I refer to the letter Cyprus owes existence to Turkey by Levent Ecesoy. I'm afraid he is sadly wrong; the reason Cyprus is an independent republic is the decision of the UK not to allow the people of Cyprus to determine their own future.

It is the UK that brought Turkey into the pot in order for her plans to solidify and give no chance of success to the vast majority of the population of the island to unify with the rest of the then free Greek world. Sadly, all of us lose some historical perspective after a very short time.

The Greeks were part of the Ottoman empire for a few centuries; those in Cyprus from 1570 to 1878. Athens was under Turkish rule for a couple of centuries longer but yet one would not consider it as anything but purely Greek. The same aspiration of freedom from foreign rule was part of Greeks wherever they lived under Turkish occupation; for instance, Macedonia, with Thessaloniki only united with free Greece in 1912 and the area of western Thrace years later. Rhodes became part of Greece only in the 1940s.

For an odd reason, Cyprus is a unique example on Earth where its people are not allowed to determine their own future and must succumb to foreigners be they the British or Turks (from Turkey) telling them what is best for them. The fact that Makarios under duress signed agreements in 1959 providing Independence to Cyprus does not make this the optimal solution for Cyprus. If Cyprus had been part of Greece, which it had come very close to in 1914, we would have been spared of all the drama of the past decades and I'm sure the Turkish Cypriots would have been even more prosperous than they are today in their self-imposed isolation which they try to portray as an embargo!

Turkey invaded Cyprus in 1974 under the pretext of protecting Turkish Cypriots and under a constitutional clause allowing them to intervene to restore the status quo. Did they restore the status quo, ie reinstall the government and then go back home? No, they are still illegally occupying 37 percent of the island. Yes, a coup against Makarios in 1974 was undertaken by some elements which were pro-union with Greece, but such a union was not proclaimed and Turkey's invasion only has only tightened the foreign yoke around Cyprus's neck and by no means saved Cyprus's existence.

As to the notion of secularism in Turkey, it is in name only. Do Christians and Christians churches have the same rights and freedoms as Muslims in Turkey? Are Christian churches allowed to run seminary schools just as Muslims can? Can Christian churches acquire, maintain and repair property just as Muslims can tend their mosques? Is the seat of the Greek Orthodox Church (there for 1,700 years now) in Istanbul honoured in the same way that the Vatican is by Italy? The answers to all these questions, when it comes to Turkey are 'No'. Wearing Western clothes does not render someone secular. Turkey has a long way to go still and they are learning fast. We wish them all the best for the future.