Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2007 | In “San Diego State’s Turkey Trouble,” by James O. Goldsborough, January 23, 2007, the author of the article condemns Kyriakos Tsakopoulos for his opposition of SDSU’s student exchange program with the Turkish occupied part of Cyprus.
Goldsborough completely ignores international laws and norms and also the facts related to this issue. The northern part of Cyprus is occupied territory by Turkish forces and it is not recognized by any country other than Turkey, the occupier.
Reference is also made to the Annan plan. It should be noted that the Greek Cypriots did reject the Annan plan but that was mainly because it was an unjust solution to the problem of occupation. The plan provided for Turkish settlers from mainland Turkey to remain in occupied Cyprus, however, the 200,000 Greek Cypriot refugees that were uprooted from their homes by the invading forces had no right to return. In addition, the minority had the right to veto any decision the majority made and also a certain percentage of Turkish occupying forces had a right to remain on the island.
Goldsborough fails to understand that the Annan plan was not a solution but rather an endorsement of Turkish violation of international law.