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Pinellas letters to the editor for Nov. 7

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FROM OUR READERS

Published: November 7, 2009

Know-nothings

Editor:

I read online with disbelief your story about Tarpon Springs Mayor Beverley Billiris involving the community in international politics by having the City Commission adopt a resolution criticizing Turkey for its "continuing military occupation" of Northern Cyprus. Did the mayor, on her journey, travel to the other side of the Green Line, which divides Cyprus, to hear the other side of the story?

Did her friend in Larnaca tell her about the decade of ethnic cleansing that her hosts inflicted on the Turkish Cypriots prior to 1974? The villages that were wiped out by the EOKA terrorists? Or the fact that they forced the Turkish Cypriots into small, armed enclaves to defend their very lives?

Was she told that Larnaca International Airport was built on land that belonged to Turkish Cypriots who were forced to flee to the north?

And does Commissioner Chris Alahouzos seriously believe that Turkey intervened in this bloodbath just to gain access to a port when it has, according to the "CIA World Factbook," an area larger than Texas and a coastline of more than 7,200 kilometers?

The leaders of the Greek and Turkish communities on Cyprus are trying to find a solution to the 35-year dispute. Does Mayor Billiris really think that the actions of Tarpon Springs officials will help heal that rift? Local politicians should stick to local issues and not try to interfere in matters they know nothing about.

Hal Crompton

Northern Cyprus

Dumb decision

Editor:

Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty raises rates on insurance for heavily unemployed Pasco and Hernando counties and lowers them for Pinellas and Hillsborough. Why? Politics?

We've had a good year for insurance in Florida, but the insurers are not satisfied. Those living on the edge, however, surely will be pushed over and the tax base will shrink further. So far, 58,000 people have left the state this year. Is Mr. McCarty trying for an even 100,000?

It's like Forest Gump's momma said, "Stupid is as stupid does." This year's award goes to Mr. McCarty.

Donald L. Johnson

Holiday

Another voice

Editor:

I'm glad to see that besides Rich Lowry, this newspaper has decided to listen to its readers and become more to the middle by including conservative voices as well as liberal.

Attilio Corbo

Palm Harbor

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