Doğuş Derya deserves to be congratulated for her courage
“If you do not tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth you will not rebuild the trust between the two communities”
AKEL C.C. Press Office, 18th December 2014, Nicosia
For a some days now, our Turkish Cypriot compatriot, leading member of the Republican Turkish Party, Doğuş Derya has come under vile sexist attacks from the most reactionary forces, extreme-right wing Turkish Cypriots and Turkish settlers, in the occupied areas because she courageously called upon the Turkish Cypriots not to forget the crimes that had been committed against Greek Cypriots and the raping of women by the Turkish army in 1974. Doğuş Derya deserves to be congratulated for her courage.
Those forces and circles however within the Greek Cypriot community saluting the bold stance taken by Doğuş Derya must have the corresponding boldness to also say the truths that do not suit our community, that is to say that these forces must also admit the crimes committed by the Greek Cypriots fascists against Turkish Cypriot civilians and prisoners. Weren’t those who committed the bloody massacres in the villages of Maratha, Aloa, Sandalari and Tochni 1974, the raping of women, the slaughter of children and execution of unarmed prisoners, Greek Cypriots (and indeed coming from that sector that defines itself as being the most patriotic of all)? Wasn’t it Greek Cypriots the ones who killed children during the inter-communal clashes, whose remains we are now discovering dumped in wells?
If you do not tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth you will not rebuild the trust between the two communities. Maybe the trust and rapprochement between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots cannot on its own bring the solution of the Cyprus problem, given that Ankara was, and still remains, the obstacle, but it is a necessary condition to be able to reach a federal solution, and more specifically for this solution to be able to function in practice.
If we do not also say that chauvinism – Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot – did not appear out of nowhere but was implanted by foreign forces with whom Cypriots cooperated with, then the young generation will not truly understand that the Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots – as they had done before in the past – can live again together in the same cities, in the same neighbourhoods and in the same state, in peace and friendship.
The view is often expressed by some Greek Cypriots that when we talk about these dark sides of our history, we therefore are vindicating or justifying the Turkish occupation. However, in AKEL’s view we do not need to keep quiet and say nothing about aspects of the historical truth in order to condemn and struggle against the on-going disgrace of the Turkish occupation. On the contrary, only if we all uncover the human pain suffered by all, can we see the full historical picture of the imperialist crime committed against Cyprus and its people.
