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House of Assembly - Fifty-Third Parliament, First Session (53-1)
2014-10-30 Daily Xml
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Cyprus Conflict

Mrs VLAHOS (Taylor) (12:06): I have briefly spoken about this motion, but today I would like to speak in a more fulsome manner about the importance of the significance of the invasion of Cyprus and read to the house the motion. I move:

That this house—

(a) acknowledges that 20 July 2014 marks 40 years since Cyprus was divided;

(b) notes the first Turkish invasion of Cyprus on 20 July 1974 and the second Turkish invasion of Cyprus on 14 August 1974;

(c) recognises the continuing support of this parliament towards achieving a just and fair resolution for the Cyprus problem;

(d) notes that any solution to the Cyprus conflict should result in the demilitarisation and reunification of the island for the benefit and welfare of its entire people and peace in the region;

(e) acknowledges the many South Australian Cypriots whose families and property have been illegally displaced and seek a just settlement; and

(f) calls on the commonwealth government to aid the current peace process and relevant United Nations resolutions on respecting the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of the Republic of Cyprus.

The first Turkish invasion of Cyprus took place on 20 July 1974 and is known as Operation Attila by the Turkish armed forces. I was a child at the time and was due to have a play date with a friend of mine. Their house was in mourning because their families were out of contact and could not be reached because the island had been invaded. That is the first contact I had with Cypriot people in my life. I have found that, as I have grown up and moved to South Australia, I have come to a wellspring of Cypriot people in South Australia. This motion is not only important to the Cypriot people of descent, but also Greeks in the surrounding area of the significant geopolitical region.

A ceasefire was reached two days later by 22 July, and a round of peace talks ensued between 25 and 30 July 1974, then a second invasion occurred between 14 and 16 August 1974. On 13 February 1975, Turkey officially declared the Republic of Cyprus a Turkish federated state, which was protested by the international community and to this day is still protested around the world. Recently, the member for Unley, myself and the Speaker of the house joined many other people on the steps of Parliament House to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the invasion.

Importantly, the UN considers the Republic of Cyprus to be an independent state. As a result of the invasions, the European Commissioner for Human Rights found Turkey guilty of the following charges: displacement of persons, deprivation of liberty, ill-treatment, deprivation of life, deprivation of possessions. The invasions have left a scar on many people's heart, including those of Cypriot background who live in South Australia. More than 43,000 Turkish soldiers are still stationed in Cyprus, enforcing the division that has torn families and lives apart. The creation of a Greek Cypriot-Turkish divide has left more than 200,000 Greek Cypriots unable to return to their homes and lands.

Over 2,000 Greek Cypriot soldiers were taken as prisoner of war and moved to Turkey. Some have yet to be accounted for or yet to be released, over 40 years later. Priceless pieces of Cypriot cultural heritage have been lost due to the invasion as either collateral damage or were smuggled out of the country during the war, and 36.2 per cent of the territory under the sovereignty of the Republic of Cyprus is still under the military occupation of Turkey. Cyprus is still occupied, still divided, more than 40 years later. All of these factors, and more, personally affect the Green Cypriot members of my electorate and the state. This private member's motion is about recognising the heartache and despair this division has caused and calls for a peaceful resolution.

Our state has a proud history of supporting peaceful resolution and the adherence of international law. We are a state that stands for democracy and religious freedom, as we have just heard in the previous motion. In the 1990s, the then ALP opposition leader Mike Rann and the then parliamentary secretary for the federal minister for health, the Hon. Trish Worth, were patrons of the Justice of Cyprus Committee. I am a member of that committee, and I have served on it for several years, along with Peter Louca, who works for the Minister for Health.

Mike Rann brought the issue of Cyprus to our parliament frequently. On 15 July 1999, he wrote an open letter to the ambassador of Turkey, Mr Umut Arik, to urge the Turkish government to resolve the situation peacefully and to respect human rights and international law. It is also interesting to note that the Hon. Don Dustan visited Cyprus in 1957, just when the Cypriot Independence Movement was starting to take form.

As I have worked through the veterans community, I have met with many people who have acted as peacekeepers in Cyprus at times. I am also aware that the Speaker of this house has a very keen and passionate interest regarding this issue. In a speech in 2005, the member for Waite, a former UN peacekeeper who is passionate about Cyprus too, said:

A terrible dark time for Cypriots was the invasion, and we should raise those concerns quite openly and wilfully with the Republic of Turkey.

The member for West Torrens is also a passionate advocate regarding this issue and has commented about it in the chamber on behalf of his many Greek and Cypriot constituents.

Our state government supported 14 Greek Cypriot families to file claims for compensation against the Turkish government at the European Court of Human Rights, and this was an excellent thing to do. When you meet Cypriot peoples all around the world, they recognise that we are a leader in ensuring that there is justice and peaceful resolution of this area.

There are still many people today who live in South Australia who have a close affinity with Cyprus. According to the latest census collection statistics, approximately 1,333 South Australians were born in Cyprus. We have the third largest community of Cypriot-born people in Australia, being behind only New South Wales and Victoria.

This motion is not against Turkish Cypriots and the people of Turkey; it is about a just and peaceful resolution to this problem. This motion is a condemnation of the injustices and atrocities that occurred, an action done by a government that condemned people to heartache. This motion is about supporting the healing process while recognising the realities of what happened in the past.

In July this year, I spoke in the chamber about the formation of a bilateral South Australian parliamentary Friends of the Republic of Cyprus, which I co-convened with the Hon. Terry Stephens MLC, in the other place. The formation of this group and this motion go hand in hand to promote a just settlement of the Cypriot problem. I urge all members to support this motion and to condemn the atrocities that have occurred and give, in this forum, respect to those who died.

Mr PISONI (Unley) (12:14): I rise to support the motion and, of course, to congratulate the member for Taylor for bringing the motion to the house. It is terrific that we have a strong bipartisan view as a parliament on this issue. I do not think that it matters where you are from in South Australia, you have been positively influenced and positively affected by the constructive contribution that Hellenic peoples have made to South Australia, both before the war in their smaller numbers and after the Second World War as migrants, as part of the growth in the Australia-wide economy. South Australia is very fortunate to have received many people from Greek-speaking parts of the world or that region in the Adriatic and Mediterranean Seas and, of course, many of those Hellenic people were from Cyprus.

Cyprus has a very interesting history. For about 100 years it was very much in the hands of the British until about 1960, so there are parts of Cyprus that have a very English feel. I understand that the English were very sympathetic in their architecture to both the Greek and Turkish inhabitants of Cyprus at their time of arrival, so it has a unique look and feel to it.

Prior to the invasion by the Turks on 20 July 1974, it was a favoured place for holidays. It had a very vibrant and strong economy and was the playground of the rich and famous from all around the world. At the time of the invasion, Cyprus was about 78 per cent Greek Cypriot, 18 per cent Turkish, and 4 per cent Armenian, Maronite and Latin Cypriot.

About 180,000 Greek Cypriots were forcibly expelled from their homes during the invasion and eventually another 20,000 were forced to abandon their homes, too. By the time the ceasefire was agreed three days later, about 5,000 Greek Cypriots had already fled their homes and although a ceasefire was agreed, many parts of the island did not adhere to it.

Over 3,000 people were killed in the invasion and about 1,500 Greek Cypriots are still missing to this day. Today there are fewer than 500 Greek Cypriots remaining in the occupied area. A physical sign of the significant change that the Turkish invasion made was the city of Famagusta which is now known as the 'fence city'. It was a thriving economic engine room of Cyprus before the Turkish invasion. We saw harmonious living of both Greek and Turkish Cypriots in that city and yet since that invasion the city has been nothing more than a ghost town, and that is a shame and a deliberate consequence of the invasion in 1974.

The Turkish invasion ended in the partition of Cyprus along the UN monitored green line which still divides Cyprus. In 1983 the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus declared independence, although Turkey is the only country that recognises it. The rest of the world does not recognise the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, only the invaders—Turkey—recognise it as being an independent state.

The international community considers the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus as being a territory of the Republic of Cyprus illegally occupied by the Turkish forces. I think it is significant that every year we recognise the anniversary of this invasion, and this year is particularly important because it is the 40th year. Forty years is a generation. We have seen a lot happen in the world since 1974, but things have remained the same in Cyprus—northern Cyprus is occupied by Turkey.

In 1976 and again in 1983 the European Commission of Human Rights found Turkey guilty of repeated violations of the European Convention on Human Rights. Turkey has been condemned for preventing the return of Greek Cypriot refugees to their properties.

The Hellenic community and the Cypriot community in particular has this parliament's full support for their campaign to return Cyprus as a united independent country, regardless of whether we represent the blue side or the red side. I am proud to be an active member and an adopted family member, if you like, of the Cypriot community here in South Australia. I for one was very pleased to see the completion of the new community centre, or the history centre, that has been added to their social buildings in Bowden. Every time I go as a guest I am made to feel extremely welcome, and I thank the Cypriot community for that. I thank them for their contribution to the South Australian economy, to the South Australian community and for the culture that they have added as active members of our community.

The Hon. T.R. KENYON (Newland) (12:21): Again I would very much like to take this opportunity to congratulate the mover, in this case the member for Taylor, on bringing to the house an opportunity to speak out on something that many people agree was wrong, despite the fact that it has been going on for 40 years. A wrong was committed, and it is a good thing that we are here still discussing it and still bringing it to the attention of the parliament, to those in this house and to our communities.

It is an interesting fact of history that South Australia has been unusually active in this debate over a long period of time. As the member for Taylor said, former premier Mike Rann was a strong contributor to this debate, to this situation, and he certainly made his views known and clear, and continued to do so. He did not do it on just one occasion: he did it on many occasions. This is not the first time that this house has discussed the situation in Cyprus.

I should also note that the former Australian foreign Minister, Alexander Downer, played a role in attempting to improve the situation over there for quite a length of time, in fact, as part of the UN, I think it was—

Mr Gardner: UN envoy.

The Hon. T.R. KENYON: As the UN envoy. Thank you to the member for Morialta for pointing that out. I think as a state we should be proud that our leaders have played a role in trying to bring peace and a peaceful resolution to this situation, which is unacceptable and should not be allowed to continue. In fact, in many ways it is an indictment of the situation in Europe and the international community's often unwillingness to do things that, 40 years on, the situation is as it is with no real change. However, again, I am very happy to support the motion and look forward to any further contributions that may take place.

Mrs VLAHOS (Taylor) (12:24): I thank the members for Unley and Newland for their contribution. I will take the house's advice and put it to the vote.

Motion carried.

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