BOTH CYPRIOT COMMUNITIES AND THE TURKISH ARMY,

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 NICOSIA 000151 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/SE, ECA E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/19/2017 TAGS: OEXC KPAO SCUL PREL PGOV CY TU SUBJECT: BOTH CYPRIOT COMMUNITIES AND THE TURKISH ARMY, AIMING TO REWRITE HISTORY REF: NICOSIA 57 Classified By: Ambassador Ronald Schlicher, Reasons 1.4 (b),(d). ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: The recent roll-out of a Greek-drafted history textbook containing a "nationalistically" incorrect and too-short Cyprus section has sparked protests in Nicosia and prompted demands that the government draft its own texts instead of relying on mother Greece's. In the meantime, the RoC Education Ministry has prepared a list of "corrections" for consideration by its counterpart entity in Athens. Concurrently, the commander of Turkish Forces in northern Cyprus criticized texts used on both sides of the island: the north's, for giving insufficient attention to Turkish Cypriots' struggles leading up to the 1974 "Peace Operation," and the RoC's, for depicting Cyprus as a "Greek island" and Turks as "barbarians and criminals." Should nationalistically-revised texts emerge, they will contribute to a further hardening in attitudes, especially of youth on both sides who already are disposed to living apart. END SUMMARY. -------------- Problems with Textbook -------------- ¶2. (U) Due to its small size and limited resources, the Republic of Cyprus traditionally has relied on Greek-drafted textbooks, from "See Spot Run" to Organic Chemistry. Educators in Nicosia eagerly awaited the Greek Education Ministry's early February unveiling of a new history textbook for middle school students, intending to put it into circulation quickly. Upon viewing the tome, however, they took immediate umbrage. ¶3. (SBU) First, they claimed it did not provide adequate coverage of the Cyprus problem )- only three pages total. Missing persons from the 1974 conflict, the internally displaced, and the role of EOKA rebels (who fought for Cypriot independence from Britain in the 1950s),merited scant, if any, mention. The critics' second peeve concerned the editors' choice of terminology in referring to the situation on the island, which differs from official RoC theology. Instead of the government-favored "Occupied Area," for example, the new text uses "the northern part" or "Turkish Cypriot state." Worse, it claims the island was "partitioned" in 1974, and its maps depict the Turkish Cypriot-administered north and government-controlled south in different shades, violating the norm of a single-color mass with a dotted red line demarcating the UN Buffer Zone. -------------- Parliament and Pols - Playing the Victim -------------- ¶4. (U) RoC officials were quick to criticize the textbook's "gross inaccuracies and oversimplification." Interior Minister and Acting Education Minister Neocles Silikiotis, for example, announced the Ministry would consider ordering new Cyprus history texts for all education levels. Educators also found willing allies in Cypriot parliamentarians, who took to the stump in protest. DISY MP and House Education Committee Chairman Nicos Tornaritis spoke for the majority in demanding the text be withdrawn from schools until revisions were made. Only Communist AKEL stayed off the nationalist bandwagon, arguing "the reaction is not proportional to the problem" and that textbooks should not alter facts for political purposes. ¶5. (U) A mix of educators, parliamentarians and Education Ministry officials reached agreement February 13 on the text of a "Memorandum of Corrections," which they later submitted to the full Parliament for signature and eventual transmission to the Greek government. Highlighting the laundry list of requested changes are: -- The heading "The Cyprus Question" should become "The Cyprus Problem" or, more fittingly, "The Tragedy of Cyprus;" -- The map should revert to the single-color, dotted-line norm, the north titled "Territory of the Republic of Cyprus that is occupied by Turkey" and the south dubbed "Territory of the Republic of Cyprus Free Area." -- "Partition" should be dropped, replaced with "Violent, Illegal Division of Cyprus." -------------- NICOSIA 00000151 002 OF 003 Media Fan Nationalist Fires -------------- ¶6. (SBU) Media mostly supported the book-bashers. Pro-government outlets like leading daily "Phileleftheros" carried the offending maps in above-the-fold "exposes," demanding revisions for the sake of Greek Cypriot youth. Only opposition daily Politis and the English-language media have dared question the nationalist uproar. "Politis," for example, welcomed the RoC's intention to draft its own history texts, if only "to allow G/Cs to confront publicly their past behavior toward Turkish Cypriots and perhaps alter the one-sided view of the Cyprus problem currently presented as fact." Editors doubted that any revised work would be less nationalistic, however. -------------- As Does the Primate -------------- ¶7. (C) Never one to pass up a microphone, newly-installed Archbishop Chrysostomos II announced the Church of Cyprus's intention to co-fund publication of a new history textbook. The concept of church/state separation here differing from that of the United States or western Europe, the Cypriot Church historically has exerted great influence in shaping the public school curriculum, although the RoC ignored Chrysostomos's demands for a consultative role in naming a new Education Minister (Reftel). Similarly, in this latest controversy, government officials have made little public mention of the Church's offer, which we suspect was the Archbishop's way of signalling that he still insists on some say in the selection of the yet-to-be-named Minister. -------------- From the North, Similar Demands for Revisions -------------- ¶8. (SBU) In its "Turkey/Occupied Cyprus" section February 15, "Phileleftheros" reported that Turkish Forces Commander in Cyprus Hayri Kivrikoglu also had criticized, but for different reasons, the textbooks used in the government-controlled south. "Children are taught that Cyprus is a Greek island," the general asserted, "that Turks are barbarians and criminals, and that TMT (roughly, the Turkish Cypriot counterpart to EOKA) was founded to divide Cyprus." A surf of the Internet uncovered the actual text of Kivrikoglu's speech, which targeted not only RoC institutions but those in the "Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus" as well. As reported by Turkish press agency TAK, the general had argued that "TRNC" history texts differed substantively from those utilized in Turkey and that dependents of military stationed on the island must relearn the subject matter upon their return. ¶9. (C) After deciphering Kivrikoglu's carefully chosen and complex syntax, the message read clear: "TRNC" textbooks went too easy on Greek Cypriots, whom mainland historians portray as the exclusive aggressors in the Cyprus problem. With sensationalist daily "Volkan" in the lead, Turkish Cypriot press February 16 piled on, heaping criticism on the "Education Ministry,s" recently-revised manuscripts. "Volkan" even announced its plan to identify individuals and denounce by name those who helped re-write Turkish Cypriot textbooks. ¶10. (SBU) The revised (2003) history books used by Turkish Cypriot students were the product of reform-minded "TRNC Education Ministry officials," who aimed to eliminate inflammatory depictions of Greek Cypriots and thereby contribute to an improved environment for settlement negotiations. The Council of Europe supported the initiative, and the USG assisted the COE via a Fulbright Program grant for teacher training. ¶11. (C) COMMENT: Unlike their parents' or grandparents' generation, Cypriots under thirty have no experience with bi-communal living. As such, their impressions of the other side are formed in great part from classroom learning. While Turkish Cypriot history instruction is actually quite measured, most RoC texts contain inflammatory accounts of the violence perpetrated by the "barbarous Turks" against the "peace-loving Greeks." It came as no surprise, then, that Greek Cypriots under 25 rejected the 2004 Annan Plan reunification referendum at a rate far higher than the overall population. ¶12. (C) Nationalist sentiment is rising on both sides of the NICOSIA 00000151 003 OF 003 Green Line, fanned lately by upcoming elections in Turkey and Cyprus, the hunt for offshore oil, and the quest to sell newspapers. Instead of fighting the trend, Greek Cypriot educators and the Turkish military in northern Cyprus -- partly to needle Talat, and acting as if the "TRNC" were a permanent fixture and part of Turkey itself -- are accelerating it. All will score short-term points with their demands for "historically correct" lesson plans, but from our perch, it seems their greater aim is to forestall formation of the constructive environment necessary to reach an overall CyProb settlement. END COMMENT. SCHLICHER