A year elapsed since the referenda on the Annan Plan in Cyprus. Turkish Cypriots voted yes, Greek Cypriots voted no. The latter joined the European Union. Turkish Cypriots were left in limbo. EU officials promised they would redress the situation, the UN Secretary General proposed to the Security Council to end their isolation. Nothing has been done until today. One is tempted to ask whether these two institutions are collaborating with the Greek Cypriots against the Turkish Cypriots. This question is pertinent because many people have forgotten what has transpired during the past forty years.

It was the Prime Ministers of Turkey and Greece who came together in 1959 and signed the agreement to make Cyprus an independent state. But Makarios made the first mistake and attacked the Turkish Cypriots to destroy their equal status in the state; he ousted the Turkish Cypriot Ministers from the government, obliged Vice-President Dr. Küçük to leave office. At the time Makarios was benefiting from the support of the USSR. Whenever Turkey would send a strong message to Makarios to stop bloodshed, Kruschev would, for his part, send an equally forceful note to Turkey. None of our allies would come to help the innocent people. Turkish Red Crescent would send foodstuff to the beleaguered Turkish Cypriots. It can be remembered with sadness the horrendous behavior of the Greek Cypriot police at the Famagusta harbour in 1964 and 1965 who punctured the sacks of flour and rice on the pretense of controlling the contents. Things did not stop there. The second and major mistake came when the annexation of the island to Greece (ENOSIS) was announced in 1974. Turkey had to intervene militarily, by using its right under Article 4 of the Treaty of Guarantee. Intercommunal Talks followed, but gave no result because the Greek Cypriots did not abandon their idea of ENOSIS: That was the third mistake. In 1990 they applied to be a full member of the European Union, in total disregard of treaty provisions. This is their forth mistake.

From that moment on we observe a collusion between the Greek Cypriots and the EU which accepted and then ratified this application. Following the referenda in 2004 and the UN Secretary General's report, both EU and the Security Council have been inactive, thus giving the Greek Cypriots the freedom of exploiting the situation. The Turkish Cypriots are still living under embargoes one year after the referenda. Until a delegation of the United States Congressmen came to the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus flying directly to Ercan airport nobody lifted a finger. Of course the US's symbolic gesture is not enough to bring Mr. Papadopoulos to the negotiating table. Where are our friends and allies who promised to lift the isolation of the Turkish Cypriots? Are they still hiding behind the façade of the institutions in which they are effective members? Do they wish to perpetuate the suffering of the Turks in Northern Cyprus?