I refer to the letter Cyprus owes existence to Turkey by Levent Ecesoy.

Ecesoy's attempt to turn the illegal Turkish occupation of a large part of the Cyprus Republic into a religious problem is not convincing. Turkey has methodically tried to implement its separatist policies in Cyprus since the 1960s.

The 1973 civil war within the Greek Cypriot population has given Turkey the pretext to invade Cyprus in the name of 'protecting' the Turkic people of Cyprus.

If that was the case, Turkey should have withdrawn its troops as soon as the republic was reinstated. It should not have turned 250,000 Greek, Latin and Maronite Cypriots into refugees.

It would not try to keep the Greek and Turkish Cypriots in different 'sectors' which has caused huge socio-economic and political problems to both communities.

Turkey's actions in Cyprus go against human rights and international law. There is no getting away from the simplicity of truth no matter what spin or 'interpretation' is given to these events. An illegal occupation is an illegal occupation.