New Turkish push on Cyprus is affecting community cohesion in Australia

By Theo Theophanous

On July 21, 2024, Melbourne’s Federation Square was filled with more than 2,000 Greeks and Greek Cypriots and their supporters. The event was to commemorate the beginning of the brutal Turkish invasion of Cyprus 50 years ago that resulted in the deaths of 9,000 Greek Cypriots as they desperately tried to hold back the might of the Turkish army with an underarmed national guard.

This demonstration against the continuing occupation and division of Cyprus was the largest such demonstration in the Greek diaspora. It received extensive coverage in the Greek and other media including overseas.

The rally heard from federal and state MPs including Bill Shorten, the national disability insurance scheme minister, Steve Dimopoulos, tourism minister, Keith Wolahan, Liberal member for Menzies, Matthew Guy, shadow public transport minister and Kat Theophanous, member for Northcote.

I think Australians care about injustice in the world and especially so when a large and powerful country seeks to change borders by force as is happening currently in Ukraine and happened in Cyprus 50 years ago. In Cyprus one third of the Greek Cypriot population were forcibly moved or fled to the south during the invasion. Over time their homes and ancestral lands were occupied many by settlers brought in from mainland Turkey – 200,000 of them. This is classic ethnic cleansing and occupation enforced by a standing Turkish army of 30,000 soldiers.

It was pleasing to see Australian politicians from both sides of politics calling this out and standing by Australia’s long held position – along with the rest of the world except Turkey – and refuse to recognise the regime established by force by Turkey in northern Cyprus.

But there is another reason why Australians care. Turkey’s new separationism has the potential to bring to Melbourne conflict between Greek and Turkish communities mirroring the Israeli versus Palestinian one. Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities have hitherto enjoyed cordial if not friendly relations. But earlier this year the self-styled ‘president’ of Turkey’s puppet regime in the so-called ‘Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus’, Ersin Tatar, came to Melbourne.

Despite no official recognition Tatar whipped up local Turks and some Turkish Cypriots to promote his separatist ideology. And significantly while only about 60 Turks turned up to an event in Melbourne in support of Tatar’s proposals it marked the first time that Greeks and Turks have set themselves on a collision path in Melbourne over Cyprus.

The Turkish event was addressed by the Turkish Consul General in Melbourne. This reflects the new position of Turkey. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan days ago stated that he does not support further dialogue between the two communities and instead wants a separate Turkish state in northern Cyprus despite many UN resolutions that support a united bizonal federal system.

To succeed, Tatar and Erdogan must destroy the dreams of both Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots to live in a democratic free country as part of the European Union. And they must break down resistance to such proposals in the diaspora including in Melbourne.

Bill Shorten in his address to the crowd pointed out that Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots in Melbourne have in the past supported the return to a unified Cyprus and encouraged those moderate voices to continue to work together to achieve it.

But moderate Turkish Cypriots have been silenced in Melbourne as the new vocal minority peddle a new false narrative about Turkey’s invasion being a “peace mission”.

The Turkish army is not in Cyprus to protect Turkish Cypriots. No, it is there to control the Turkish Cypriots. With huge numbers of Turkish settlers, Turkish Cypriots have become a minority in the occupied north. Their unique culture has been overrun by a fundamentalist Turkish Islamist one. The standard of living in the north stagnated while the south flourished. And their human rights have been trampled upon. The US Department of State listed some of these:

“Harsh and life-threatening prison conditions; serious restrictions on freedom of expression and media freedom, including violence or threats of violence against journalists; restrictions on freedom of movement; refoulement of refugees or asylum seekers to a country where they would face torture; and trafficking in persons, including forced labour.”

This is why a significant majority of Turkish (and Greek) Cypriots in Cyprus in surveys conducted over extended periods have supported a reunification of Cyprus.

Tatar and Erdogan know they must erode this solidarity to achieve their ultimate aim of establishing a client puppet state in northern Cyprus. That means suppressing moderate Turks. It means creating conditions of conflict not just in Cyprus but in the diaspora.

In Cyprus the terrorist group called the Grey Wolves are now allowed to run free to suppress democratic thinking Turkish Cypriots. The Grey Wolves now also have a presence in Australia and are trying to intimidate into silence Turkish Cypriots who want unification. They should be investigated.

The problem is also manifested at the political level. When Tatar visited Australia, the Australian government notified all states that he should not to be granted official meetings. With only two or three exceptions, including one senior MP the directive not to meet Tatar was followed. But the fact that some politicians are willing to meet him shows that the conflict over the future of Cyprus has penetrated our domestic politics.

Cyprus was one of the few examples in the world where people of Muslim faith lived with Christians in relative peace. They shared similar food, drank the same coffee and went to each other’s festivals, weddings and funerals.

After 50 years most Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots still want to see their island reunited. Turkey and its proxy extremist regime in Cyprus should not be allowed to poison relations between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots in Melbourne and around the world.

Melbourne has become the centre of resistance by its Greek and Cypriot Community to fundamentalist Turks. But all Australians must reject attempts to divide our communities in pursuit of a separationist expansionist Turkish agenda.

Theo Theophanous is the president of the Cyprus Community of Melbourne and Victoria and a former minister in Victoria