Sir, - Andrew Mavroyiannis says (November 4th) that he is opposed to division and hatred in Cyprus. Yet I do not think Turkish Cypriots can find anything in his letter to reduce their fears. In 1963-64, the Greek Cypriots tore up the constitution which was designed to produce a balanced bicommunal republic in Cyprus. Since then they have used every conceivable weapon to isolate and weaken the Turkish Cypriot community. They even deny any kind of representative status to the Turkish Cypriot leadership, which is both democratically elected and also is directly continuous with the Turkish Cypriot administrative structures established by international treaty at the time of Cyprus's independence.
When Turkish Cypriots hear Mr Mavroyiannis and his colleagues talking about forcing Turkish soldiers out of Cyprus, they remember that in 1964, and again in 1974, there were the unmistakable beginnings of Bosnian-style ethnic cleansing on the island.
In 1974, hundreds of Turkish Cypriot villagers ended up in mass graves, shot by their Greek neighbours. That is why the Turkish army is in Northern Cyprus. The world may have forgotten but the Turkish Cypriots can hardly be expected to do so.
By using a barrage of legalities on one side and an armoury of rockets and tanks on the other, the Greek Cypriots are never going to create the atmosphere of confidence which might make a settlement possible. If Mr Mavroyiannis sincerely wants a bi-communal settlement on Cyprus, he should be talking to the Turkish Cypriots through their elected leaders, not using legal arguments to try and have them and their protectors stripped of everything that protects them. - Yours, etc., N. Murat Ersavci,
Ambassador of Turkey,
Dublin.