YOU Need to learn your History a bit better

Submitted by servet cevik (Turkey), Sep 21, 2014 at 17:35

Dear Peter

YOU Need to learn your History a bit better

cyprus was LEASED to Britain not ceded.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyprus

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyprus_Convention

Republic of Turkey is the natural continuation of the Ottoman Empire just like France was still France after the French Revolution. In France king was replaced by the parliament but it is still the same country. In Turkey we abolished the Sultan and setup a republican regime but it is still the same country. So it was "we the turks" who owned cyrus since 1570 and it was leased to Britain in 1878 and was a de jure Ottoman-Turkish sovereign territory until 1915 when the Britsh forces formally annexed the island.

Turkey preserved nearly all Turkish populated areas (other than Kerkuk and Musul) and was never dismembered into little bits by either France or Britain who experienced severe defeats in Anatolia and had to retreat after their unsuccessful attempts of occupation. (despite their world famous defeat in 1915 in the Dardanelles, Brits came to Istanbul for 5 years without war by using the puppet sultan who was no more accepted as the sultan by the republicans and never dared to go into mainland ) French experienced heavy losses and casualties in South East and retreated to Syria. Greek army (lip serving the Brits) was totally annihilated. Italians were clever enough to run away much before the others.

And yes the Ottoman Empire is gone just like the British, French, Russian empires which are all gone. Natural course of history.

It is great you are proud to be Australian who owe us much in the sense of "constructing a national identity of being an Australian.

"The Gallipoli campaign was the first major military action of Australia and New Zealand as independent dominions, and is often considered to mark the birth of national consciousness in those nations. The date of the landing, 25 April, is known as "Anzac Day". It remains the most significant commemoration of military casualties and veterans in Australia and New Zealand."

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