Letter: Divided Cyprus

Sir: Mr Paul Hamilos (letter, April 5) has the facts on Cyprus back to front. The problem did not begin in 1974 - it was ethnic cleansing of the Turkish Cypriots by Greek Cypriots 1963-74 which created the present state of affairs.

Sir Alec Douglas-Home wrote in his memoirs, "I was convinced that if Makarios could not bring himself to treat the Turkish Cypriots as human beings, he was inviting the invasion and partition of the island."

The American Under-Secretary of State, George Ball, said, "Makarios's central interest was to block off Turkish intervention so that he and his Greek Cypriots could go on happily massacring Turkish Cypriots. Obviously we would never permit that." The fact is, however, that neither the US, the UK, the UN, nor anyone, other than Turkey, ever took effective action to prevent it.

As for the Greek Cypriot missing persons, the evidence of the Greek Orthodox priests who buried them is that almost all of them were killed in the mayhem which Greek Cypriots unleased upon each other before the Turkish army had even landed.

It is time the world recognised that we the Turkish Cypriots are entitled to live in peace in our own state, and stopped treating the Greek Cypriots, despite the atrocities they committed, as if they were the lawful government of the whole island.

HAKKI MFTZADE

London Representative, Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus

London WC1