Why are Cypriot Turks not worthy of protection from the 'left'?

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Tarih	: 04 Nisan 2008 13:21

In recent months a friend of mine took on the New Statesmen over comments on their website describing ‘Turks’ as ‘rapists, barbarians and uneducated thieves’. The comments were blogs that had been posted in response to an article that had been written by Brian Coleman entitled ‘The desecration of Cyprus’.  I should add that my friend is a Cypriot Turkish left wing activist who is extremely pro unification in her views on Cyprus. The point I am making here is that if she is offended by these terms then surely her reaction cannot be so easily dismissed as the rantings of an extreme nationalist fiercely defending the reputation of motherland Turkey or the ‘illegally occupied’ Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. Her complaint was dismissed by The New Statesmen and both the Press Complaints Unit and the CRE. The press Complaints Unit on the grounds that is was not offensive to a single individual but in fact to a whole group of people which leaves no grounds for complaint.  The comments she complained about were described as ‘extreme’ ones by the New Statesmen and not perhaps as she believed to be ‘racist’ ones.  It seemed that this was not a worthy enough cause. Perhaps it is because many believe what was written to be the ‘truth’ and think it ludicrous that anyone even moderately left wing should even wish to challenge these stereotypical notions of a ‘Turk’.

The Cypriot Turks may have a ‘big brother’ that is thought of as a bully and one who  has a notorious human rights record but this does not mean that they deserved the bad treatment they got in Cyprus neither does it justify referring to all Turks, which by default includes Cypriot Turks,  as ‘rapists barbarians and thieves’. If this is not racially inflammatory language then what is? On the few occasions that I have complained to various media companies about the use of generalisations and racially stereotypical language against ‘Turks’ I am nearly always met with a defensive and dismissive attitude. The impression seems to be that these are ‘Turks’ we are talking about and most people have watched Midnight Express, know that the Turkish state is still denying the Armenian massacre and oppressing the Kurds, so we can say what we like about them because they are not worthy of our consideration, as whatever their political view and stance they are all human rights violating ‘barbarians’. For the record I do not condone the treatment of the Kurds, deny the Armenian massacre or fly the Turkish flag day and night, but I still do not want to feel that I am thought of in such stereotypical ways.

The truth is that this does affect you on an everyday level, regardless of your political affiliation, these negative stereotypes have a way of penetrating and filtering through all parts of society. As a public sector work that has lived and worked in one of the most multi cultural areas of London this is only too obvious to me. By all means it is fine to criticise the state of Turkey and the various politicians in Cyprus on their stance with regards the Cyprus issue, but please accept that this is separate to what I am arguing against here, which is the attempt to treat anyone of Turkish origin, in a homogenous manner.  It may not always seem obvious to some why there is the need to make this point, maybe it is not clear what effect an abstract intellectual political debate can have on the lives of everyday people. For these people I would be more then happy to give any of them a guided tour of the area of North London I live in. This is a world that is influenced by intellectual debate as much as it is local political one. I would like them to witness the affects of their prejudiced one sided views on those who they hold them against, as it is all too easy to write in a vacuum, it is when you put things into a context that it takes a whole different turn. Let us also be realistic enough to acknowledge that the fact that when you are portrayed in a certain way through various discourses these will often affect your life chances and this includes at the most practical level your educational and employment prospects in Britain.

Perhaps more mainstream British politicians and intellectuals should be attempting to bridge the gap between the people of Cyprus rather then reinforce division by ‘taking sides’. Surely the divide and rules tactics of the British Empire should no longer hold as much sway as what they once did. Voters in Britain should look to vote for politicians that are not just playing a game and pretending to be interested in a cause due to the high number of that group in their constituency but should be looking for real commitment and innovative thinking from those they vote into power-vote for idealists not opportunists is my advice!

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