-Caveat Lector- >From Reuters Tuesday February 16 4:24 PM ET City-By-City Tally Of Kurdish Protests LONDON (Reuters) - The capture of Kurdish guerrilla leader Abdullah Ocalan sparked a wave of violent protest by his supporters in more than 20 cities across Europe Tuesday. Three demonstrators set themselves on fire and dozens more threatened mass suicides as Kurds directed their fury at Greece, whose Kenyan ambassador had secretly sheltered Ocalan before he fell into Turkey's hands. In Turkey itself, two more protesters set fire to themselves, one of them a Kurdish prisoner who died of his injuries. Demonstrators seized hostages at Greek missions in the Netherlands and Switzerland and threatened to kill themselves at Greek embassies in Brussels and London. Embassies and consulates were occupied or attacked in more than a dozen European cities and in Vancouver and Sydney, as were the Kenyan embassies in Bonn and Vienna and United Nations buildings in Geneva and the Armenian capital Yerevan. Following is a city-by-city tally of the demonstrations: THE HAGUE - Around 150 Kurds stormed the Greek ambassador's residence, taking hostage the ambassador's wife, his eight-year-old son and a Filipina servant. Riot police charged into a crowd of sympathizers outside who were trying to push through to join the protest, arresting many of them. Reporters said women and children were among the protesters inside the residence. The Greek embassy was not affected. ZURICH - Demonstrators forced their way into the Greek consulate, taking hostage the building's owner and a policeman who tried to negotiate with them. PARIS - French police ejected protesters who had occupied the Kenyan embassy and a Greek consulate. STRASBOURG - French police fired tear gas into the occupied Greek consulate and stormed the building, detaining some of the 30 Kurdish demonstrators. MARSEILLE - Police forced several dozen demonstrators out of the Greek consulate, where they had threatened to set themselves on fire. BONN - Protesters occupied the Greek embassy and the Kenyan embassy in nearby Bad Godesberg. They surrendered to police after 12 hours. LEIPZIG - Three travel agency workers were held by protesters in the building that houses the Greek consulate. They were freed unharmed when police stormed in. STUTTGART - Police stormed the Greek embassy, arresting 27 protesters. Nobody was hurt. Outside the city, a 17-year-old Kurdish woman was taken to a hospital with serious burns after dousing herself in gasoline and setting herself ablaze. FRANKFURT - Demonstrators overturned cars in a protest that turned violent, prompting police to deploy water cannon and batons. Around 50 protesters occupied the consulate in the early hours of the morning. HAMBURG - Police also deployed water cannon against protesters in front of the Greek and British consulates. BERLIN - Around 150 protesters, including children, broke into the Greek consulate. They hung photos of Ocalan and the Kurdish flag in the windows, and chanted calls for Ocalan's release. COLOGNE - Some 32 people were arrested after trying to occupy the Greek consulate. Injuries were reported among the demonstrators and police. DUESSELDORF - Demonstrators occupying the Greek consulate smashed the building's windows. Around 30 were arrested near the regional parliament. HANOVER - Around 15 protesters occupied the Greek consulate and threw stones and other missiles at police. MOSCOW - Kurdish protesters left the Greek embassy around mid-day and gave themselves up to police. LONDON - A woman set herself on fire as about 100 Kurdish demonstrators occupying the Greek embassy in London said they were prepared to burn themselves to death. BRUSSELS - Some 50 Kurdish protesters occupied the Greek embassy in Brussels, doused themselves with gasoline and threatened to set fire to themselves if they were removed. They later left voluntarily. VIENNA - Activists stormed the Greek and Kenyan embassies. GENEVA - Over 20 demonstrators got into the main United Nations building in Geneva by slipping through the gates as a truck entered. BERNE - Demonstrators forced their way into the Greek embassy. COPENHAGEN - A Turkish woman set herself on fire at the Greek embassy and was fighting for her life in a hospital. Forty-eight Kurdish protesters were arrested in the early hours of Tuesday when they stormed the embassy in central Copenhagen. STOCKHOLM - Police arrested 50 pro-Kurdish demonstrators after scuffles in front of the Greek embassy. MILAN - About 20 Kurds forced their way into the Greek consulate and held the consul hostage for four hours before leaving the building. YEREVAN - Kurdish protesters briefly occupied the United Nations office in the Armenian capital but left after police reinforcements arrived. VANCOUVER - About 30 people broke into the Greek consulate on the fifth floor of a downtown office building and spread flammable liquid on the floor. Some drenched their clothes in it and threatened to set themselves on fire. SYDNEY - Some 50 protesters stormed the Greek consulate and police were talking with Kurdish leaders to try to resolve the standoff. Some demonstrators had been shown on television in and around the consulate dousing themselves with gasoline. ~~~~~~~~~~~~ The interaction between the Greek embassy in Kenya and the Turkish government is interesting given the conflcits of the past between the two countries, the most notable in recent memory being that about Cyprus. >From www.cyprusforum.com A NEW SOLUTION TO THE CYPRUS PROBLEM The Cyprus Forum is an Internet based organization, which was created so that Greek and Turkish Cypriot citizens could devise a new solution to end the division of Cyprus. Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when the Turkish Army invaded and since has been occupying thirty-eight percent of the country. However, the Internet recognizes no geographic boundaries. Thus, members of our forum can work together, free from the division and intransigence which has plagued Cypriot political leaders for almost twenty five years. Since 1974, a solution acceptable to all parties, which would end the occupation of Cyprus, has eluded countless numbers of diplomats and politicians. The division of Cyprus has brought instability and tension to the region. Indeed, the issue of Cyprus remains a deadly flash-point between Greece and Turkey, both of whom are NATO allies of the United States. Efforts to mediate this dispute have rested in the hands of politicians, with little result. Most discussions have been limited to one issue: the division of land according to the percentage of Greek and Turkish Cypriots in the total population. This approach has failed consistently. The Cyprus Forum believes that a lasting solution can be found only through a commitment to union. The following six point peace plan envisions the establishment of a united Cyprus with a government which encourages economic growth and protects the rights and culture of every citizen of the island. •Allow The Turkish Army to remain for five years. The Turkish military forces in Cyprus would be restricted to a military base in Cyprus. This military base will be leased to Turkey for the next five years. A small group of Turkish and Greek army officers will become consultants to the Cypriot Army. That will build trust among all groups involved. A multinational force, comprised of units from the armies of neutral nations would be responsible for peace-keeping functions and ensuring that all provisions of a permanent settlement are implemented. •Establish a Ministry of Turkish-Cypriot Affairs, which would be given a guaranteed budget. The budget would be established at a certain percentage of the gross national product. This guarantees that the majority is not ignoring the minority. The guaranteed availability of funds allows the minority to maintain its culture, educational and religious institutions. This ministry will be established through a constitutional amendment, which would allow the Minister to be directly elected. •Select a Turkish-Cypriot as The First Leader of a United Cyprus. A Turkish-Cypriot, acceptable to both sides, should be appointed as the interim President of Cyprus for a four year term. At the end of the term, open-elections would be held where the interim President could run for re-election against candidates from other political parties. •Respect The Property Rights of Greek and Turkish Cypriots. All refugees should be allowed to return to their homes and the land titles and deeds in force before the occupation should be honored. Many Turkish Cypriots own land throughout Cyprus. Respecting titles in place before the occupation does not present an economic disadvantage for either side. •Privatize All Government Owned Industries. The privatization of all government-owned industries is a crucial step which will help Cyprus to compete with other industrialized nations. Allowing individuals-- not politicians -- to make economic decisions will spur economic growth and prevent officials from using the wealth of the country to favor one group while potentially discriminating against others. •Build A New City. A new city should be built in the northern area of Cyprus, adjacent to Nicosia. The new city would be home to a Turkish-Cypriot University, cultural centers, libraries and many other amenities. Turkish-Cypriots would be employed in the building of the new city. Workers would be paid the prevailing wages available in Greek-Cypriot areas, which are higher than wages in the Turkish-Cypriot zone. Constructing a city will increase economic growth and speed the economic integration of the two communities. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ A note from the webmaster: The village where I was born contains an eleventh century Byzantine church and a mosque--monuments which testify better than any words, to the ability of the Cypriot people to live together harmoniously. Greek and Turkish families in my village sent their children to study in the separate but equal schools, spoke each other languages and conducted business with one another without strife. Today, Cyprus is divided by the "green line" - a no man's zone that cuts across the island. But no such divisions exist in cyberspace. We encourage every individual desiring peace in Cyprus to join us in our efforts to ensure that the cooperation and peace which characterized the relationship between Greek and Turkish Cypriots for centuries, may again be restored and enjoyed by future generations. Savas Savvides Savas Savvides, a Greek-Cypriot residing in The United States, is a founding member of The Cyprus Forum and the President of a computer software company. ~~~~~~~~~~~~ A<>E<>R The only real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes. -Marcel Proust + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + Forwarded as information only; no endorsement to be presumed + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without charge or profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this type of information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. 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