YUSU International Officers Mike Anstey and Ankita Chawla have published an open letter criticising the University for taking part in the British Council’s University exhibition held in an illegally occupied area of Cyprus.
The letter, which has also been signed by York University Hellenic Society representatives, is titled ‘University Out in Northern Cyprus’ as was published on the YUSU website yesterday evening (November 6th), the day of the exhibition. It calls for the University to “reconsider its position of participating to the British Council’s University Exhibition in future and comply with the relevant UN resolutions.”
The area of Cyprus – dubbed a ‘pseudo-state’ – is called the ‘Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus’ and is not recognised by the EU. It was invaded by the Turkish in July 1974 in violation of international law and the UN Charter and occupies 36.2% of the island.
The open letter states: “As a result, nearly 200,000 Greek Cypriots were forcibly expelled from their homes and properties. The occupied area was unilaterally and illegally declared an independent state, under the name ‘Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus’ in November 1983.
“This secessionist act was condemned by the UN in the Security Council resolution 541 (1983) and 550 (1984). In particular, in resolution 541 (1983) the Security Council considers the said declaration as “legally invalid” and calls upon all States “not to recognize any Cypriot state other than the Republic of Cyprus”, while resolution 550 (1984) condemns the declaration of a separate state in the “occupied part of the Republic of Cyprus” and calls upon all States “not to facilitate or in any way assist the aforesaid secessionist entity”. As a consequence, no country other than Turkey has recognized the said illegal regime.”
The letter goes on to express concerns over moral and ethical matters, including the eviction of Greek Cypriots from their homes in ‘TRNC’ as well as violations of the European Convention of Human Rights, “on account of the complete denial of the Greek Cypriot legal owners’ right for access to and control, use and enjoyment of their property in the occupied areas.”
The University told Vision:“While the University understands that there are unresolved issues in Cyprus and that at present the EU does not recognise Northern Cyprus, our attendance at the British Council exhibition is not a political statement.
“Our interest is in enabling students, wherever they come from, to take advantage of the opportunities offered at the University of York. As an international university we want our students to represent a broad range of countries. Turkish Cypriots have a right to education and to entry to British Universities and our attendance at the fair is enabling them to exercise that right.”
You can find the open letter in full by following this link: http://www.yusu.org/your-union/blogs/entry/948
“Our interest is in enabling students, wherever they come from, to take advantage of the opportunities offered at the University of York”.
This is a fault statement. Students in the occupied side of cyprus got the right to cross the borders, which is fast and easy, and attend the event on the free grounds. By having two different events on both sides is like recognising it as a real state.
the Greek military junta in power at the time backed coup d’etat in cyprus, the turkish military intervened and partitioned the island, now the greeks are crying, (and now bankrupt)
It might be illegal according to ‘international law’ but look at the facts, the greeks messed up
This letter is the biggest load of pomp and self-inflation I have ever read.
This isn’t a political move. Don’t make it one. Not that ISA’s opinion on anything matters anyway.
who cares – !
The Greek military junta forcibly came to power in 1967 and was greatly backed-up by the Americans so that they would keep there army bases in the country.
As Cyprus grew in power and came closer to unifying with Greece, the US saw the importance of keeping the balance of power between Turkey and Greece especially after the military coup in Cyprus in July 1974 that was leaded by an extreme nationalist Greek, Nikos Sampson.
Today, 38 years after the Turkish invasion of 1974, it is common and proven knowledge that the US actually gave orders to the junta’s generals to withdraw all Greek army forces from Cyprus, and they did. Many of the remaining Cypriot troops had even received orders not to shoot the invading Turkish paratroopers.
The game was fixed and I am quite sure it was not the Greeks or Cypriots who wanted the story to take such a turn.
“As an international university we want our students to represent a broad range of countries”.
Turkish Cypriots have full rights in the Republic of Cyprus that is still under the Republics’ jurisdiction. University exhibitions are celebrated every year in the southern part of Nicosia near Ayios Dometios check point and are easily accessible by all Turkish Cypriots that they want to find information about Universities of every country. The above quoted statement clearly reveals that that there is a political motive behind the decision of the university. This is because 1)Northen Cyprus is not a country. Is part of the Republic of Cyprus and soil of the EU where the aquis is suspended until a political agreement is reached for Cyprus.2) The exercise of this legitimate right of our fellow citizens that live in the northern part of Cyprus is facilitated firstly by the Republic of Cyprus which is their state as well and provides them with the necessary documentation to travel. It is equally unethical for the university to take this stance because this way the University takes a political position on how the Cyprus problem should be solved. That is because the university its announcement talks of “country” and many Turkish Cypriots disagree with the idea of a separate Turkish Cypriot state that would be easily manipulated by Turkey. Turkish Cypriots clearly manifested their will for united Cyprus that has only one identity and international representation in the form of Federation. Therefore, the above quoted statement is completely unacceptable and against the rights both the Greeks and the Turkish Cypriots.
@Tory
Clearly you have been ill-informed about the situation. Its obvious whats happening is that the officers/isa/societies are looking out for the interests of the students already at York, and clearly it is affecting them. Just read the comments above, it wouldnt have been brought to light if it wasnt an issue. And that is what the officers were elected for, to represent and look out for their respective network. If you dont care, dont comment, it is clear from your comment that you have no idea of the in’s and out’s of the situation.
As far as “the ISA opinion” not mattering, the ISA is a representative body for international students and for home students too- therefore it is only right that they have gotten involved.
@Vo – if you dont care, dont read. Simple.
I wanna issue a complaint about the ISA president.
ISA president should be fair to all the nations under the YUSU umberalla. However, this statement that they have made together with the Hellenic Society without including the Turkish Society is a fault and proves that ISA is acting on the favour of one group and is not fair to all nationalities.
I request an investigation to be started about the president.
The people of the Northern Turkish part of the Cyprus was secured and protected by Turkish state according to rights origininating from international agreements of Ankara and London, which were signed by United Kingdom, Turkey and Greece. The Turkish military intervened and secured the Northern Part of the Island because of massacre committing against the Turkish people in Cyprus by the Cypriot Greek militants and the lack of security provided by ‘Cypriot’ Government. Hundreds of Turkish people were killed and thousands of them needed to migrate in order to survive.
Seemingly, ISA is not neutral and favoring the HELENIC (which means Greek) society in this debate without even asking the opinion of Turkish society. This is totally against the principles of democracy. In addition to the massacres, obviously, some fanatics seek to isolate and discriminate the Turkish Cypriot people in any political and social level as they demand in University of York now.
As someone who lived in Cyprus for many years and worked in the British Council in Nicosia, I find this letter misinformed and in very poor taste. The politics of Cyprus have got little to do with the students who live there who wish to study in the best facilities available to them. The British Council are simply informing students from the ‘TRNC’ about the UK opportunities in a practical way. I assure you NO political statement was being made by the British Council in hosting an exhibition in the ‘TRNC’. There is no reason that a generation of students should be discriminated against for something than happened over 50 years ago.
The politics of what’s going on in Cyprus is much more complicated than you appear to be making it and the fact that ONLY the Hellenic society were involved in the writing of this letter proves the point that the authors were not acting on the interests of all parties. The ISA presidents appear to be writing from a very Right Wing Greek Cypriot standpoint. I personally know many Greek Cypriots who would find this letter in poor taste. I urge the ISA presidents in future to attain ALL information from ALL parties before making rash action like this.
Where anywhere does the letter say ISA? I dont understnad? I thought they were Officers, not just isa presidents? I think the roles are being confused. It is kind of their job to voice these concerns. If they were talking from the ISA i would agree with the criticism- but they are not—or am i not seeing this?
Completely agree with RSA. They were clearly acting in their officer role and not ISA role. Plus this issue is their duty to report on and relay info. The issue made it to the national papers and just shows they are on top of their game if anything. And they also took a stance supporting the London met issue I would remind you- they supported a group of students there and took a political stance there so don’t think “political stance” as mentioned above Is a valid argument. they are doing their job well- stop criticizing YUSU and their officers for no reason.
This is in response to RSA and HUGH, I am not sure if you can see it but there is the link to the original letter which has been published in YUSU website. IF you cannot find it, then here you are http://www.yusu.org/your-union/blogs/entry/948.
As this letter has been published in YUSU website and as this has been signed by YUSU International Officer (also know as ISA president), YUSU and ISA has to take responsibility for this. The University was clearly there for educational puposes and education is a universal right that cannot be taken from any human regardless of their country or territory they live in. This criticism of uyniversity is actually clashes with human rights. Moreover, the story of history is more complicated than what has been written in the letter. Clearly, the YUSU and ISA were not careful enough before publishing such a letter in YUSU website., They should have thought better about the impact this would have on students. This letter in a way damages ISA and YUSU’s reputation and decreases the chances for both nations (Greeks and Turks) to mix and solve problems under the umbrella of YUSU and the university. This letter is a very partizan letter. While there would have been no problem that such a letter is signed by Hellenic Society ( thinking of Freedom of Speech), YUSU and ISA has made a mistake to publish it without taking Turkish Society’s opinion on the issue. This fact broke their impartiality.
In response to Ali, i disagree with a lot of your post. Ive already outlined why. Dont try and use “universal rights” as an excuse to fuel your campiagn because you disagree with something that an officer may feel strongly towards.
From a lot of other peoples perspectives, they we’re simply giving a platform to te hellenic soc to voice their concern. Moreover, stop using the ISA in the same sentence because on the blogs, they publish as officers, NOT society presidents. If you were so upset by this, why didnt you ask to also put a letter on the blog? Seems pretty logical to me. Maybe they should have considered how you would feel but in the end mate- get on with your degree. This is jsut not a big issue at all and stop trying to make it a bigger issue that it needs to be.
You can disagree in what I write mate just get on with that. It would still not change what has been done. As you say different people have different perceptions of the events. However, as I and my nation has been affected by such a partizan letter, I consider it as an important topic. Moreoever, we have analyzed the letter and found out all the bits related to the infiringment of human rights . Please do not tell me what to use or not use to support my arguments. It is none of your business. I am not trying to make it a bigger issue but just trying to prove my points. If you dont agree with me, that is fine . We are in a free country, do whatever you want as long as it does not harm or damage others.