Scoop Feedback : Letters Re: Turkey & Gaza

Wednesday, 1 January 2014, 3:20 pm
Opinion: Scoop Feedback

Scoop Feedback : Letters Re: Turkey & Gaza

Two letters of feedback related to two items recently published by Scoop follows.

To the Editor of Scoop Independent News
Letter for Publication.

Dear Editor,

Cyprus is still under Turkish invasion and occupation
I refer to your article “Is Turkey Returning to the “Zero Problems” Policy?” by By Gallia Lindenstrauss, Yaniv Avraham (30.12.2013) .

The authors have got it severely wrong. Even with a question mark, Turkey is not doing anything of the sort. Turkey has yet to recognise the Armenian and Greek Genocide, fighting vehemently at every level, all those who recognise it as Genocide. Turkey is still in deep trouble with all its neighbours and as far as Cyprus is concerned, there is no progress anywhere and I cannot for the life of me see where the authors see such a progress.

To take face value a vague statement by Minister Davutoglu “referred to the momentum of talks between the sides on solving this ongoing conflict” is the most unsubstantiated fact one can use. First of all we do not have a “conflict” in Cyprus but an ongoing barbaric and illegal Turkish invasion since 1974 where the 37% of the territory of the Republic of Cyprus (a country member of the Commonwealth, UN, EU and Council of Europe) is still under brutal invasion and occupation.
Secondly Turkey refuses to recognise the Republic of Cyprus, a full member of the EU since 2004, when it seeks membership of the EU! Turkey will not be able to proceed with its EU negotiations until and when she recognises the Republic of Cyprus and withdraws its invading 40,000 strong Turkish army from the occupied areas of Cyprus taking back to Turkeyalso its hundreds of thousands of imported Anatolian population it illegally imported to the occupied areas.

This she did with criminal intent in order to change the demographic character of the area filling in the vacuum the Greek Cypriot refugees, legitimate population and owners, were forcibly uprooted by the invading Turkish forces in 1974. This act is called war crime. In 1974 we had 200,000 Greek Cypriot uprooted from their ancestral homes and are still refugees in their own country. More than 500 of our Christian churches, monasteries and cemeteries have been destroyed, desecrated, looted and some turned into mosques, coffee and amusement shops.

Therefore please get all your facts right before promoting such illusive political theories that crumble like sand castles and have no relation to the truth whatsoever.
Thank you
Fanoulla Argyrou
Researcher/journalist/author – London 31.12.2013

Dear Editor,

I was shocked to see a remarkable failure of journalism when I came across this article on your news website.

The headline alone, 'Israel marks 5th anniversary of Operation Cast Lead with air strikes on Gaza" as if to insinuate that Israel "celebrates" past wars by bombing Gaza.

Such writing is completely subjective to the clear bias and vendetta the writer has against Israel, and immediately tells the reader that this is not journalism, but a rant instead, by someone who hates Israel and is using their podium to promote their own personal views.

The writer goes on to falsely describe how Israel apparently actively targets civilians, including children, but at no point does the writer ever explain why Israel actually launched the strike, beyond the headline of "celebrating the anniversary of a previous war".

It is well known to those who read news from credible sites, from writers who are more concerned with sharing actual events and facts rather than promoting their own personal opinions, that Israel raided Gaza as an immediate response to its launching of rockets against over 3.5 million Israeli citizens. These citizens include children, babies and women, such as those in Gaza that the writer mourns, and it is clear that while the writer uses human rights as a leg to stand on, the writer only seems concerned with the human rights of Gazan children, but not Israeli children. It is absolutely incredible that these facts failed to show up in the article, and a strong picture is being painted to readers about what Scoop actually stands for.

Does the editor wish to promote and foster journalistic integrity within Scoop? If so, one should consider replacing articles peppered with opinionated rants with articles full of real facts and events.

Sincerely,
Amnon Schwarz

ENDS

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