By Sener Levent*

There is one question that must be answered before all else: could it be that the US and the UK wish a solution to the Cyprus problem and somehow cannot achieve it? That is, could it be the case that we Cypriots prevent the US and the UK from doing what they want? That we block the way. We do not agree among ourselves and so we do not give them this chance. Is this not so? Seriously, tell me. Do you really believe this? Do you think that they are really trying for a lasting solution to our problem and for peace among us, but somehow this is not possible because of us?

Every time a US or UK official says “we support the finding of a solution to the Cyprus problem”, or “the Cypriots themselves will find the solution”, my worries increase. I do not believe them. And I believe that there is a trap hidden somewhere. In fact, the answer that Diogenes gave to Alexander the Great comes to my mind: Diogenes was wandering around in broad daylight with a lantern looking for a man, and when Alexander the Great told him “ask me anything you wish”, he answered: “do not hide the sun from me; I want nothing else”.

Who will convince me now, that a dominant world power, such as the USA, wants to do something in this little island of ours and cannot? How many times have I written about this… The US is the country that hanged Saddam Hussein. Threw Mubbarrak in jail. Lynched Kaddaffi. Threw havoc into the Middle East. Forced everyone to do what she wanted. Which means, that we are the only ones that she cannot bend to her will? Are we the only ones who proved to be too tough nuts to be cracked?  We tied their hands. We stood opposite to them like a steel wall and the poor chaps cannot move. Could it be perhaps that we are not such an easy bite to swallow, as Saddam, Mubbarrak and Kaddafi were?
Our politicians, who declare that “America wants a solution to the Cyprus problem”, and the journalists who write headlines to this effect must answer this simple question, and, alongside this one, answer another question: “why has the status-quo not changed in Cyprus over the past 41 years?”. The world has changed radically during these past 41 years. The Soviet Union has disappeared. The Berlin Wall was crushed. Germany was unified. Yugoslavia was dissolved into a thousand pieces. Czechoslovakia was divided into two countries. The Warsaw Pact was dissolved. The Middle East was turned upside down. Yet, Cyprus remained as she was, not the least of a change. Why?

Those who made us into pieces and divided this island 41 years ago, unfortunately manage, to this day, to put blame on us for the fact that there is still no solution to our problem. That is, they want a solution and we do not. Tell me, seriously now. Do you believe this? I am surprised when I see among us persons who believe this. Are we so naïve as to what is going on in the world, especially in our region? Could it be that we do not comprehend what those who express wishes about peace in Cyprus, are doing elsewhere in the world? As they have affected absolutely no change to the status quo, could it be that we do not even realize how pleased they are with the status quo?

Mustafa Akintzi and Nikos Anastasiades, who dined together for the first time last night, have never opposed the American policies anywhere in the world, to this date. Neither of them is Hugo Chavez. I have no doubt that both of them are politicians acceptable to the US. Moreover, both of them said “Yes” to the Anan plan. Which means, if there is an American initiative [for a solution to the Cyprus problem] they will not reject it. But I do not believe that America wishes anything else besides two states in the island of Cyprus. Or otherwise, the continuation of the status quo. Who will be the first of these two fellows who will part roads with the US?

*Sener Levent is editor in chief of the Turkish Cypriot newspaper Afrika. This is a translation of a column in the Greek Cypriot newspaper Politis. http://www.politis-news.com/cgibin/hweb?-A=292235&-V=stiles

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