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.

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