Turks accused of colonising Cyprus

Press, Volume CXVI, Issue 34151, 12 May 1976, Page 23

Turks accused of colonising Cyprus

(>.Z. Press Assn—Copyright) NICOSIA, May 11. The Cyprus Government has charged Turkey with intensifying its efforts to colonise the Turkish-occupied part of the island with permanent settlers from the mainland. A Government statement said that by March, this year, there were 190,000 Turks in Cyprus, nearly double the Turkish-Cypriot population of 106.000 at the time of the Turkish invasion in Julv, 1974. Ln February, this year, alone, Turkey had brought 17.000 settlers to Cyprus from such Turkish mainland [regions as Adana. Antalya, I Konya. Tarsus, and Black Sea [regions, the statement said. : It charged that these colonisers were included in the census lists as Cypriots, issued with Cypriot identity cards, and enscribed in the Cypriot electoral registers. The statement said these developments constituted a denial of Turkish official claims that people brought from the mainland to Cyprus were seasonal workers whose

stay would be only temporary. “It has become obvious that Turkey’s aim is to colonise the Turkish-occupied part of the island with mainland Turks, in order to change the demographic composition of the island and thus create new faits accomplis,” the statement said. A report from Athens says that President Tito of Yugoslavia, who is on a four-day official visit to Greece, may be asked to mediate between Greece and Turkey. In a newspaper interview yesterday, President Tito st.'d Greece and Turkey’ should both help solve the Cyprus problem. The Yugoslav! leader to visit Ankara soon, and political observers said he might be asked to play a mediating role!