Leaving so soon?

"They came, but they did not go back. They said 'we do not want land', but occupied half of the island. Forty thousand troops remained here and they are settled for good. They saw absolutely no drawback in distributing the Greek Cypriot land which they occupied to the population they carried here...In any case, the then Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit too has not kept his promise.'We came to restore the constitutional order of the Republic of Cyprus which has been spoiled', he said. However, he did not restore it?"

Under the title "Hypocrisy, army commander's word", Turkish Cypriot daily Afrika Gazetesi (28.03.11) publishes one of the brochures thrown from the Turkish army jets to the Greek Cypriots during the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974 and reports that the promises given by the command of the Turkish occupation army were not kept. According to the paper, addressing the Greek Cypriots, the brochures said in both Greek and Turkish languages, inter alia, the following: "You will again live in peace with the Turkish Cypriots whom for centuries you know as your brothers on your beautiful island. After we achieve this, we will return to Turkey. We want justice and brotherhood, not land".

The paper writes that the promise that the army would leave the island was supported by a sketch showing a military vessel departing from the island and a soldier saying "good bye".

Turkish Cypriot and Turkish Media Review 25-28/03/11 Republic of Cyprus Press and Information Office