Cyprus-Forum.com

[GorillaGal]

since we have been discussing freedom of speech and censorship in another thread, i suggest a personal form of censorship. just drop the "Greek" and "Turkish" part of identifying Cypriots. it is apparent that Cyprus belongs to both cultures, you all should just get used to it. maybe it's a little idealialistic on my part...i come from a very culturally diverse country. i am an American. for the most part, we are all Americans here. we don't identify each other by tagging on our heritage. the only time i have to identify my heritage is for surveys or if a foreigner asks me. i can still be proud of my heritage, but i don't have to identify myself by it.

i know this has come up before in different threads. i appologize for my redundancy. but it has been on my mind all day after reading the freedom of speech thread. i just think that getting rid of the "Greek" or "Turkish" is going to be a start in reunification.

[kafenes]

Easier said then done GG, only today I had to fill in a form for the transfer of a car and there was a box with three choices to tick and said :
"Greek Cyptiot, Turkish Cypriot and Other", well I happen to be neither a GC or TC and I refuse to call myself 'Other' as I am more Cypriot then most Cypriots.

[Piratis]

The division of Cypriots based on ethnic background is not new.

Since Cyprus was almost always ruled by some others, the representatives of those others in Cyprus were the higher class and the locals the second class.

Then during the Ottoman rule a Muslim minority was created, which was considered by the Ottomans as a higher class than the Christian majority. So during the Ottomans the split was between Muslim (Turkish) VS Christians (Greek).

Then the British during their rule maintained that split, since it suited perfectly their divide and rule practices.

What is even worst than all that however, is that in 1960 we were given some "independence" where this GC / TC thing became part of the constitution. I am sure GG would not be able to even imagine a USA constitution that made references and gave different rights to people based on their ethnic background. Unfortunately thats what was given to us by those that had the power and wrote our constitution for us, instead of us.

In this respect, the US should have been a model for Cyprus. Everybody should be equal citizen without any kind of discrimination, but at the same time everybody to be free to refer to themselves in any way they wish, have any religion they wish, and speak whatever language they wish.

This GC/TC split not only creates conflict between us, but also Cypriots that are neither TCs or GCs can feel excluded.

Unfortunately this split still serves the interests of those that have the power, so I don't see it changing any time soon.

[GorillaGal]

but even more of a reason to rid yourself of the "greek" and "turkish" words, Piratis....
as for you, kafenes, could you have left that question about heritage blank? or perhaps everyone whould just use "other"???? starting this kind of a "revolution" starts one by one....

[Piratis]

GG, I don't think the problem is with the words. In the USA don't blacks call themselves "African Americans" and don't you also have people that identify with things like "Irish American" etc?

The problem is not with the words. The problem is when the ethnic background is used as a way to divide and categorize people and apply racist discriminations.

I believe people should be first and above all Cypriots, but at the same time be free to call themselves "Greek Cypriot", "Turkish Cypriot" etc, if thats what they want.

[GorillaGal]

yes Piratis, we do have african americans, native americans, mexican americans.... but it is not as prevelant as i seem to perceive it on this forum. the only time we really get asked about our ethnicity is when we fill out government papers or do surveys. otherwise, it is pretty evident from someone's name or perhaps thier looks what thier background might be. on this forum, if i heard someone ask one, i heard them ask a thousand times, "are you greek or turkish?"
i am not saying people shouldn't be proud of thier heritage. we should all be proud of our roots and where we come from. but how are we ever going to feel united as one people, as cypriots, as europeans, and earthlings, when we continue to alienate ourselves with tags such as "greek" or "turkish"?
question to you piratis: i know about the greeks and turks, but i also know from reading this forum taht there are russians and english there, among other groups. do they identify themselves as "russian cypriot" or "english cypriot"? just wondering.

[mem101]

I personally do not see a problem with identifying with a prefix. I see myself as Turkish Cypriot. I would not change that in a vain hope that it would make a difference in the way that you seem to think it would. Having said that I would certainly correct someone who thought I was just Turkish but I would not necessarily if they refer to me as Cypriot.

I have seen people identify as Armenian Cypriot and English/British Cypriot.

Our labels do not define us; it is our actions, our words, our political, philosophical, religious and general views which define us, divide us, unite us.

[devil]

The division of Cypriots based on ethnic background is not new.

Oh, so wrong! Their ethnicity is the same, of Phoenician origin. It is only the language that separates them. This is similar to the Serbs and Croats, who even speak ± the same language but one uses the Latin alphabet and the other the Cyrillic.

[LENA]

I personally do not see a problem with identifying with a prefix. I see myself as Turkish Cypriot. I would not change that in a vain hope that it would make a difference in the way that you seem to think it would. Having said that I would certainly correct someone who thought I was just Turkish but I would not necessarily if they refer to me as Cypriot.

I have seen people identify as Armenian Cypriot and English/British Cypriot.

Our labels do not define us; it is our actions, our words, our political, philosophical, religious and general views which define us, divide us, unite us.

[GorillaGal]

i guess you agree with that one, Lena.
But as long as you have those prefixes, your actions and words...that define you, end up becoming sterotypes. no?