Dear T-VINE,

 

Please publish this open letter to Sir Keir Starmer, Leader of the Labour Party.

 

Dear Sir Keir,

I write to you in dismay, following the letter sent to Dominic Raab from Shadow Ministers Fabian Hamilton and Catherine West (“Labour only cares about Greek Cypriots” – UK Turkish Cypriots blast Shadow Ministers’ letter to Foreign Secretary, 19 Feb. 2021).

I am a lifelong Labour supporter, but over the last few years my loyalty as a true socialist who cares about all is being truly tested. I thought you might be the leader to steer us in the right direction, but maybe I thought wrong.

The rhetoric used by Hamilton in particular is biased, talking of “occupied” lands and “invasion” –  does the man read history??

In fact, do you even know the history of Cyprus, once a Turkish-owned island that the UK then became the governor of, before signing an independence agreement with both Greek and Turkish Cypriots?

Do you know about Turkish genocides by the Greek-led army, discovered by the UN? I could go on.

The truth is Turkey “invaded” to protect innocent men, women and children from barbaric treatment and death, when the world stood back, much like Yemen today or Palestine.

Some 60 years later the Cyprus situation is unresolved and I don’t see a Labour policy to create peace like you did in Ireland, just inflammatory and uneducated remarks from your shadow ministers.

Is this yours and the party’s view? If so, please share, so I can share it with the 100,000 plus Labour-supporting Turkish Cypriots in this country and ensure they do not vote Labour whilst you have such a biased and hypocritical stance and view on Cyprus.

Your sincerely,

Mr Ali Zihni

London

 

Main image top includes Keir Starmer, 2017, cropped, photo © Chris McAndrew / Wikipedia, CC by 3-0