Washington
#Tags:
CyprusA different strategy for Cyprus
ΣΧΕΤΙΚΑ ΑΡΘΡΑ
By Mihalis Ignatiou
In our country, the island of Cyprus, which our politicians consider the center of the earth, we outdo each other with the use of adjectives and labels. Words such as “treason” and “traitor” are tossed about daily
From the days of the armed EOKA struggle against British Colonial rule (1955-9), most discourse, in the absence of arguments, is characterized by charges and countercharges that exceed the limits. Everyone has a right to his or her opinions and they should be respected. Disagreement is the crown jewel of democracy. Otherwise, we would have a dictatorship.
There are ,of cours,e situations where treason is the only applicable word. The double crime of July 1974, was carried out by officers of the Greek armed forces who knew that the execution of the American-inspired plan would deliver Cyprus to Turkey. Therefore, their knowledge of the existence of the plan for the subjugation of the island, in itself, constitutes an act of treason.
The matter of the racist and pro-Turkish Annan Plan (2004) bears no relation to the coup d’etat against the Republic of Cyprus, or the Turkish invasion of 1974. We fought against ratification of this plan because it was catastrophic for our country, which would otherwise be totally controlled by Turkey, but this “war” was fought via the means provided by democracy, and not with tanks and armies. Each side stated his or her arguments, and the people voted hand-in-heart to reject this miserable plan by Kofi Annan. It is true that some people used dirty means against those of us that opposed the Annan Plan, but we faced them without yielding from our positions, nor did we “sweat” when our opponents asked that we be dismissed from our jobs.
The president of the Republic of Cyprus has decided to start breaking the deadlock in the negotiations on the Cyprus problem, and in this process he suggested a visit by the Greek-Cypriot negotiator Andreas Mavrogiannis to Ankara, and a visit by his Turkish-Cypriot counterpart to Athens. I respect his position, by I also think that he is wrong. In fact, in the framework of a democratic dialog we can counter—and it is the plain truth—that Turkey is a power occupying 40% of Cyprus, while Greece is a party to the Cyprus issue, not threatening the peace or the near extinct Turkish-Cypriot community. Therefore, equating Greece with Turkey in this process is a gross mistake, which must be laid at the doorstep of the Greek Foreign Ministry.
Speaking to a close circle of friends, a U.S. senator and great friend of Cyprus explained the case of the “dialogue” of President Obama with Iran and ended up talking about Cyprus. The senator stated that Teheran declared to the Americans that she aims to terminate her nuclear program, provided that sanctions against Iran are lifted before negotiations start. In the meantime, Iran does not accept any inspections and will continue her nuclear program as before.
Turkey, the senator explained, does exactly the same thing. She requires concrete actions on our part and she gives assurances (anemic, I say) that if and when the negotiations are successfully concluded, then she will fulfill her promises. In the meantime she has gains at the expense of Cyprus, without budging an inch from her extreme positions. Turkey has never toned down her demands in the slightest when it comes to the problem of Cyprus. She has occupied 40 % of Cyprus, and for 39 years she has held a UN and EU member-country hostage; by contrast, due to the weaknesses of our own politicians, we have to apologize for the “martyrdom” of the Turkish-Cypriots, who are otherwise a part of the occupying power while at the same time enjoying all the benefits of the citizens of the Republic of Cyprus.
Cyprus requires a different strategy, in the face of shifting strategies and alliances in the Mediterranean. Mr. Anastasiadis told us in Washington that he does not believe in negotiations for negotiations sake, and I applaud him if he means what I understand he is saying. Cyprus has nothing to gain from a dialogue, because Turkey is not interested in negotiations that would lead to a just solution of the Cyprus problem.
Let the president of Cyprus rethink the matter of negotiations and he will not lose. The fact that the Americans, who for years were persistently pressing our side to pull back from our positions, now “said different things to him,” should be a matter of concern to him…And whoever says that President Anastasiadis was pressured by U.S. Vice-President Biden, is simply lying.
Photo by Dimitris Panagos