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