The Cyprus puzzle will be solved when we can all agree that the tail wagging the dog is an unnatural state. I spent a good part of an hour last night laughing with this metaphor first made, in the context of Cyprus' Turkish problem, by David Edmond at the Lobby for Cyprus Facebook page.
Both the 1960 idiotic minority ultra rights, dynamite at the foundations really, and the despicable bi-zonal, bi-communal federation (BBF) idea are the wrong basis to build a future on. The BBF idea tries to make sense of it all in a totally wrong way, not only by taking as a basis the bogus 1960 interpretation of equality but in addition it incorporates the unlawful and heinous repercussions of one of the most violent and uncalled for crimes of the 20th century post WW-II, the invasion, division, occupation, ethnic cleansing and colonization of Cyprus by Turkey.
Two reasons necessitate that tCypriots act, and that they act now!
Turkey may be headed for internal trouble as discussions for a constitutional overhaul will not be including the BDP, the Kurdish party, which abstains from the Turkish parliament since last month and declared Kurdish autonomy on July 14th. If indeed things take a turn for the worse in Turkey, it will have repercussions in Cyprus and especially tCypriots. The certainty is that Turkey will not be able to avoid the comparison between the rights its sees fit for a 10% minority of Cyprus and a 22+% minority of Turkey. tCypriots must realize that their rights would be significantly less than Makarios' 1963 proposals prescribed if they enjoyed the same rights Kurds enjoy in the Republic of Turkey today.
Turkey may be headed for internal trouble as discussions for a constitutional overhaul will not be including the BDP, the Kurdish party, which abstains from the Turkish parliament since last month and declared Kurdish autonomy on July 14th. If indeed things take a turn for the worse in Turkey, it will have repercussions in Cyprus and especially tCypriots. The certainty is that Turkey will not be able to avoid the comparison between the rights its sees fit for a 10% minority of Cyprus and a 22+% minority of Turkey. tCypriots must realize that their rights would be significantly less than Makarios' 1963 proposals prescribed if they enjoyed the same rights Kurds enjoy in the Republic of Turkey today.
Second, in a couple of months the RoC may be an energy superpower and RoC representatives have already made it abundantly clear that the proceeds belong to all legal RoC citizens. At present, tCypriots are not such citizens, aside perhaps from holding a Cypriot passport, thus not only not enjoying their full rights as RoC citizens but also limiting the rights of gCypriots who cannot enjoy their lives and property in their towns of Keryneia, Lapithos, Varosi, Morphou, etc. gCypriots will be even less willing to deal if sitting on such a treasure. Four out of five permanent members of the UN Security Council, UK (EU), France (EU), Russia and the USA have already proclaimed RoC's sovereign right to explore for hydrocarbons.
I can think of a third reason why tCypriots need to act now. It will be a unilateral deposit in Cypriot community relations' mending. It will go a long way in the very sensitive Cypriot heart. Notice how I did not distinguish between 'g' and 't', as I believe it to be the same in kindness and sensitivity. Unilaterally pursuing the just and right solution for Cyprus is vastly different than waiting until one has no other choice. Because the combination of energy and the Kurds may simply leave tCypriots no other choice than to seek their reintegration back to the RoC.
No matter what decisions tCypriots make, my friend David's metaphor puts matters in perspective: the tail cannot be allowed to wag the dog, as 1960 prescribed or a BBF tries to do! It's simply not natural.
