North Cyprus

So many of the guides to Cyprus I have looked at feature the whole island and generally focus heavily on the south. However, the Bradt guide of North Cyprus is dedicated to the Turkish part of Cyprus which is the location of so many historic sites. As I am intending to visit this part of the island later this year, this was the perfect guide book for my needs.

Like every Rough Guide I've had this is invaluable. It gies you just what is says on the lable. The rough guide to everything from taxi's to where to sleep.What a pitty the Greek half voted NO to letting the borders come down and a re-unification of the Island. Now the only way to visit this wonderful place is via Turkey.

Lets not forget why the Turks had to invade, there was no oil in Northern Cyprus:"Turkish Cypriots, who had suffered from physical attacks since 1963, called on the guarantor powers to prevent a Greek conquest of the island. When Britain did nothing Turkey invaded Cyprus and occupied its northern part. Turkish Cypriots have constitutional right on their side and understandably fear a renewal of persecution if the Turkish army withdraws," the Daily Telegraph wrote on Aug. 15, 1996. On July 22, Turkish Prime Minister Ecevit called upon the United Nations to "stop the genocide of Turkish-Cypriots" and declared, "Turkey has accepted a cease-fire, but will not allow Turkish-Cypriots to be massacred." On July 28, 1974 the New York Times reported that 14 Turkish-Cypriot men had been shot in Alaminos. On July 24, 1974 France Soir reported that "the Greeks burned Turkish mosques and set fire to Turkish homes in the villages around Famagusta. Defenseless Turkish villagers who have no weapons live in an atmosphere of terror and they evacuate their homes and go and live in tents in the forests. The Greeks' actions are a shame to humanity." The Greek newspaper Eleftherotipia published an interview with Nicos Sampson on Feb. 26, 1981 in which he said, "Had Turkey not intervened I would not only have proclaimed enosis, I would have annihilated the Turks in Cyprus." On March 3, 1996, the Greek Cypriot Cyprus Mail wrote: "(Greek) Cypriot governments have found it convenient to conceal the scale of atrocities during the July 15 coup in an attempt to downplay its contribution to the tragedy of the summer of 1974 and instead blame the Turkish invasion for all casualties. There can be no justification for any government that failed to investigate this sensitive humanitarian issue. The shocking admission by the Clerides government that there are people buried in Nicosia cemetery who are still included in the list of the 'missing' is the last episode of a human drama which has been turned into a propaganda tool." As for the U.N., I hope nobody has to depend on those guys if their people are faced with a etnic cleansing. The wait might kill you if your enemy doesn't. Just look at what happened to the Bosnian muslims.

No one has right to criticise one of the countries greece or turkey more than one another. Stop putting the blame on only turks, cant u guys be more rational. Do not forget , as well as greeks there, turks are also living on that island

Forget the emotional diatribe concerning Turkish expansionistpolicies, ethnic cleansing etc. You cannot seriously expect a travelguide to address these issues! Although, just to set the record straight, the 1974 invasion was in response to the Greek armys earlier invasion intended to force Enosis (union with Greece) onto a minority population and to continue a massacre of Turkish civilians that had been escalating for the previous 20 years. TRNC remains a beatiful and unspoilt area, unlike Southern Cyprus it has succesfully avoided over-development, excess commercialisation, exploitation of local communities and "rip-off tourist practices. The guide provides a useful start point for anyone interested in visiting, although much more can be discovered once actually there. Both Famagust (Gazi Magosa) and Kyrenia (Girne) remain as magnificent examples of Venetian Walled cities and later development has, in the main, been conducted sympathetically to the existing architecture. Anyone considering travelling to TRNC could do worse than using this guide to plan their itinerary.