WPT Event in Northern Cyprus September 2009

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Arachnaphid

Well-Known Member
Mar 22, 2009
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World Poker Tour (WPT) Event in Northern Cyprus Sept 2009

Please think twice before entering any WPT events, as WPT clearly (for the reasons below)lack moral integrity. This important issue has been raise and I am trying to help spread the word.

This is what the member of my forum said:

Re: World Poker Tour (WPT) Event in Northern Cyprus Sept 2009

Having recently arrived in Las Vegas, I was eagerly anticipating playing in the $25k buy in WPT championship event. In fact I have played in many WPT events over the years and to date have never missed the main April Bellagio event but suddenly found myself faced with a moral dilemma that will most likely lead to my being unable to support any future WPT events. Not a great loss to the WPT I must say but nonetheless it makes me question their lack of moral integrity.

The reason for this is basically down to my Cypriot ethnic origins as I was both surprised and shocked to discover that a WPT sanctioned event is scheduled for Northern Cyprus sometime in September later this year. Whilst I feel it is admirable that The WPT wish to spread their brand name to overseas venues I felt I had to write to them in order to ask why they have chosen to hold an event (or sanction an event) that is going to be held in Northern Cyprus which is currently deemed illegal internationally, not officially recognized and containing an occupying force of some 40000 foreign Turkish troops. I also felt strongly that I had to make the general poker public aware of this morally unjustifiable decision of The WPT so am posting this to various poker forums.

You may or may not know some of the history behind the island but for background information I will include a brief outline below.

In 1974 after a suspected coup attempting to unify Cyprus with Greece, Turkey invaded Cyprus (to give you an idea of how one-sided this invasion was it would be rather like the USA invading Hawaii). They took over approximately 40% of the island of Cyprus and thousands of Cypriots died in the conflict not to mention the hundreds of thousands that were displaced having their homes and lands illegally seized.

To this day 40% of the island still remains under illegal occupation.

In 1983 this separated section of Cyprus unilaterally declared independence from the rest of the island and is now known as the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.

This republic is NOT recognized by ANY country ANYWHERE in the world except for Turkey and as such means that it is heavily dependent on Turkey for economic support. (There are numerous United Nations Resolutions concerning Cyprus and condemnations of Turkey and the illegal occupation of Northern Cyprus but I shall not cite them here). In Addition the only direct/non-stop flights that exist to Northern Cyprus come from Turkey so any flights from anywhere else in the world must first land or touch-down in Turkey before going on to Northern Cyprus. Visitors to The Northern Part of Cyprus must also acknowledge the falsely claimed sovereignty of the Northern Territory as part of the entry visa requirements.

Subsequent to the invasion Turkey still maintains an army of approximately 40000 troops on the island and still occupies approximately 40% of the island which rightfully belongs to the (Southern) Republic of Cyprus which is globally recognized as the legal and rightful ruler of the whole island as it has the official sovereignty over the whole island.

By holding a WPT event or lending the brand name to an event in Kyrenia, Northern Cyprus the WPT is giving credibility to the continuing illegal occupation of Northern Cyprus and legitimising an illegal regime and republic that has stolen property and land belonging to others (incidentally the place at which the event is due to take place was illegally seized from the original owners and renamed from the original Zephyros).

Because the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus is not recognized internationally you will also find that trade is severely restricted with that part of the island and that the North is relatively poor and under developed when compared to the more prosperous South. There is also a greater incidence of crime, disease and poor health in The North when compared to The South and grossly inferior medical facilities not to mention the numerous human rights abuses.

As such I find it both incredible and surprising that The WPT would even consider holding a WPT event there never mind actually having one take place later this year. To do so would be very much like the WPT holding charity poker tournaments in order to raise funding for known terrorist organizations such as Hamas and The Taliban.

I also wrote to Full Tilt Poker asking why they are running online qualifiers for this event and I eagerly await both organizations responses along with their explanations and justifications for their actions and why they feel the need to support an event in an illegal republic that continues to occupy a land that belongs to others.

By supporting such an event they are legitimizing and giving credibility to an illegal occupation of a country and supporting their economy.

I am not and have never been one to dictate to others what they should or should not do because I strongly believe individuals should have freedom of choice but just wanted to make as many in the poker community aware of my and others deep feelings that exist surrounding this forthcoming tournament.

This post is not intended for discussion and I am sure the Cypriot Government via it’s US embassy will be addressing this issue directly with the organizations concerned but as I said above just wanted to give some background to all this and express my dissatisfaction with The WPT’s moral bankruptcy in the hope that they can be persuaded to dissociate themselves from this event.

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Please spread this word and think twice before regestering to Full Tilt and WPT Event.

Thank you.
 
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Arachnaphid thank you for this post.

Your time and effort is forth noted.

Bonus Paradise has taken on the policy
not to get involved in the politics of
the world. We are here to give our members
some information and enjoyment. Our goal
is to be worldwide friendly. Each and every
member has their opinions and we post accordingly.

In certain instances, we do take a stand
and your post needs some more research
and understanding.

Please rest assure that we look into these
matters with the utmost importance.
 
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Well Arachnaphid, you certainly raise some interesting points in your post. I would venture a guess that this is not the only area that you choose to express your patriotism. And while it is good to have a sense of pride in your origins, it is also important to remember that we are an entertainment driven industry. We try to provide for our members all that is the best in the online gaming industry. And we can not discriminate against one organization or another because of where they choose to hold events. I am certain, based on your post, that you are an educated person. You can certainly see that every county or nation in existence has, at one time or another, suffered some type of civil discord. Look at the USA, where I am from, with our history of civil disobedience with Great Britian, our own Civil war, and our current state of various forms of discrimination that are still prevelant. Surely we would be justified in telling everyone don't participate in events in this country until these moral dilemmas are rectified. The Middle East, the former Soviet block, Europe, the Far East, All parts of the world, have areas that are currently and/or formerly in states of discord. We could choose to boycott everywhere and everyone if we wanted to be politically correct.

Instead we choose to not discriminate based on race, creed, origin, or political correctness. We attempt to provide everyone with the option to pursue what is available in the gaming industry and hope that our efforts give each and every person the option of having a little fun in the gaming industry if they choose to pursue it.

Thank you again for your post and I hope this goes a little way towards explaining our postion on this issue. :thank you:
 
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The edit I did failed as where it says:

raise and I am trying to help spread the word.


It's supposed to say:

raised by a friend of mine and I am trying to help spread the word.

-----------

I'm english and the text is what my friend said- not me. I am just trying to help him spread this very important issue. Sorry for the confusion caused.
 
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sorry to hear about the situation in your native country. what has happened there is wrong but does and will always exist in the world. the wpt had nothing to do with the takeover so i don't feel they should be the victims here. instead of writing them and full tilt you should use your efforts to write to someone about the turkish invaders, the real criminals here. i have never heard anything regarding this invasion and appreciate the effort you took to inform us. i hope that the situation eventually rights itself and i would be willing to spare a couple minutes to write to support your cause as long as it was regarding the invaders and not the wpt.
 
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sorry to hear about the situation in your native country. what has happened there is wrong but does and will always exist in the world. the wpt had nothing to do with the takeover so i don't feel they should be the victims here. instead of writing them and full tilt you should use your efforts to write to someone about the turkish invaders, the real criminals here. i have never heard anything regarding this invasion and appreciate the effort you took to inform us. i hope that the situation eventually rights itself and i would be willing to spare a couple minutes to write to support your cause as long as it was regarding the invaders and not the wpt.

Please refer to my previous post and I again apologise profusely for the confusion that my mistake has clearly caused.
 
to write to support your cause as long as it was regarding the invaders and not the wpt.

Thanks for your obvious concern illphil. Please bear in mind that although I share my friends views, I am merely trying to spread the word, however I fear that you may have missed my friends point which is about the WPT. The main reason that my Cyprian friend was so appaled, hurt and upset about the affair is that by hosting an event in Northern Cyprus, the WPT is supporting illegal activities, as my friend points out, it is akin to hosting a tournament to raise money for terrorist organisations such as the al-Qaeda or the Taliban.

Kotsy said:
Bonus Paradise has taken on the policy
not to get involved in the politics of
the world. We are here to give our members
some information and enjoyment. Our goal
is to be worldwide friendly. Each and every
member has their opinions and we post accordingly.


I appriciate that Bonus Paradise wishes to remain neutral and avoid getting caught up on the politics of the gaming industry. I totally accept and understand that as it is more than fair.

In certain instances, we do take a stand
and your post needs some more research
and understanding.

Please rest assure that we look into these
matters with the utmost importance.

This is very good of Bonus Paradise, your support shown is tremendous and is very much appriciated by my friend and I (and anyone else who feels the same way). It would be far easier of Bonus Paradise to sit on the fence and ignore an issue like this, which would also be totally reasonable as the burden shouldn't rest with you. The fact that you have not taken (and I stress that this is my opinion) the easiest option but the right option.

:thank you:
 
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