Cyprus: seeking the wrong solution?

Thu, Dec 22, 2011 by Alfred A Farrugia in Washington  FAMAGUSTA GAZETTE

A Cyprus settlement for the reunification of Cyprus, its people, its economy and society, … has eluded us for over 37-years.” These are the words of the Hon. Minister of Foreign Affairs of Cyprus, Dr. Erato Kozakou-Marcoullis expressed in the course of her informative presentation at the Director’s Forum of the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington, DC, on December 20.

The Law of the Sea Vs. a sea of inconsistencies

An answer to  The Law of the Sea: Turkey vs. Cyprus by Alper Ali Rıza 13 Dec 2011 Today's Zaman  by Dr G. Pamboridis , 14 December 2011 , 17:06 - Even though the affiliations of the author could not be hidden, I have to say this is one of the most open minded articles I have read from a person of Turkish decent (if I assume correctly). I must applaud. With all respect though, International Law is not only Treaty Law; it is primarily Customary Law and it is not subject to the adherence of Turkey to it, through the ratification of the Law of the Sea Convention. 

The EU can get angry too, as it turns out

At a meeting on Thursday afternoon in Brussels with President of Cyprus Demetris Christofias, President of the Socialists Group at the European Parliament Martin Schulz was asked to comment on Turkey`s recent behavior as regards the Cyprus issue and the threats Ankara has launched against Cyprus` sovereign right to explore and exploit any hydrocarbon reserves in its Exclusive Economic Zone, Schulz said “I was angry and I told it to the Turkish Minister of EU Affairs Egemen Bagis“.

Dominos

"Kurds [of Syria] have learned their lessons from the past and are following a strategy which is quite shrewd" Nihat Ali Ozcan

"The power vacuum and the Kurdish sovereign region [in Syria] that will emerge in the wake of the breakdown of the regime will mean the start of new problems for Turkey" NAO

The price of wanting to be

Kurds want their mother-tongue not to be unknown in the country where they live and constitute circa 25% of the population. Those who deny them are the very same people who in the case of another's nation's like-sized percentage-wise ethnic minority, that of Cyprus, consider such request a self-evident truth and a mere starting point for more community-based rights favoring the minority.

Is it too much to ask of Turkey's ethnic-Turkish majority community to use same principles?

 

Turkish police is brutally treating Kurds.  The song is in the language that does not exist!

A President and a Dr.

"Turkey must also work to support a Cyprus settlement, and open its ports to the Republic of Cyprus as it has committed to do. A Cyprus settlement would have benefits extending well beyond the island, from aviation safety to more efficient EU/NATO co-operation. Negotiations on a comprehensive settlement have now reached an intensive phase and we welcome the commitment of President Christofias and Dr Eroğlu to work within the UN framework for a successful outcome."

Audronis Ažubalis, Carl Bildt, Edgars Rinkēvičs, Erkki Tuomioja, Guido Westerwelle, Giulio Terzi, János Martonyi, Karel Schwarzenberg, Samuel Žbogar, Urmas Paet and William Hague are the foreign ministers of Lithuania, Sweden, Latvia, Finland, Germany, Italy, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Estonia and the UK.

Loot weighing heavy on the conscience?

"The majority of the Turkish Cypriots welcomed the Turkish intervention in Cyprus with excitement which turned into real holiday joy when they got to share the property left behind by the Greek Cypriots luxurious buildings, houses, factories, hotels became the property of Turkish Cypriots, It all happened so suddenly, The cheerful childlike Turkish Cypriots were dipping their hand into a goody bag as they took over or ransacked the beautiful Greek Cypriot houses.

You, the Greeks of Cyprus, are crazy

You Greeks are crazy. You the Greeks of Cyprus, who I have gotten to know well. In order to avoid negativeness, I must clarify that I came to your island out of love for the Greek civilisation. Greek mythology was my favourite book, for years I have resorted to its pages and I have almost memorized it. In the village I was born, a neighbouring family had given ancient Greek names to all their 7 children such as Αριστείδης (Aristides), Ιάσονας (Jason), Σωκράτης (Socrates), Αντιγόνη (Antigone). A ‘smart’ compatriot of yours, a smartass rather, who wasn’t comfortable with the black Zulu children with ancient Greek names, said: What have the Zulus got to do with Homer and Plato? Our neighbour, the father of the children, replied with pride: Greeks now have the whole planet as their homeland.

Democratic enough?

Let's say several of us Cypriots (gCs, tCs,aCs, mCs, lCs *), residents of Cyprus and friends of Cyprus come up with a constitution based on a unitary state and away from the BBF (federation) basis.

We do our best to make it EU acquis compatible and fair for the small and large ethnic minority communities of Cyprus. We even seek the advice and blessings of the Council of Europe. We also address the sensitive and gradual undoing to the maximum extend possible of the damage done in 1974 and the ensuing division/ occupation/ethnic cleansing/ demographic alteration.

Don Quixotian condition

Sometimes, without realizing it even, some of us come across as the typical Cypriot that has been conditioned to assume a defeatist attitude. He/she sees Ergenekon/ TSK/ CHP/ MIT/ AKP/ TMT teeth that prevent him/her from thinking, logically and clairvoyantly, possibilities through to the end. Not a pretty sight, I have to admit, those fierce grey wolves' teeth. But are they really there in the path which is proposed?

Catch-22

Caroline's catch 22 statement is of course correct. We are indeed in a situation in which the desired outcome is impossible to attain because of a set of inherently illogical rules or conditions. I consider 1960, 1974, 77&79 (the BBF basis) and Turkey's illegal TSK & settler presence all integral parts that maintain our catch-22 predicament. This is why the problem definition needs to be revisited.

What's the name for it?

What do you call the act of changing a nation's ethnic map in less than a month as depicted in the maps attached?

Is a similar act the solution to Turkey's Kurdish problem?

"While many Kurds are ready to remain within a unitary Turkish state so long as they can have full cultural rights, for most Turks the idea of Turkish Cypriots accepting simply minority status in a Greek-Cypriot dominated Republic of Cyprus is anathema. Why?" - Kirsty Hughes