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History of Cyprus Turkish
Football Federation
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 For the past 40 years, there had been two separate football federations in
Cyprus, one for the Greek-Cypriots and another for the Turkish-Cypriots, borne
out of the fact that Greek-Cypriots had segregated themselves from the Turkish-Cypriots and had imposed embargoes.
On April 3, 1955, only a couple of days after the
Greek-Cypriot terrorist
organisation EOKA started its bloody campaign to achieve the unification of
Cyprus with Greece (ENOSIS).
The Turkish-Cypriot football team Çetinkaya
was barred, without prior warning or explanation, from playing in a match with
the Greek-Cypriot team Pezoporikos at Nicosia stadium. |
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`Nicosia Turkish Sports
Club' football team, the champions for 1934-35
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Thousands of disappointed Turkish-Cypriot
spectators who were turned away
from the gates recall the incident vividly. A week later, the Greek-Cypriot Sports Council (TESK) officially announced their racist decision to bar
Turkish-Cypriot teams from playing at all on the existing sports fields. On October 30,
1955, the Cyprus Football Union (KOP) decided to expel all Turkish-Cypriot teams. As a result, the
Turkish-Cypriots had no choice but to establish their
own football federation. This separation occurred while the island was under British rule. In 1960, the
independent Republic of Cyprus was established with the equal and joint
participation of the two founding communities -Turkish-Cypriots and Greek-Cypriots. Under the Constitution, two Communal Chambers were formed to run
purely communal affairs independently. Religion, education, culture, and
sports were specifically defined as communal affairs under Articles 86,
87, 89, 108 and 182 of the 1960 Constitution and were administered
separately.
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Currently, the embargoes imposed by the
Greek-Cypriots against the Turkish-Cypriots, bar the Turkish-Cypriot youth, and sports clubs from international
contact in all spheres, including sports.
In spite of the gross distortion of the facts and negative propaganda from
the Greek-Cypriot side, the fact remains that there are currently two
independent states in Cyprus, one in the North and one in the South. US
President Bill Clinton states that "Cyprus has two owners". The UN
Secretary- General states that "Cyprus is the homeland of both communities,
who are political equals" and that the "Cyprus issue is not a
majority-minority issue". Since the Greek-Cypriot administration of Southern
Cyprus has no jurisdiction or authority over the territorial integrity and
sovereignty of North Cyprus, the Greek-Cypriot "Cyprus Football Association" has
no say or authority over any kind of football activity in the Turkish Republic
of Northern Cyprus.
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Turkish-Cypriot football club Çetinkaya, Cyprus League champions for 1952-53 season
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In the past, FIFA has been well
informed and was fair in its relations with Cyprus and its two communities. Sir
Stanley Rous, FIFA president from 1960 to 1963, is respected for successfully
intermediating between the presidents of the Turkish and Greek-Cypriot football
federations. Although Sir Stanley finally managed to bring the two presidents to
agreement, the Greek-Cypriot president later had to bow to the Greek-Cypriot
political leadership and reject the proposals he had accepted. A former FIFA general secretary
Dr Kaser's decision in 1975 to grant general special permission to the
Turkish-Cypriot Football Federation to play matches with teams from other
national associations which are members of FIFA, with the exception of official
competitions. Although that decision is still in effect, the Turkish-Cypriot
Football Federation and football supporters are unable to comprehend the
reasoning behind the recent change that current FIFA administration of Mr
Blatter had brought to FIFA policy, a reasoning which only helped to perpetuate
the sports embargo instigated by the South Cyprus. The Turkish-Cypriot Football Federation continues to ask FIFA
Secretary-General to reconsider his stand and support a fair and balanced
attitude to the Turkish-Cypriot Football Federation.
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References |
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