Bananiot wrote:Kikapu my friend, do you really think that the two communities can come together and draw up an agreement by themselves without outside brokering? Is this really feasible? I appreciate you are frustrated by the impasse (aren't we all) but any help that we can still offer our country can only be a product of realistic and rational approaches that take into consideration the situation on the ground. If not, we will be left with the sour taste of wishful thinking that has done nobody any good. On top, the longer we take to appreciate this the nearesr we draw to final partition. I repeat once again that in my view my side did not reject the Annan Plan because of its complexity but mainly because powerful and influential people in my community consider sharing power with Turkish Cypriots (as two politically equal communities) an anathema and a stain on our hellenism.
Hello Bananiot,
I'm not against outside help at all, if we can close the gap and find a solution between us. Just as you say that your side does not want to share power with the TC's which they consider it to be a "taboo" of some sort, based on your belief, and you know your people better than me. At the same time, what makes you think, that many on the TC side would come to the table, even if there were proportional power given to the TC's. At this point in time, what good is the power to the TC's, when they feel that they have 37% of Cyprus in their pockets, and if they just hold on to it long enough, to get recognition, which then they can have 100% Power and 37% of Cyprus. So needless to say, both sides are playing for time, at the expense of the whole island.
The AP was the product of the outside world, but what good did it do to solve the Cyprus Problem, when the main "actors" were not the principle creators to bring peace about, because each side has what the other side wants, but are not willing to compromise.
So lets take a look at the interest of the parties involved.
Turkey is only going to be a willing helper, if she is allowed into the EU, so we are already 15 years to never, for Turkey helping the situation in Cyprus in a positive way.
Greece I believe is no longer the major obstacle, in Cyprus's future negotiations, with the TC's, since Cyprus's entry into the EU.
Britain does not seem to care, one way or the other, as long as they get to keep their bases in Cyprus.
EU and UN has too much on their plates, to worry about Cyprus problems, unless there's fighting, which we don't have one at the moment. It took them close to 30 years for the last Plan. Had they made the plan more workable, I do not believe that the GC would have said NO, then again, Cyprus having entered into the EU did not help the matters either, because there was always going to be the thinking in the minds of the GC's, that now that they were in the EU, they will be in a better position to get a better deal than what AP offered. Was that just GREED or was it BUSINESS like, which only time will tell, depending which way the wind blows for Turkey down the road, regarding entering the EU.
The TC's said YES to AP, but I will have to quote my cousins husband, who has bought a lot of GC's land, as far as 8-9 years ago and is a staunch Partitionist, who said to me when I met them in Cyprus last month, that the TC's voted for the Annan Plan and not for peace. If the TC's were getting most things they wanted and saw the AP as a means to basically declare the Northern Cyprus as a Turkish owned Land, except for giving some parts for the GC's and the return of parts of Famagusta. This would have been a disaster from the beginning. People would have waited for 40+ years for a solution, but only small percentage of the GC's would have been satisfied, versus large majority of the TC's satisfied, at the expense of the majority of the GC's.
Yes it was a Plan, but if we were going to have problems down the road, just like the 1960 Constitution, then it was not going to work. So now we are down to the two main players which are the TC's and the GC's. It should be us to try and have a solution. We should be the ones who should demand from our governments and the leaders from both sides to talk to each other. Have regular street marches to get the attention of the International Community. Let's show some initiative. Well, I do not see it happening, because Turkey still had 15 years or longer waiting period, regarding the EU, so what is the point us doing anything, if Turkey is the "deal breaker".
So, by all means lets get everyone involved in helping us, but if Turkey, GC's and TC's do not show interest, why should the International Community, in solving our problems, or recognising the "TRNC". This is why I let off steam now and again with the Partitionist, who can blame others for not bringing peace about, when at the same time, they are making the matters worse by selling off GC land to others. I suppose the TC's will want a "True Peace" when they no longer have anything to sell. In the meantime, the RoC prospers, and the large majority of the TC's find themselves falling behind the GC economically, with no help in sight for them.
It truly is a catch-22 situation, or a "Revolving Doors", that never seems to go anywhere.
