Getting it Wrong - Martin Packard introduces his book on Cyprus in the early 60s

"Getting it Wrong - Fragments from a Cyprus Diary 1964" by Martin Packard, provides unique and critical reportage of events in Cyprus in 1964 (http://vimeo.com/4094108).

In this video, recorded in April 2009 following publication of his book, Martin Packard introduces himself and provides a general account of what happened in Cyprus back in 1963,4 and explains how that is still relevant in 2009.

Is a picture worth just a thousand words or perhaps a nation's entire constitution?

Was self-segregation an intentional Turkish Cypriot (fully supported by Turkey) policy?

The Secretary-General of the United Nations in 1965 described the policy of the Turkish Cypriot leaders in this way (click here for the original United Nations' S/6426 - may be slow to load):

Hooliganism or a "blessing" in disguise?

Punish those responsible for the security planning. Punish those involved in the making. Punish those who failed to respond properly. Punish those in positions of authority who failed to treat the incident as a matter of national security.

Silent & Majority | Christofias' proposals

The silent majority of decent CYPRIOTS who genuinely care for the future of their country do take a stand and they say to their leaders that the continuation of the illegal occupation is preferrable to signing away the Republic of Cyprus and along with it our dignity as a people.

Cypriots, they tell us, cannnot live togehter. Can the Kurds and Turks?

It is an unfortunate fact for the TSK [Turkish Armed Forces] that if Cypriots can live together after all then Turkey's raison d'être in Cyprus ceases to exist. It is regrettably so simple to explain Turkey's high profile response to such an incident!

Will The Very First Book in Kurdish Ever Be Approved in Turkey?

Recently the Turkish press celebrated, prematurely as most often is the case in Turkey, the first book in Kurdish which may be approved to be studied at a small number of Turkish schools.

A single book for an entire ethnic community (nation) in 87 years! Just maybe!

President Makarios' 1963 Proposals - The Actual 13-Bullet Letter

SUGGESTED MEASURES FOR FACILITATING THE SMOOTH FUNCTIONING OF THE STATE AND FOR THE REMOVAL OF CERTAIN CAUSES OF INTER- COMMUNAL FRICTION (1963)

The Constitution of the Republic of Cyprus, in its present form, creates many difficulties in the smooth government of the State and impedes the development and progress of the country.

The ball is in the Turkish Cypriots' court alone!

I believe that the intention of those who drew up the 1960 agreement in Zurich was to create an independent State, in which the interests of the T-Cypriot minority community were safeguarded, but it could not have been their intention that the smooth functioning and development of the country should be prejudiced or thwarted, as the first years demonstrated.

Why are the British likely to be biased on the Cyprus issue?

Several years back I believe the British press, as part of the wider Anglo-Saxon axis, convinced you that Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction. The reporting ofcourse was "objective" in the sense that it took on good faith the information coming out of British and American "intelligence" services. The word in quotes so as not to insult ours. Now, let me offer you a word on the objectivity of the British press of the 1960s which is often referred to by T-Cypriots and Turks to highlight the events of the period.

Is meddling in Turkey's affairs fair play?

Turkey's present intransigence, coupled with her unpredicable & potentially explosive situation with her own 22+% Kurdish ethnic minority, may lead many more tCypriots to choose to leave from Cyprus, thus today's ratio of 90-10% of legal Cypriots to improve significantly more in favor of gCypriots during the next several years.

The cornerstone of Turkish (& tCypriot) arguments is two-fold

1. they are equal as per 1960; and
2. there is a de-facto division since 1974;

What if no solution is agreed upon by March 2011?

In Nov/2010 Wikileaks revealed that a Turkish diplomat said he regretted perceived Greek Cypriot complacency regarding the island's reunification talks, observing that EU “membership makes them invulnerable”.

'Invulnerable' is perhaps too strong a word; however, it captures what some of us have been saying, and it is nice to see that Turkish diplomats acknowledge it.

No solution means realistically three things:

Fear of Turkey's Cyprification

In any truly democratic country we would never witness such a gathering! In Turkey the soldier controls the nation's fate, as well as that of occupied Cyprus. His cautions his interlocutors that messing with his island project means Kemalism will have the last word! Most importantly, he sternly warns them that "the silly games with 'democratic' initiatives towards the 20 million strong Kurdish community are raising expectations for wide autonomy, recognition of Kurdish as an official language and even the transition to a federation. These may be beautiful bedtime stories but the reality is that you are playing with fire. We will end up with a reverse Cyprus at home and that would not be smart!"