There used to be a website at the address http://www.cyprus-conflict.net, which the Guardian regarded as '[t]he best of its kind on the Web.... exhaustive and balanced'. It presented reliable academic and journalistic accounts of the modern history and politics of Cyprus; it had opinion pieces too, but there were warnings of their possible biases and they were paired with sources with opposite possible biases. Thankfully, at least some of the corpse of the balanced website is still twitching at the Internet Archive's copy of http://www.cyprus-conflict.net.
But now, there is the Greek Cypriot propaganda site Cyprus-Dispute.org, (also) live at a very similar address, http://cyprus-conflict.org/, where it can only exist to attract and exploit traffic to the dead balanced website. Cyprus-Conflict.net was last updated on 30th September 2007, and last accessible around 12th January 2008. Cyprus-Dispute.org was registered on 18th January 2008 (though it's not clear when it acquired the cyprus-conflict.org domain).
It is clever and cunning, publishing only genuine documents and impartial judgements, but carefully selecting which documents and which judgements to publish. So, it published the Kutchuk/Denktash Plan but not the Makarios Plan; it published the European Commission of Human Rights' report on the Turkish invasion of Cyprus, but not the United Nations' resolutions on the Greek coup in Cyprus. It may be more intelligent and less extreme than some other material, but it is still propaganda.
(On 22nd December 2007) the contents of Cyprus-Conflict.net had been:
The Main Narratives(See screen capture image 1 below.)
Cyprus, by Keith Kyle (pages 1-5) and
by William Hale (page 6)
Historical Background
Turkey & Greece: A History of Colliding by Robert Stephens
The Example of Crete
Treaty of Lausanne, 1924
Turkey: Early Years of the Republic
The Greek Cypriot Debate on Enosis, 1929, by G.S. Georghallides
Turkish Cypriot Reaction to the Campaign for Enosis, 1930s
Analyses, Narratives, Polemics, Documents
The Colonial Period
Toward Violence, 1953, by Ioannis Stefanidis
Kuçuk on Turkish Cypriot Demands, 1954
The Feast of Unreason, by Lawrence Durrell
Menderes' Speech, 1955
Menderes' Fate
Zorlu in London, 1955
Outbreak of Violence, 1955, by Nancy Crawshaw
London Conference, 1955, by Robert Holland
Istanbul Riots, 1955, by Robert Holland
Reaction to the 1955 London Conference by Nancy Crawshaw
MacMillan Plan, 1957, by Robert Stephens
Renewal of EOKA Violence, 1957-58, Nancy Crawshaw
Guerrilla Warfare in Cyprus, by George Grivas
Communal Strife, 1958, by Nancy Crawshaw
Treaties of 1959
Analysis of the Treaties, U.S. State Department
The Municipalities Issue, 1957-63, by Diana Markides
The Rise and Fall of a Unified Republic
Clerides-Denktash Letters, 1962
The Thirteen Points, 1963
Inter-Communal Violence, 1963-64, by Richard Patrick
Akritas Plan
George Ball in Cyprus, 1964, by George Ball
Subversion of a Mission, 1964, by Martin Packard
The U.N. & a Divided Island, 1964, by Michael Moran
The Disloyal Opposition and the Fall of the Republic, by Kyriacos Markides
Coup in Athens, 1967, by Richard Clogg
Acheson Plan
A U.S. newspaper regards its failure
Galo Plaza Report
Turkish Politics in the 1970s, U.S. Library of Congress
Clerides-Denktash Letters, 1971, and Makarios' instructions
Makarios' Letter to Greek Junta, 1974
The Coup d'Etat of 1974, by Peter Loizos
30 Hot Days, by Mehmet Ali Birand
London and Geneva, July-August 1974, by James Callaghan
Negotiating Positions at Geneva, 1974
Greek Cypriot v. Turkish Cypriot Renditions of the Events of 1974
War, 1974, by Peter Loizos
Turkish-Cypriot Narratives, 1974
Consequences of the 1974 Invasion, U.S. Senate
Interview with Makarios, 1974
Economic Consequences of 1974, by Keith Kyle
U.S. Role in 1974 - a comment
After the Deluge: Turkish Cypriot Views, 1976, by Latife Birgen
The Negotiating Positions, 1976
Makarios-Denktash Talks, 1977
Aftermath of the Intervention, 1974-77, by Vamik Volkan
After Makarios
Military Coup in Turkey, 1980, by John Tirman
Party Politics, North & South, by Keith Kyle
One Diplomat's Frustration, by Giandomenico Picco
International Peacemaking in Cyprus, 1980-1986, by Farid Mirbagheri
The Draft Framework Agreement, 1986
Turkish Settlers in Northern Cyprus, 1991
The Second "Set of Ideas" -- 1994
The Case for Confederation, by Peter Pernthaler
Denktash Looks Back, 1999
Clerides on Cyprus at the end of the century, 2000
European Court Ruling against Turkey, 2001
The E.U. Ascension: Official Views and Comment, 2001
The Annan Plan and its Fate:
The Annan Plan,* 2002-03
Alvaro DeSoto on the Annan Plan, May 2003 (pdf file)*
The Green Line is Opened, 2003
Cyprus President Urges "No"
An Ironic Result in Cyprus, by Rebecca Bryant
The People Deliver Their Verdict*, by Ann-Sofi Jakobsson Hatay
Rejecting its Way into a Turkish Cyprus, by John Tirman
World press reactions *
A Long Journey Into Night: The Cyprus Republic’s Pursuit Of A ‘European’ Solution To The Cyprus Problem, 2005 by Zenon Stavrinides
A Dangerous Trend in Cyprus,* 2005 Rebecca Bryant
Turkey's Candidacy and the Dispute over Cyprus 2006
EU Document (Nov 8, 2006)
Press release from EU (Nov. 29, 2006)*
Pressure on Turkey's EU bid over Cyprus, news reports, 2006
Historiography & Nationalism
Introduction
Conflict Between the States of Cyprus, 1963-1974, Zenon Stavrinides
The Church's Message, in the Jubilee Year 2000, Deconstructed
Turkish Nationalism, Then and Now, by Dogu Ergil
Greek Irredentism in Asia Minor and Cyprus, by Paschalis Kitromilides
Greek-Cypriot Nationalism and Cypriotism 1974-1995, by Caesar Mavratsas
The Politics of Memory and Forgetting, by Yiannis Papadakis
Nationalist Imaginings of War in Cyprus, by Yiannis Papadakis
Communal Memory and Turkish Cypriot National History, by Nergis Canefe
On Nationalism: Isaiah Berlin, George Orwell, and Others
Psychohistory and Cyprus, by John Mack
Chronology
Conflict Resolution
An Assessment "Working Toward a Just Peace," by John Tirman
The Genesis of Bicommunalism, by Benjamin Broome
The Bicommunal Experience, by Canan Oztoprak
Evaluation of Conflict Resolution Training, by Marion Peters Angelica
Across the Green Line: Problems of "Recognition", by Costas Constantinou
and Yiannis Papadakis
Dynamics of Partition, Philippos Savvides
Conflict Resolution Resources & Reading
(On 30th April 2009) the contents of Cyprus-Conflict.org were only:
The Turkish Invasion of 1974(See screen capture image 2 below.)
European Commission of Human Rights - Cyprus v. Turkey - Commission Report (10 July 1976)
The Sunday Times on the 1976 European Commission of Human Rights Report on the Turkish Invasion of Cyprus (23rd January 1977)
From Independence to the Turkish Invasion
Report of the United Nations Mediator Galo Plaza to the Secretary-General (1965)
Letter to Prime Minister Inonu from President Johnson (5 June 1964)
Turkish Cypriot Separatism and Partitionism
The "Plumer Letter" (October-November 1960)
The "Kutchuk/Denktash Plan" (14 September 1963)
From the EOKA Revolt to Independence
EOKA's Preparatory General Plan (1953)
EOKA's First Revolutionary Leaflet Distributed (1 April 1955)
The Constitutional Proposals for Cyprus submitted by Lord Radcliffe (December 1956)
The McMillan Plan and the Response of the Kingdom of Greece (1958)
EOKA leaflet ordering a cease-fire (9 March 1959)
Letter sent by General Grivas to the EOKA fighters on the declaration of a cease-fire (9 March 1959)
Posts
I used to know the author of the original site, let me see if I can dig his contact info out and see whether he is willing to bring that site back up. It is a pity that it went down.
ReplyDeleteI found his contact details and asked him. E-mail me at samarkeolog on gmail.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.mediafire.com/file/nnzjzzofzzq/2cyusgknw.pdf
ReplyDeleteHappily, cyprus-conflict.net is back online.
ReplyDeleteI don't think the site cyprus-conflict.net is balanced. It presents itself as such, and as the voice of reason, but the main narrative is clearly biased, and takes a Turkish and British line.
ReplyDeleteFor example: 1)no mention of Denktash's confession re the bomb on 7 June 1958 outside the Turkish press office.
2) the gunrunning Turkish motorboat Deniz is simply "preparation for a break-down", with no mention that that breakdown was planned for, encouraged, and eagerly awaited by hard line Turkish Cypriots, including Denktash.
3) It cites Denktash (hardly a reliable or trustworthy source) to claim that in Dec. 1963 when the intercommunal fighting started the TMT had only 40 active members. In fact numerous Turkish army officers had been secretly brought in to Cyprus throughout 1963 to prepare for the fighting.(See In Turkey's Image by C. Ioannides)
4) No mention of Ted Macey's activities or Martin Packard's untimely withdrawal...
The list could go on and on.
Some of the shortcomings of the "main narrative" are counterbalanced by source texts, but that is no excuse for such a slanted narrative.