Last update September 2002, will be updated every
few months
Click for Original Clippings, Reactions, Comments
(mostly in Turkish). Including a whole set of articles from Kibrisli Newspaper during their campaign against Hamamboculeri.Org --- a Progressive Turkish Cypriot On-Line Magazine.
As summary and some translations to English
(I) Threats through the Media resulting in Physical or Emotional
Terror
This section includes translations from the two daily newspapers
supported by the regime in northern Cyprus - Kębręslę Gazetesi and
Volkan Gazetesi [gazeteler]. Kębręslę, which appears with the motto
"We are little Turkey" has been in print for a few years
[kibrisliinfo] and was the main mouthpiece of Turkish Cypriot leader
Denktash and army before the establishment of Volkan. Volkan is the
official mouthpiece of UHH(National People's Movement), a fascist
organization established in the "presidential palace" by the political
advisers of Denktash. UHH surfaced with anonymous declarations in May
2001 threatening the progressives acting "against the national cause",
but under immense public pressure , the people behind it surfaced
shortly thereafter and have been trying to portray themselves as a
legal political force. Volkan - named after the predecessor of Turkish
Resistance Organization (TMT, mentioned above) - includes articles by
the leaders of UHH and it acts as a "daily orders to the government"
by those dark powers who have the real power in the northern part of
Cyprus and find the government formed by two right-wing parties
"inefficient at dealing with the internal enemies". Both publications
publish information that is not publicly available - and can only be
obtained through secret connections with the security forces (which
are under direct command of the Turkish military in the island).
The translations that follow illustrate the atmosphere of terror
created in north Cyprus by these newspapers. The following sections
which outline the other two forms of terror will illustrate how these
threats should be taken seriously because of their effects in the
past.
Some translations are accompanied by background information which will
help understand the context under which the article appeared. The
dates of the articles are also given to help those that would like to
locate the original source [makaleler].
Background: Erhan Aręklę is a member of groups related to the Gray
Wolves [wolves] of Turkey. He admitted to being part of the crowd that
participated in the killing of two Greek Cypriots on the Greek Line in
1996. Recently, he has surfaced as the head of an association called
"Turkish Union" (Turk-Bir) which has released threatening declarations
in the past against individuals and organizations. Some members of
Turk-Bir (double check this info!) were arrested and released in
relation to political bombings. He also proudly admits a history of
fighting against leftist groups in Turkey during 70s alongside of Gray
Wolves.
A Warning to The Traitors
Yes, because of your treason, this soil may even be lost one day and
this state may cease to exist just like the hundreds of other Turkish
states in history.
But, let it be our oath in the name of Allah who created us, on these
holy days, dawning horizons (...) and on our martyrs who are watching
over us that AT LEAST A FEW HUNDREDS AMONG YOU WILL NOT SEE THOSE DAYS
(capitalization as in original article)
No... No...
Do not take this as a threat...
This is your definite fate...
Cut this article from the paper and save it
somewhere...
If, as you wish, the TRNC ends up being given over to the
Greek... that day... yes, that day... as first thing we will find all
of you one by one...
Believe me, we will not hear your cries of "Please kill us". For our
ears will be blocked with cotton.
Yes, that day, the articles you have written will be our proofs.
We will start by making you eat all of the pages, yes all of them,
where your words of hatred stand
Those who are cursing both this holy state and Turkey, I am telling
you... Those calling our heroic army which protects us from the enemy
and guards our borders the "invasion army", listen to me well.
Take a good look at your hands... Take your tongues out and look at
them in the mirror.
And don't say "But there is democracy, but there is freedom of
thought".
Those are nothing more than your weapons of crime. Whatever is going
to happen to you, it is them to blame. Know this well.
You can twist what I have written and try to portray me as a cruel
sadist to the Turks of Cyprus.
You can sue me, or even curse me all together.
You can watch suspiciously every car that passes by your houses, your
newspapers and publishing houses and complain to the world that you
"cannot speak" and are "being threatened".
But believe me, none of these will help.
The signature put under the agreement which hands over TRNC to the
Greek will function as the signature put on your death order.
That day will be the day where the the tongues no longer talk, the
pens no longer write, the keyboards no longer type and the publishing
houses no longer print...
That day will be the day when the words will run out and other things
will start talking.
And that is all I have to say...
These are not against this system or anything. To the contrary they
want the system to go on as it is. For it is this system that feeds
them. They criticize the wrongs of it and show the Motherland as the
only responsible. And as solution, they have just one thing in
mind. To destroy this state at whatever cost and hand it over to the
Greek.
And calling the Turkish Army which is their biggest obstacle the
"Invasion Army" is their biggest propaganda weapon.
They are nourishing on the democracy which has become very relaxed and
the state is unable to take the precautions to protect itself.
Those that call the Turkish Army "Invasion Army" everyday and call
Motherland Turkey the "invador" and call for cooperation to "get rid
of the invador" - the owners of these "brains for rent" : How much I
would love to tell them "Yes, it is an invasion and you are my slave"
and put the chain around their necks.
I would make them wash my feet everyday, and I would slap them when I
got bored.
I wouldn't use an ashtray or anything to put off my cigarette. I would
just say "take your tongue out".
I wouldn't look for a sand-bag for training in the mornings. Just for
pleasure I would beat them up till I got tired.
Before going to bed at night, I would ask them whether they regretted,
and on the days when I got a negative response, I would make the chain
around their neck a little tighter and step up the torture.
When I was bored of torturing them, I would just castrate them.
And then I would take them to the soldiers of the army which they call
the "Invasion Army" and ask them to do what they please to them.
Background: The local elections are coming up in northern
Cyprus. Patriotic Unity Movement (YBH) [ybhhomepage], in its
declaration about the elections voiced two main points:
- In an occupied country, like ours, where the military is in
power, the demographics can be changed overnight by "importing"
electors and where post-election interventions with the results are
common, the objective conditions for an election where people's will
is reflected do not exist.
- Despite this, YBH is going to put forward candidates where
it is organized and use the electoral platform to organize the
reaction that exists within the community, and to decypher the regime
to encourage a mass uprising against it.
Here's an extract from the Volkan editorial on XXXXX. The body of the
editorial consisted of calling on the judges of the supreme court to
"do their duty" - i.e. close YBH for calling northern Cyprus
"occupied". The closing part of the editorial reads:
"We are out of patience. Either the legal authorities will do what is
necessary, or our people deeply attached to their Motherland and to
their state know what to do against this divisive and destructive act
[of YBH]"
The following day there was another editorial in the same
context. This time the authorities that are not acting to outlaw YBH
as they had requested are also under attack:
"Everyone should wake up from this silence. This much indifference is
enough. If, in this country, the laws cannot do what is necessary, the
heroic Turkish Cypriot people will definitely take acts to protect its
state and put not only these centers of evil, but also those that
remain silent in the face of their attacks into their place. We are in
a rage. There is a price to remaining silent in the face of these
calls to uprising and these divisive acts and those that remain silent
will also pay this price."
This sort of language was used in communiques of underground
organizations in the past which was time to time followed by murders
and bombings (see relevant section below) [threats]. Therefore, the
aim of these editorials are pretty clear.
Volkan Newspaper: Establishment of "Avrupa Partisi"
(European Party)
Background: The columnists of the main opposition newspaper Afrika
(formerly Avrupa) gave their application for the establishment of a
political party, "Avrupa Partisi" to the Ministry of Internal Affairs
on Friday, March 22. The next day, Volkan introduced the party as "a
party of the external powers aimed to destroy the TRNC from within"
and called on the authorities to take actions for the closure of this
new party along with YBH. It is remarkable that Volkan obtained some
information which was not public such as a list of the founders of the
party, even before the founders themselves officially declared the
establishment of a new party. In fact Volkan declared the formation of
Avrupa Partisi two days before its founders did. It also published on
its front page the home addresses of 15 founding members of the
party. Here are some extracts from the articles that appeared in the
said publication.
Volkan, March 31, editorial:
"Unless the government and the parliament take the legal action
necessary against the provocation of these people and they stop them
from using the electoral platform and the media to attack our
Motherland, our army, our president and our national values, it will
be unavoidable to have a big chaos for our people who are loyal to the
national cause will teach these provocators a lesson - using a
language they will understand - during the election season. And the
whole responsibility for this will lie on those that did not take the
legal precautions to stop these provocators.
The government and the parliament have to act urgently and take the
following five precautions:
1- Change the law about political parties and make attacks against the
Motherland, our state, the Peace Operation and the guarantor status of
the Motherland a cause for closing a political party.
2- Make the use of "invasion" rhetoric a crime which necessitates the
immediate arrest of those that use it and the banning of their
newspapers.
3- Make it necessary for a party to have been in existance for at
least a year before it can participate in elections.
4- Cancel the law which allows the political parties to use the state
television and radio for their election campaigns and end this
procedure at once.
5- Ban the trade unions and associations from being active in
politics."
Declaration of the "Association of the Mujahideen"
[mucahitler], published in Volkan Newspaper
"Association of Mujahideen: We are determined to break those hands
that are raised against the sovereignty and the flag of TRNC.
The head of the association, Faik Koyuncuoglu, has expressed the
determination of his association to break those hands that are raised
against the sovereignty and the flag of TRNC and advised those that
are disregarding the existence of TRNC not to force the limits of the
patience of the people"
Volkan Newspaper
"...Enough is enough... We are warning once again... Unless this
government and this parliament take the necessary steps, they will
bear the responsibility of all the events that will arise due to the
provocations of these paranoiacs.. Are the heroic Turkish Cypriot
people going to listen to these calling our Motherland "an invader and
an occupier" from the state TV and radio and just remain silent? Are
our people not going to go and destroy those TV and radio channels
with them inside? They will repeat the Greek rhetoric in their
election rallies and this heroic people is going to remain silent? No,
it will break the election platform on their heads. If the arising of
such events is not wanted, the government and the parliament have to
take the necessary legal actions within a month."
These series of recent articles are representative of the atmosphere
of terror created in north Cyprus by certain groups. Names of the
papers and personalities voicing these opinions have changed over time
but the essential themes and the language used has been very
consistent since 1960s indicating a continuty of policy and
aims. These papers and organizations are supported and directed by
very powerful individuals (such as the Turkish Cypriot leader
Denktash) and Turkish Army and intelligence. As the following two
sections will demonstrate, this rhetoric does not exist in vaccuum and
it has in the past been followed by violence against the opposition.
They also serve the purpose of terrorising the general public to not
follow the opposition politicians. By threatening the leaders,
journalists, activists and such, these groups are keeping the public
from raising their opinion against the regime unless they are ready to
face similar consequences. Over the years, many prominent
intellectuals, activists and politicians have been neutralized and/or
been forced to leave the island in result of these activities.
Kębręslę Newspaper,
date: November, xxx, 2001
columnist: Erhan Aręklę
from the column titled "A warning to the traitors"
Kibrisli Newspaper,
date: (missing)
columnist: Erhan Arikli
from the column titled: (missing)
Volkan Newspaper,
date: (missing)
Editorial
Date: (missing)
March 31,2002