Someone should put an end to this madness
The two communities in Cyprus have lived apart for a long time. When there is separation, one cannot speak of co-operation, and friendship.
If we accpet 1974 as the date of severance, this situation continued up until 2003. The openin of the border crossings after a 29-year break provided both communities with an important opportunity. Indeeded, we witnessed some colourful reunions over the first few months: emotional moments with old friends embraced; invitations reciprocated, barbecues, picnics together and tavern dinners all raised our hopes.
And just when we expected these relationships to reach a stage when they would contribute towards a solution, we were confronted with the disappointing opposite. Those frequent, warm and hospitable meetings that had prevailed in the first few months slowly dwindled.
Of course, the political leaders played an important role in an all this; especially the Greek Cypriot leadership.
What is particularly disappointing is that while relations between the two communities were improving, the extreme nationalists made use of the opportunity to transform their views into action.
No one can deny that the majority of Turkish Cypriots are fond of doing their shopping at the supermarkets and malls in South Cyprus. Especially over the past month with the opening of Ikea and the Carrefour shopping centre, three out of every ten people you come across is a Turkish Cypriot.
On the other hand, the placing of flyers with ‘Cyprus is Greek’ written on them on the windscreens of cars with Turkish Cypriot number plates is only repaying an act of goodwill with a mean gesture.
According to the information our newspaper has received, there has been an alarming increase in the number of attacks against Turkish Cypriots at the Orphanides Shopping Centre over the past two weeks. We await the announcement by the Minister of Interior of the outcome of a police report regarding an incident in which two Greek Cypriots stopped a Turkish Cypriot car before smashing its windows with iron bars. Again in the same area, information is awaited as to whether a Greek Cypriot youth was arrested, having stopped a Turkish Cypriot woman’s car to cover its windscreen with a Greek flag. A great number of cars in Carrefour’s car park have been sprayed with paint. Someone has to stand up and give us some answers about these incidents.
The Turkish Cypriots voted overwhelmingly in favour of a solution but were crushed bu the Greek Cypriots side’s rejection. Nevertheless, they cross into South Cyprus to do most of their shopping at the price of ruining businesses in North Cyprus. Even if they are not received with gratitude for their continuing good will, they should not be subjected to such attacks.
As a concerned person who fears the increase of such acts as the elections draw closer, I would like to warn the Minister of Interior and the head of th Greek Cypriot police department: fascism is no kind of settlement.
Resat AKAR
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Saturday, June 03, 2006
Trust is the most serious issue
Why are 48% of Greek Cypriots against the idea of living with Turkish Cypriots?
Well You may receive several different answers to that question.
But you can be sure that a crushing majority of Greek Cypriots will say: “I don’t trust them”.
And the same goes for Turkish Cypriots…
I’m sure if Turkish Cypriots today, many of whom voted overwhelmingly in favour of Annan Plan during the 24th April referendum (65% to be exact), are as enthusiastic about reaching a solution as they were back then.
Even politicians and leaders who led to the “yes” campaign during the build-up to the referendum say that the 65% affirmative vote no longer exists. Many warn that new surveys would reveal a less optimistic result: less than 50 percent at best.
The reason behind the current situation is insecurity or a lack of trust. Even most middle aged and elderly Cypriots today, who were at first captured by the excitement of regularity meeting and socializing following the opening of the crossing points a few years back, no longer come together that often.
Thanks to the continuous efforts of the media and politicians who do a wonderful job of fanning the flames of partition, the abyss of insecurity between two communities deepens.
And I believe this signals the beginning of dangerous times. What is to be done?
Should we follow in the footsteps of customs officerfs stationed at the checkpoints? Are we going to regain trust and improve our relations by subjecting people like United Cyprus Party leader Izzet Izcan, a staunch supporter of peace and reunification at all costs, to inhuman treatment and intimidation? By shredding the X-rays and doctors’ reports of his sick mother? Is this the right way to go?
Or are we going to stand by people like Adamos Katsonidis and Yiltan Tasci and make good examples of them?
Are we going to increase the number of bi-communal events?
Are we going to host more varied events to bring people from the two communities together?
Are we going to support actions that will cleanse our brain-washed children of their prejudices or do we prefer to support those who sow seeds of hatred and emmity?
As victims of the particular pain inflicted by enmity, conflict, war and migration, wouldn’t it be better to open a new chapter of friendship instead of inciting more hatred and partition?
What is important is that people should act accordingly to their true obligations.
They should take people like Yiltan and Adamos as good examples.
The creation of a better, a safer Cyprus should be their only obligation.
Resat Akar
April 28, 2006
Well You may receive several different answers to that question.
But you can be sure that a crushing majority of Greek Cypriots will say: “I don’t trust them”.
And the same goes for Turkish Cypriots…
I’m sure if Turkish Cypriots today, many of whom voted overwhelmingly in favour of Annan Plan during the 24th April referendum (65% to be exact), are as enthusiastic about reaching a solution as they were back then.
Even politicians and leaders who led to the “yes” campaign during the build-up to the referendum say that the 65% affirmative vote no longer exists. Many warn that new surveys would reveal a less optimistic result: less than 50 percent at best.
The reason behind the current situation is insecurity or a lack of trust. Even most middle aged and elderly Cypriots today, who were at first captured by the excitement of regularity meeting and socializing following the opening of the crossing points a few years back, no longer come together that often.
Thanks to the continuous efforts of the media and politicians who do a wonderful job of fanning the flames of partition, the abyss of insecurity between two communities deepens.
And I believe this signals the beginning of dangerous times. What is to be done?
Should we follow in the footsteps of customs officerfs stationed at the checkpoints? Are we going to regain trust and improve our relations by subjecting people like United Cyprus Party leader Izzet Izcan, a staunch supporter of peace and reunification at all costs, to inhuman treatment and intimidation? By shredding the X-rays and doctors’ reports of his sick mother? Is this the right way to go?
Or are we going to stand by people like Adamos Katsonidis and Yiltan Tasci and make good examples of them?
Are we going to increase the number of bi-communal events?
Are we going to host more varied events to bring people from the two communities together?
Are we going to support actions that will cleanse our brain-washed children of their prejudices or do we prefer to support those who sow seeds of hatred and emmity?
As victims of the particular pain inflicted by enmity, conflict, war and migration, wouldn’t it be better to open a new chapter of friendship instead of inciting more hatred and partition?
What is important is that people should act accordingly to their true obligations.
They should take people like Yiltan and Adamos as good examples.
The creation of a better, a safer Cyprus should be their only obligation.
Resat Akar
April 28, 2006
Friday, May 12, 2006
Even if we share the same DNA…
Even if we share the same DNA…
Cyprus is indeed an interesting country…
It’s a country where thousands have been massacred, left homeless or deprived of their property…all in the name of nationalism.
It’s a piece of land where freedom of movement has been restricted for over thirty years.
Cyprus’s surface area is 9,250 sq. km in total.
Singapore on the other hand has a total surface area of 622 sq. km…
Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots, whose joint populations amount to less than a million have failed to live together in peace and harmony…
They have failed to learn from the 4 million 200 thousand Chinese and Malaysians who live in Singapore…
Let us take a short trip back in time. Our grandparents and parents spent their whole lives in fear, under oppression and force.
We are wasting our lives over solution plans and arguments emerging from those proposals.
We continue to focus our energy on prejudice and partition, despite being aware of the fact that the current lack of solution on the island will drag our children and future generations into dangerous waters.
The Greek Cypriot Mayor of Nicosia Zambelas said that Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots had matching DNA. He even went so far as to claim that Greek Cypriot DNA was far from matching that of mainland Greeks…and Turkish Cypriot DNA is far from matching that of mainland Turks.
But in reality does this change anything?
Yes, perhaps it’s difficult to differentiate Yannaki’s physical appearance from that of Ali.
It’s especially hard to tell the difference between Ayse and Androulla who come from the same mixed village. But even through faces, actions or habits may appear to be similar, it’s hard to say the same about the minds that are remotely controlled. If those who control minds from a distance claim that “the main aim is Enosis but Turkish Cypriots are the only obstacle to this”, then that’s the direction in which the minds of Greek Cypriots will work…
It was the same when Turkish Cypriots were told that “Taksim is the only way; it’s impossible to live with Greek Cypriots”. That was the direction they took.
But surprisingly enough, after 30 years, Turkish Cypriots broke away from the grip of remote control to express their desire to reunify. But according to a survey recently conducted by RIK, 48% of Greek Cypriots have expressed their support of partition.
So what to do next?
The most logical step is to decide whether to live together in peace and equality or continue to remain divided in the uneasy truce. But what is important is that the people who share the same DNA should make this decision themselves, without being influenced by anyone else.
Cyprus is indeed an interesting country…
It’s a country where thousands have been massacred, left homeless or deprived of their property…all in the name of nationalism.
It’s a piece of land where freedom of movement has been restricted for over thirty years.
Cyprus’s surface area is 9,250 sq. km in total.
Singapore on the other hand has a total surface area of 622 sq. km…
Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots, whose joint populations amount to less than a million have failed to live together in peace and harmony…
They have failed to learn from the 4 million 200 thousand Chinese and Malaysians who live in Singapore…
Let us take a short trip back in time. Our grandparents and parents spent their whole lives in fear, under oppression and force.
We are wasting our lives over solution plans and arguments emerging from those proposals.
We continue to focus our energy on prejudice and partition, despite being aware of the fact that the current lack of solution on the island will drag our children and future generations into dangerous waters.
The Greek Cypriot Mayor of Nicosia Zambelas said that Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots had matching DNA. He even went so far as to claim that Greek Cypriot DNA was far from matching that of mainland Greeks…and Turkish Cypriot DNA is far from matching that of mainland Turks.
But in reality does this change anything?
Yes, perhaps it’s difficult to differentiate Yannaki’s physical appearance from that of Ali.
It’s especially hard to tell the difference between Ayse and Androulla who come from the same mixed village. But even through faces, actions or habits may appear to be similar, it’s hard to say the same about the minds that are remotely controlled. If those who control minds from a distance claim that “the main aim is Enosis but Turkish Cypriots are the only obstacle to this”, then that’s the direction in which the minds of Greek Cypriots will work…
It was the same when Turkish Cypriots were told that “Taksim is the only way; it’s impossible to live with Greek Cypriots”. That was the direction they took.
But surprisingly enough, after 30 years, Turkish Cypriots broke away from the grip of remote control to express their desire to reunify. But according to a survey recently conducted by RIK, 48% of Greek Cypriots have expressed their support of partition.
So what to do next?
The most logical step is to decide whether to live together in peace and equality or continue to remain divided in the uneasy truce. But what is important is that the people who share the same DNA should make this decision themselves, without being influenced by anyone else.
Friday, May 05, 2006
Census in North Cyprus
Census in North Cyprus
Everyone living in North Cyprus was confined to their homes last Sunday due to the execution of the population and housing census. A daytime curfew was imposed from 5 a.m. to 6 p.m. In other words it was a historical day for North Cyprus.
Confining people to their homes, like solutions plans, government announcements, constitutional votes, elections, rallies and demonstrations are important historical occasions.
The previous census conducted in 1996 was carried in the same way.
Despite passing of 10 years since the last census, Cyprus, an EU member, is still incapable of conducting a census electronically, so, yes, under these circumstances, confining people to their homes deserves to be marked as an historic occasion. Officials visiting people’s homes on the day posed a total of 61 questions, such as place of birth, level of education, nationality, place of employment, the condition of household and even the total numbers of generators people owned. Some people obediently and quietly answered the questions. Others protested, claiming that the questions were unnecessary and far too personal.
But if you ask my opinion, I think the number of questions was not enough. If you’re asking people questions such as what their nationality is, where they are working and if they have changed employment in the past week, you should also ask them to which Society or Association they belong, and what their political ideology is.
Why? Well, simply because Cyprus is no longer the old Cyprus we knew. 32 years ago Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots were preoccupied with being Turks and Greeks and fighting over ENOSIS and TAKSIM. Turkish Cypriots had their Ataturk Societies and TMT.
But no we have Alevis, Sunnis, secularists and non-secularists living in North Cyprus. We have enemies of Ataturk and cult members. We even have PKK members.
No, you haven’t misread what I have just written! According to a recent US State Department report on terrorism, the PKK had organized and established a strong hold on both sides of the divide. In the past years, Turkish Cypriot leaders were constantly lashing out at the Greek Cypriot leadership, claiming that the PKK was carrying out their military training somewhere in the Trodos mountains. Now the US Administration is naming a location for the PKK: South Cyprus and North Cyprus.
Interestingly, the Turkish government does not deny these reports. So I think they should ask the public in the North:
Do you belong to the TMT or the PKK?
Resat Akar
Editor of Cyprus Dialogue
Everyone living in North Cyprus was confined to their homes last Sunday due to the execution of the population and housing census. A daytime curfew was imposed from 5 a.m. to 6 p.m. In other words it was a historical day for North Cyprus.
Confining people to their homes, like solutions plans, government announcements, constitutional votes, elections, rallies and demonstrations are important historical occasions.
The previous census conducted in 1996 was carried in the same way.
Despite passing of 10 years since the last census, Cyprus, an EU member, is still incapable of conducting a census electronically, so, yes, under these circumstances, confining people to their homes deserves to be marked as an historic occasion. Officials visiting people’s homes on the day posed a total of 61 questions, such as place of birth, level of education, nationality, place of employment, the condition of household and even the total numbers of generators people owned. Some people obediently and quietly answered the questions. Others protested, claiming that the questions were unnecessary and far too personal.
But if you ask my opinion, I think the number of questions was not enough. If you’re asking people questions such as what their nationality is, where they are working and if they have changed employment in the past week, you should also ask them to which Society or Association they belong, and what their political ideology is.
Why? Well, simply because Cyprus is no longer the old Cyprus we knew. 32 years ago Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots were preoccupied with being Turks and Greeks and fighting over ENOSIS and TAKSIM. Turkish Cypriots had their Ataturk Societies and TMT.
But no we have Alevis, Sunnis, secularists and non-secularists living in North Cyprus. We have enemies of Ataturk and cult members. We even have PKK members.
No, you haven’t misread what I have just written! According to a recent US State Department report on terrorism, the PKK had organized and established a strong hold on both sides of the divide. In the past years, Turkish Cypriot leaders were constantly lashing out at the Greek Cypriot leadership, claiming that the PKK was carrying out their military training somewhere in the Trodos mountains. Now the US Administration is naming a location for the PKK: South Cyprus and North Cyprus.
Interestingly, the Turkish government does not deny these reports. So I think they should ask the public in the North:
Do you belong to the TMT or the PKK?
Resat Akar
Editor of Cyprus Dialogue
Friday, January 20, 2006
To be Cypriot…
To be Cypriot…
The year is 1976… Having just been elected as the CTP leader, Ozker Ozgur gave a speech at the end of which he sent out the message for unity-soldarity-struggle with the ‘Brother Party AKEL’ and expressed the hope for the unification of Cyprus…
At the time, the AKEL leader was Ezekias Papayuannu and he also would constantly refer to the CTP as the ‘Brother Party’…
The yr is 1989… The Czech Ambassador to Nicosia has invited those leaders who were unable to meet in Cyprus, to Prague where he had organized a joint meeting…
I observed that meeting from start to finish…
Ozker Ozgur, Mustafa Akinci and Ismet Kotak were amongst the Turkish Cypriot politicians…
Dimitris Hristofoyas, Glafkos Klerides, Tassos Papadopoulos and Dr. Vassos Lissardis were amongst the Greek Cypriot politicians…
As always, Lissaridis created a crisis during the meeting with his negative attitude…
On the first day when the meeting broke up for lunch, Tassos Papadopoulos spread the ‘Republic of Cyprus’ flag he had brought with him on his table, thereby makin it impossible for the Turkish Cypriot politicans to remain there at the table…
The Turkish Cypriot politicians reacted, saying: “In our opinion, the Republic of Cyprus was destroyed in 1963. Since we are now discussing a bizonal, bicommunal federal state, what’s the point of putting the Republic of Cyprus flag on the table?”
Following this reaction, Papadopoulos’s flag was kept away from the dinner table on the remaining days of the meeting….
The warmest rapprochement between the Turkish and Greek Cypriot politicians was between Christofias and Ozgur and Klerides and Akinci….
Christofias’s and Ozgur’s rooms were next to one another and everyone was curious as to whether this was a coincidence or if it had been arranged on purpose by the organizer, Czechoslovakia…
As far as I know, the AKEL-CTP relationship didn’t continue only when Ozker Ozgur was the CTP leader but also during the period when Mehmet Ali Talat was the party leader…
There has been no disagreement come to light between the current CTP leader Ferdi Sabit Soyer and Christofias, or between Talat and Christofias…
That is, until AKEL came to power in the South and the CTP in the North…
When both parties were in the opposition the stated aim of both was settlement…
There was a consesus of views on the issue that a settlement should be based on a bizonal, bicommunal federal settlement on the basis of the Denktas-Makarios and Denktas-Kiprianou high level arrangements…
In the event of AKEL coming to power in the South and the CTP in the North, a promise had been made that the two parties would fight together for a settlement…
In the South, AKEL came to power with DIKO and EDEK…
In the North, the CTP came to power with the DP…
Despite strong opposition from former leader Rauf Denktas and the National Unity Party, the CTP leadership succeeded in carrying the Tirkish Cypriot people to the refferendum and to voting in affirmation of the Annan Plan…
Whereas AKEL at first wanted to postpone the referendum and then rejected it outright…
As a result of which, Cyprus was not reunited…
Tens of thousands of people were left unable to return to their homes, property and land…
Despite saying that if some ‘small changes’ were made to the Annan Plan, it could again be put to a referendum, AKEL has not even managed to achieve this in a period of nearly 21 months….
We are now faced with the elections for the Representatives Assembly…
It’s the first time that AKEL has been so distant from the CTP…
Whereas DISI is approaching the CTP in a way that we have never seen or anticipated before…
Last Wednesday night they organized a joint concert at the Melina Merkouri hall…
On Monday night the same concert will be repeated at the Near East University…
The Cyprus problem remains unresolved…
The Ledra wall is still there…
Yesterday’s so-called ‘Brother Parties’ are now sharing today’s leadership!
Is it easy to be a Cypriot?
Is it easy?
Resat Akar
The year is 1976… Having just been elected as the CTP leader, Ozker Ozgur gave a speech at the end of which he sent out the message for unity-soldarity-struggle with the ‘Brother Party AKEL’ and expressed the hope for the unification of Cyprus…
At the time, the AKEL leader was Ezekias Papayuannu and he also would constantly refer to the CTP as the ‘Brother Party’…
The yr is 1989… The Czech Ambassador to Nicosia has invited those leaders who were unable to meet in Cyprus, to Prague where he had organized a joint meeting…
I observed that meeting from start to finish…
Ozker Ozgur, Mustafa Akinci and Ismet Kotak were amongst the Turkish Cypriot politicians…
Dimitris Hristofoyas, Glafkos Klerides, Tassos Papadopoulos and Dr. Vassos Lissardis were amongst the Greek Cypriot politicians…
As always, Lissaridis created a crisis during the meeting with his negative attitude…
On the first day when the meeting broke up for lunch, Tassos Papadopoulos spread the ‘Republic of Cyprus’ flag he had brought with him on his table, thereby makin it impossible for the Turkish Cypriot politicans to remain there at the table…
The Turkish Cypriot politicians reacted, saying: “In our opinion, the Republic of Cyprus was destroyed in 1963. Since we are now discussing a bizonal, bicommunal federal state, what’s the point of putting the Republic of Cyprus flag on the table?”
Following this reaction, Papadopoulos’s flag was kept away from the dinner table on the remaining days of the meeting….
The warmest rapprochement between the Turkish and Greek Cypriot politicians was between Christofias and Ozgur and Klerides and Akinci….
Christofias’s and Ozgur’s rooms were next to one another and everyone was curious as to whether this was a coincidence or if it had been arranged on purpose by the organizer, Czechoslovakia…
As far as I know, the AKEL-CTP relationship didn’t continue only when Ozker Ozgur was the CTP leader but also during the period when Mehmet Ali Talat was the party leader…
There has been no disagreement come to light between the current CTP leader Ferdi Sabit Soyer and Christofias, or between Talat and Christofias…
That is, until AKEL came to power in the South and the CTP in the North…
When both parties were in the opposition the stated aim of both was settlement…
There was a consesus of views on the issue that a settlement should be based on a bizonal, bicommunal federal settlement on the basis of the Denktas-Makarios and Denktas-Kiprianou high level arrangements…
In the event of AKEL coming to power in the South and the CTP in the North, a promise had been made that the two parties would fight together for a settlement…
In the South, AKEL came to power with DIKO and EDEK…
In the North, the CTP came to power with the DP…
Despite strong opposition from former leader Rauf Denktas and the National Unity Party, the CTP leadership succeeded in carrying the Tirkish Cypriot people to the refferendum and to voting in affirmation of the Annan Plan…
Whereas AKEL at first wanted to postpone the referendum and then rejected it outright…
As a result of which, Cyprus was not reunited…
Tens of thousands of people were left unable to return to their homes, property and land…
Despite saying that if some ‘small changes’ were made to the Annan Plan, it could again be put to a referendum, AKEL has not even managed to achieve this in a period of nearly 21 months….
We are now faced with the elections for the Representatives Assembly…
It’s the first time that AKEL has been so distant from the CTP…
Whereas DISI is approaching the CTP in a way that we have never seen or anticipated before…
Last Wednesday night they organized a joint concert at the Melina Merkouri hall…
On Monday night the same concert will be repeated at the Near East University…
The Cyprus problem remains unresolved…
The Ledra wall is still there…
Yesterday’s so-called ‘Brother Parties’ are now sharing today’s leadership!
Is it easy to be a Cypriot?
Is it easy?
Resat Akar
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