U.S. has failed Cyprus since the Ford administration

In the spirit of current events including former President Gerald Ford and former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger visiting our campus, I believe it is important to evaluate a certain foreign policy issue that dates back to Nixon's and Ford's administrations. Prior to the '60s and '70s, the people of Cyprus, Turkish-Cypriots and Greek-Cypriots, lived together peacefully. But in 1974, Turkey forcefully invaded Cyprus, occupying the fertile northern third of the country. During and since the invasion, Turkey has committed crimes against humanity including genocide and torture. (Note: Some of the crimes against humanity broken by Turkey include Articles 2, 3, 5, 7, 9-11, and 14 of the "Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms for the Council of Europe, 1950").

Let me make it clear, Turkish-Cypriots who lived in Cyprus prior to 1974 are not to blame. According to the United Nations and to the government of Cyprus, it is estimated that over 40,000 Turkish Cypriots have left the occupied area since 1974 to settle abroad and the exodus is continuing. Today, with only about 90,000 Turkish Cypriots on the island, there are more settlers than Turkish Cypriots.

Most Turks are not to blame, either. The government of Turkey, for supplying the illegal Denktash regime (the junta that currently occupies Northern Cyprus), has been found guilty in the European Court of Human Rights for crimes against humanity. There are still many more crimes that have been left unpunished.

In mid-August 1996, two unarmed Greeks were violently killed while peacefully protesting in a United Nations controlled buffer zone in Cyprus. The Greeks were killed by Turkish forces operating beyond the UN cease-fire line. UN officials criticized Turkey for exercising the unwarranted force beyond their jurisdiction, yet sanctions have not been imposed.

In his book Years of Renewal, Kissinger admitted that Turkey achieved its goals through the use of excessive force. Kissinger also maintained that Washington was focused on Watergate while Turks invaded Northern Cyprus. This problem is not only the fault of the U.S. government under the Nixon and Ford administrations, but continues to be stem from the failure of the United States to properly and effectively deal with the situation today. Turkey, a member of the United Nations and of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, has been criticized by organizations such as Amnesty International for torture and accused of being responsible for the disappearance of 1,619 Greek-Cypriots. The United States, as well as other NATO members, have been overly concerned with keeping Turkey in the UN and NATO. Kissinger repeatedly wrote that the primary goal of US diplomacy in 1974 was to avoid war between two NATO allies, not to enforce humanitarian restrictions.

As the quality of life diminishes in Turkish-controlled Northern Cyprus, I wonder how we can call ourselves the "Defenders of democracy and of the Free World" when we aren't even defending the Greeks - the founders of democracy.

- This viewpoint was written by Engineering junior John DeWitt.