During the weekend of March 27-28, 2004, the Rector of the University of Istanbul, Kemal Alemdaroglou, - who, in 2001, had been bestowed, together with his counterpart of the University of Athens, the biennial "Ipekci Award" for his role in promoting friendship and cooperation between Greece and Turkey! - made aberrant and provoking declarations speaking on the Cyprus issue during the projection of a WWI film about the Dardanelles. He explained that '' if necessary, albeit with 135,000 deaths, we can occupy Cyprus and Greece.'.
"We address to all official actually in Switzerland. I am of the generation which claimed 'division or the death'. So they should not risk compromises concerning Cyprus".
Mikis Theodorakis has reacted with the following declaration:
Declaration
I would like to ask the Rector of the University of Istanbul to make clear:
If the Turkish army occupies Greece and Cyprus , what kind of regime will be imposed upon us?
The regime of the sultan who will kidnap our wives and daughters to deliver them to the harems of the pashas and turn our boys into janissaries?
Or the regime of Hitler, with terror, hunger, torture, executions and concentration camps?
I have been informed that the Rector was a supporter of Greek-Turkish friendship. I hope that he is the only one among our friends on the other side of Aegean who has such an „original“ conception of the friendship between peoples.
Athens , 28.3.2004
Mikis Theodorakis
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