AN OPEN LETTER TO The Mayor of Barnet,
Cllr Melvin Cohen:
and local newspapers
Dear Mr Mayor
As a councillor, I represented both Turkish and Greek Cypriots in Haringey, so I read Cllr Tambourides' November 5th Council motion on Morphou , with disgust.
It gives the false impression that religious sites have been desecrated only in the Turkish north of Cyprus, ignoring the fact that Muslim cemeteries and mosques have been extensively bulldozed in the Greek south and covered with roads and car-parks.Nowhere is there any proof that armies were guilty.
If Cllr Tambourides, representing Barnet in a town-twinning exercise, was really concerned with protecting religious heritage, he would have contacted the active, UN-established Cyprus Bi-Communal Committee for Culture and Heritage. There is no sign that he did .
His motion clearly contravenes anti-racist legislation, as well as Barnet's vows to outlaw discrimination. Councillors are not elected to continue foreign conflicts on English soil :this was not why town-twinning was established by the founding-fathers of modern, peaceful Europe.
I therefore invite you to withdraw this motion, in keeping with your impartial , quasi-judicial position as the borough's First Citizen , to avoid Barnet Council being referred to a higher authority, and to encourage inter-communal respect and peace.
Yours sincerely
John Oakes;
Haringey Councillor for Bounds Green 2006-10