolian Turkish she uses. And later, with Manuk Mangalciyan, I would feel this Anatolian Turkish, stronger. Manuk Mangalciyan has so many stories of friendship with Turkish Cypriots, again, time just flies in a magical way and then I realize, I have to rush to work!

Putting back the humanity that had been `missing`…

Sevgul Uludag
He had seen 70 summers and 70 winters… 70 falls and as many spring times… Perhaps more – I don’t know, I am just guessing because he looked old…
Old and heartbroken – that he had to leave his village, that he had to see this country being divided…
But more than that, he saw things that no one should see, no one should experience – things that helped destroy the beautiful life that once existed on this island. Things that destroyed humanity, things that made people go in their own `national ghettos`, closing their eyes to the good and generous relationships that once existed.
When I first met him and we started talking through his daughter, all of a sudden he had started crying… Tears rolling down his cheeks, he stifled his sobs to tell me what he had seen: I was telling him about the `missing persons` of Yialousa and how we had found them in Galatia and he was remembering something else, something that had bothered him all his life.
No, he was not the killer but he had seen how two Turkish Cypriots from Galinoporni (Kaleburnu) was killed and buried somewhere outside Yialousa. He had carried the pain locked inside him because there was no one to share it with, someone to understand, to soothe the pain and to help dry away those tears rolling down his cheeks. 70 summers and 70 winters, 70 autumns and 70 springs and yet the pain was still fresh and insistent, not wanting to go away, there to remain to come back to haunt him.
I went to see him again but he was not there… Only his daughter, who had a ready smile and who did not know until his father spoke that there were also `Turkish Cypriot missing persons`. She always assumed that only `Greek Cypriot missing persons` existed and now, at this age, she was finding out that `Oh my God! There are also Turkish Cypriot missing?...`
Emir Aybenk was only three months old when his father went missing and Shevket Zorba was barely two years old… No memories of their fathers holding them or kissing them or playing with them. Nothing! Only photos shown to them and their mothers telling them, `Okay, this was your father…`
No concept of how a father loves his children, no concept of that security and protection that only a father can provide. Always missing a part of their lives, a precious part, like oysters with the missing pearls…
So they had grown up like that, Emir and Shevket, the sons of the two Galinoporn’ Turkish Cypriots `missing` since 11 May 1964. Just like the children of those Greek Cypriot `missing` from 64 or 74, still looking for their father, what has remained of them so they can bury them properly like a human being and visit their graves during times of commemoration…
I visited the Greek Cypriot old man again but this time, taking the two sons, Emir and Shevket with me. There was also with us, the brother of Ali Musa Zorba, Behchet Zorba – they all spoke Greek perfectly and we found the old man in front of his shop, sitting in a chair… It was still chilly at this early hours of the morning and he brought us chairs to sit with him. We sat around talking and gradually he realized who these two persons were: They were the sons of the Turkish Cypriots whom he knew where they were buried. Again, tears started rolling down his cheeks and I went to bring him some toilet paper and make some coffee so we could drink to come to our senses. It was an emotional morning and because of the haunting memory of those `missing`, he would decide to take a bold step to show his humanity to those children waiting for their fathers with whom they did not even have one single memory. He was courageous enough to decide to show us the burial site…
His daughter got worried: What if we took her father and he would not come back?
`Let some of us remain here with you as a hostage and let your father go and show where these missing persons are buried and then come back. Or you can come with us as well…`
Emir, who was three months old when his father went `missing` volunteered to stay with her:
`I can stay with you` he told her. But in the end, she said, `Okay, go. But bring me back my father…`
Of course…
Off we went to Yialousa with the old man where he would show us the burial site. We drew outside Yialousa and past the Teresa Hotel, we found a dirt road leading up to the sea. Here we turned to go down and at one point, he stopped the car to get out and look. He must have made a mark in his mind about this place and after going round in circles, around one particular area, he stopped and told us that they must be buried here, under the shinya… His mark, apparently was a carob tree which was a tiny thing back then but now it had grown into something big… Gradually, all the relatives of the two families started coming to where we were and talking with him.
This man who had seen 70 winters and 70 summers, who had tears for what had happened in Cyprus, was doing something extremely courageous: He was showing us the burial site of two persons `missing` from 1964. `Magari navre husin` he says and I find out that this means `May they be found…`
The `missing` Abdullah Emirzade and Ali Musa Zorba were farmers from Galinoporni. Abdullah Emirzade had a truck and when the harvest machine had broken down, he had gone to Ayios Andronikos, together with Ali Musa Zorba, to buy a new part. The date was 11th of May 1964 – it was the day when inside the old town of Famagusta, the son of the Greek Cypriot chief of police, Pantelis and two or three Greek officers were shot and killed. An `order` was given to take `revenge` and around 80 Turkish Cypriot civilians went `missing` from Larnaca-Famagusta-Karpaz area on that and the following days. Who gave those orders? According to one Greek Cypriot friend, the `revenge` was for the Greek officer Kapotos who had been shot dead inside the walled city of Famagusta and according to him, the order was given by some Greek officers. Perhaps we need to search more about this `revenge` story to really put the pieces of the puzzle in place and find out what actually happened…
So when Abdullah Emirzade and Ali Musa Zorba were going back to their village, they were stopped at Litrangomi and taken. A bicycle was thrown in front of the truck to stop it. Then, they took them…
The truck would be painted in military colors and used by the army later on to carry Greek Cypriot soldiers and the relatives of Abdullah Emirzade would recognize the truck. While Abdullah Emirzade’s family paid the debts owed to the bank for the `missing` truck, the truck would be used by the army! Abdullah Emirzade and Ali Musa Zorba were taken from Litrangomi to the tobacco factory of Yialousa, the rumors said and later they were brought to the spot where the old man showed us, to be shot and buried together…
This place was close to the sea and smelled of shinya – it was the area of Eleusa called `Mandra du Sina`. Once upon a time, this area had belonged to the Evkaf, later to be given to the monastery of Eleusa I was told. There was a stream where the shepherds would come to water their flock which led to the sea. I could see a small bay and the color turquoise of the sea…
It was a powerful moment for me – for the past two years, my Turkish Cypriot readers had been helping to show and find the burial sites of the `missing` Greek Cypriots in the northern part of the island. Some of my Greek Cypriot readers also pointed out places of burial of `missing` Turkish Cypriots but it was the first time now, a Greek Cypriot was courageous enough to actually cross to the northern part, to show a burial site of the `missing` Turkish Cypriots. This was the humanity and the cooperation we needed if we wanted to make progress in our relationship as Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots…
The sea, the shinya, the beauty of Yialousa would always be there – the old man who had seen 70 winters and 70 summers with tears in his eyes, was giving back the humanity to this soil that had been `missing`…