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[brother]

Comment - To all those Greek Cypriots who said ‘no’
By Radar Resat


I AM a Turkish Cypriot. I spent 42 years of my life in the UK, Canada and US and came back in 1998 to spend my retiring years in my country of birth.

I have seen and observed what changes the world has gone through during the last for five decades.

As mind-boggling as the social, economic, structural and technological changes have been, equally amazing has been the humans’ quick adoptability to new conditions and their willingness to carry on with their desire to live a fulfilling life in peace and harmony. Even the regimes have changed to accommodate the new world order, changing the map of the world. In the case of the EU, ‘Empowerment by inclusion’ has become the steering policy.

So why are we still stuck with the mentality that prevailed in the mid-fifties?

Is keeping the mistrust and hatred alive the only lesson we have learned from what we both have gone through? It could not be the moral choice of the majority.

Is it not the time to put aside the mistrust and start channelling all of our energy and rationality into determining where our mutual interests lie and above all live in peace?

In fact I think it is long overdue.

In this crucial year I ask myself :

“Will we be able to solve the Cyprus problem and unite the island by creating the United Cyprus Republic?”

What is preventing us from genuinely and enthusiastically engaging ourselves to discuss the details of the formation of United Cyprus Republic taking the Annan Plan as a base, upholding at all times “mutual respect” as well as “mutual benefits” as our guiding torch?

I must, however, admit that the size of the ‘no’ vote for the referandum in the south, conveyed an alarming message to me personally. I cannot help feeling that there is something much deeper than the disagreements in the Annan Plan involved here. Seventy-five per cent ‘no’ vote? I really am puzzled.

Please allow me therefore to pose the following questions to those ‘no’ voters in the referandum so that we understand each other before going any further.

l Do you accept the fact that Cyprus is just as much “my country” as it is “yours”?
l Does your ‘no’ vote imply that your old misguided belief about Cyprus being a Greek island still pesist?

l Is your ‘no’ vote the reflection of misconstrued notion that we the Turks can and should exist only with given minority rights?

It is only you, the individual ‘no’ voter who can answer these questions.
I somehow refuse to believe that the hate and m?strust factor is so engrained that you would want to deny our existence here.

If you do accept the reality of our existence and accept the fact that this is just as much “my country” as it is “yours”, then we have eliminated one key obstacle.
I also am correct in believing that most of you do have the full or adequate consciousness, conception and perception about the meaning of “human rights”. Because most of you are aware that in the club you have just joined, there is no such a thing as “minority rights” ; that the “human rights” of a “minority” are not vote bound, thus cannot be put to a vote by anyone. Especially by any majority government.

Most of you again are aware that in the EU club you have joined there is no such concept which allows a majority the right to deprive a minority of its own human rights. It negates the moral code of justice of your club, the EU Institution itself.
The EU upholds the premise which allows no one (neither an individual nor a member nation’s government) to put on another a “claim” that he wipes himself out of existence.

So I do believe that not all of you ‘no’ voters would therefore disagree with me.
Hence I am extending my hand, not only as a goodwill gesture, but also in good faith and urge you to help to create together the United Cyprus Republic.

To the extent we make “justice for all” our “moral choice and commitment” and strive to achieve it, we can build a lasting peace for the benefit of both communities.

Let us make achieving this be our agenda for this year.

Let us make a commitment to that agenda.

Let us work together to make it happen.

Let us give peace in our mutual country a chance to bloom and flourish.

Let us dwell on reaping the mutual benefits rather than ripping each other to pieces.

Let us be guided by “reason” and “rationality”, keeping the torch of “Mutual Respect” and “Mutual Benefits” lit at all times and with dignity.

That is what should prevail.

To do the contrary as has been the case for so long, would be equal to admitting that we are neither mature nor rational enough to measure up to the task awaiting us.

May I please also humbly suggest one thing to President Papadopoulos ?

Please try to extend and expand yourself to be more accommodating so as to embrace all. As hard as it may seem, try to empower all (both Greeks as well as Turks) by inclusivity rather than empowering one to the exclusion of other. It is the right thing to do, and as a leader you are expected to do the right thing.

History can only reward you for your role in uniting the island and creating the United Cyprus Republic.

[Piratis]

I vote "No".
I did so because it was unfair, and it created an undemocratic, dysfunctional banana republic.

What is preventing us from genuinely and enthusiastically engaging ourselves to discuss the details of the formation of United Cyprus Republic taking the Annan Plan as a base, upholding at all times “mutual respect” as well as “mutual benefits” as our guiding torch?

Very simple: The Annan plan that you want to use as a basis, was serving your interests, and not ours. Therefore "Annan plan" and "mutual benefits" are incompatible with each other. If you are truly interested about mutual benefits, then maybe we could discuss on something that would benefit GCs instead of screwing them once again?

Do you accept the fact that Cyprus is just as much “my country” as it is “yours”?

Then why do you want to put borders in it? Why do you want to discriminate based on race?

Does your ‘no’ vote imply that your old misguided belief about Cyprus being a Greek island still pesist?

No, but obviously your dream of partition is alive, since the only thing you are willing to accept is a disguised partition.

Is your ‘no’ vote the reflection of misconstrued notion that we the Turks can and should exist only with given minority rights?

The misconstrued notion is that a group of 18% should have a 50% in a democracy.

Most of you again are aware that in the EU club you have joined there is no such concept which allows a majority the right to deprive a minority of its own human rights.

The problem is that in the case of Cyprus the minority is the one who wants permanent derogations and demands that human rights never apply to our island.
We never said that Turkish Cypriots should not have all their human rights, except if you believe that it is a human right of a Turkish Cypriot to have 4.5 times more voting power than a Greek Cypriot.

[magikthrill]

No, but obviously your dream of partition is alive, since the only thing you are willing to accept is a disguised partition.

Pirati, just because he says he is willing to accept another plan based on Annan, it doesn't mean its the only solution he is willing to accept. that kind of thinking is based on biased notions.

If another plan were formed that purposed only the interests of the cypriot people and he were to reject it then you can call him a hypcorit.

[pantelis]

Dear Mr. Resat is making some valid points and asks some important questions that render some CYPRIOT (not I) may answer as follows:

I have seen and observed what changes the world has gone through during the last for five decades.

Even the regimes have changed to accommodate the new world order, changing the map of the world. In the case of the EU, ‘Empowerment by inclusion’ has become the steering policy.

So why are we still stuck with the mentality that prevailed in the mid-fifties?

I have been living abroad for the last 25 years and have noticed the changes also.
I have seen the white minority rule of South Africa collapse, after been supported by the white regimes around the world for years. Now the black majority rules the country and the white rich minority runs the economy of the country.

I have seen the discrimination of the poor black minority of the US been supported with food stamps and SSI, while the richer hard-working black minority moved up into the middle class and received equal treatment and the respect shared by the rest hard working citizens of the federation. Yes, the minorities in the US enjoy some special rights, when it comes to hiring and promoting practices or sharing the proportional share in public contracts, but without discriminating the rights of the majority, at the same time. Things are not perfect but they are moving in the right direction.

On the other hand, If I was asked to come with a country that is still lives in the 50's, Turkey would be first one, in mind. The policies of Turkey on Cyprus, have been the same since the 50's. The human rights in Turkey are still the same, if not worse than they were in the 50's. The Turkish lira is much worse than what it was in the 50's.......
Turkey is a key player in the Cyprus problem.

Is keeping the mistrust and hatred alive the only lesson we have learned from what we both have gone through? It could not be the moral choice of the majority.

The mistrust is directed towards Turkey and her policies. When Turkey changes, or when Turkey's control of the TCs affairs change, then you'll the trust build up.

Is it not the time to put aside the mistrust and start channeling all of our energy and rationality into determining where our mutual interests lie and above all live in peace?

Not only it is time, it is long overdue!

In fact I think it is long overdue.

There, you said it also. We agree.
What is the problem then? Is it not a fact that a "government" cannot be formed in the north, because not more than 50% of the "parliamentarians" cannot agree who is going to be the "boss". Is it not true that whoever becomes the "boss", is actually a puppet of the Turkish "elite" and the Turkish army? Is it not true that Turkey's military policy and "security" take precedence over the welfare of their keen?
The "democratic" system of Turkey, to this day, does not provide parliamentary representation to any Turkish citizen, if the party he/she supports does not win more than 10% of the votes. This is a "great" way to keep the Turkish minorities without a voice. It gives them a sense of "belonging", it make them feel more patriotic!

In this crucial year I ask myself :

“Will we be able to solve the Cyprus problem and unite the island by creating the United Cyprus Republic?”

What is preventing us from genuinely and enthusiastically engaging ourselves to discuss the details of the formation of United Cyprus Republic taking the Annan Plan as a base, upholding at all times “mutual respect” as well as “mutual benefits” as our guiding torch?

Plans aiming to serve everyone else but the Cypriots, plans created on the basis of privileged citizenship with "super" rights instead of equal rights between the citizens, divisive plans, ....etc , prevent to come together under one roof, prevent us to build the necessary trust and respect for each other. Turkey's policies are designed to maintain the current situation. The Turkish leaders have said this time and time again - for them, "the Cyprus problem was solved in 1974". If the TCs are not happy with Turkey's "solution" they need to declare it out loud. Their "yes" to the Annan plan was nothing more than a legalization of Turkey's 1974 "solution", except the fact that it was to become official and was to be accompanied with millions of Euros. That is why the other side overwhelmly voted "no", not because they are racists.

I must, however, admit that the size of the ‘no’ vote for the referendum in the south, conveyed an alarming message to me personally. I cannot help feeling that there is something much deeper than the disagreements in the Annan Plan involved here. Seventy-five per cent ‘no’ vote? I really am puzzled.

There is nothing to be puzzled about, 76% of the people are not the same as the three 3% idiot fanatics who supported "enosis" and the coup in 1974. In fact, those 3% coup supporters are part of the GC "yes" voters, today. What do you think has occurred? Have they have changed from being "super ethnic fanatics" prior to 1974, to being "peace lovers" in 2004? This is what puzzles me.

Please allow me therefore to pose the following questions to those ‘no’ voters in the referendum so that we understand each other before going any further.

Feel free, brother!

Do you accept the fact that Cyprus is just as much “my country” as it is “yours”?

YES

Does your ‘no’ vote imply that your old misguided belief about Cyprus being a Greek island still persist?

Greek NO. History calls it HELLENIC. Nobody can change the islands history, even though your compatriots tried hard. Changing the name of a place or adding a minaret to church, do not change it from what they are.

There are TCs and settlers who voted "yes" because they wanted unification as a way to get away from the control of Turkey, and there are those who voted "yes" to the benefits of the EU. Very few TCs voted "yes" because the Annan plan was a fair plan for their "brothers" the GCs whom have been denied their homelands for so many years.

The GCs saw the EU as the means to neutralize Turkey's continued threats to their existence. TCs saw the EU as and the Annan plan as their way out of a life of misery and corruption. Nothing in the plan was designed to keep the island a "single roof" for ONE people. Everything was divided, everything that was not divided, it destroyed and re-invented. The plan made sure that Turkey, the biggest culprit of the Cyprus division and destruction remained a key player with new rewards for its intransigence over the past 30+ years. Talking about hypocrisy of the proponents of democracy and human rights.......

Is your ‘no’ vote the reflection of misconstrued notion that we the Turks can and should exist only with given minority rights?

No minority rights - equal citizen rights and responsibilities for all.

It is only you, the individual ‘no’ voter who can answer these questions.
I somehow refuse to believe that the hate and mistrust factor is so engrained that you would want to deny our existence here.

Hate and mistrust is what the GCs experienced during the Ottoman and British occupation years.

If you do accept the reality of our existence and accept the fact that this is just as much “my country” as it is “yours”, then we have eliminated one key obstacle.

Accepted. Nothing extra for you, nothing extra for anyone. Equal treatment for all. In fact, the "you and us" should be eliminated. It should be simply "we", together, if we have a chance to survive together.
Do you accept that? Then there is room for both us, for ever!

I also am correct in believing that most of you do have the full or adequate consciousness, conception and perception about the meaning of “human rights”. Because most of you are aware that in the club you have just joined, there is no such a thing as “minority rights” ; that the “human rights” of a “minority” are not vote bound, thus cannot be put to a vote by anyone. Especially by any majority government.

Thirty one years later, after you had enjoyed your "clean majority" (you have allowed Turkey to clear the land from everything Greek speaking or Greek looking), you have remembered "human rights" and "minority rights". Pure hypocrisy!

Most of you again are aware that in the EU club you have joined there is no such concept which allows a majority the right to deprive a minority of its own human rights. It negates the moral code of justice of your club, the EU Institution itself.
The EU upholds the premise which allows no one (neither an individual nor a member nation’s government) to put on another a “claim” that he wipes himself out of existence.

The EU concept unites the people under common interests and by treating equal, it unites their existence.
The Annan concept is opposite to the EU concept. It divides and separates the people, by treating them differently.

So I do believe that not all of you ‘no’ voters would therefore disagree with me.
Hence I am extending my hand, not only as a goodwill gesture, but also in good faith and urge you to help to create together the United Cyprus Republic.

Your hand is accepted, as long as you do not demand to be treated better or differently than I would be. Do you?

To the extent we make “justice for all” our “moral choice and commitment” and strive to achieve it, we can build a lasting peace for the benefit of both communities.

Let us make achieving this be our agenda for this year.

Let us make a commitment to that agenda.

Let us work together to make it happen.

Let us give peace in our mutual country a chance to bloom and flourish.

Let us dwell on reaping the mutual benefits rather than ripping each other to pieces.

Let us be guided by “reason” and “rationality”, keeping the torch of “Mutual Respect” and “Mutual Benefits” lit at all times and with dignity.

That is what should prevail.

Amen!

To do the contrary as has been the case for so long, would be equal to admitting that we are neither mature nor rational enough to measure up to the task awaiting us.

May I please also humbly suggest one thing to President Papadopoulos ?

Please try to extend and expand yourself to be more accommodating so as to embrace all. As hard as it may seem, try to empower all (both Greeks as well as Turks) by inclusively rather than empowering one to the exclusion of other. It is the right thing to do, and as a leader you are expected to do the right thing.

History can only reward you for your role in uniting the island and creating the United Cyprus Republic.

It takes both sides to be willing to switch "shoes" and continue to walk comfort and pleasure down the peace path. The Palestinians and the Jews are getting ready to make peace by staying away from each other. Do you think we would ever see the day that they like each other?

Brother, is “Resat” your real name, without the "veil"?
Why do you think most Turkish Cypriots and some Greek Cypriots on this forum do not have the courage to use their real first names? Is it due to a feeling of fear or a feeling of shame?

[brother]

No fear, no shame i chose my 'nick' as brother in an attempt to show i do not hold myself as anything but cypriot, but on some occasions i have done exactly what should not be done and represented only the tc view.

I will from now on try to hold the balance which suits my ideals and that is that we are cypriots and nothing else, if only i could find some others like that, then we would be a considerable loud voice that could be heard from not just within this forum but outside too.

If only we could all be more compassionate to each other and hold the same value for all. then we could easily overcome all problems, on this note i appeal to the piratis's of the forum(that is tc and gc) lets work together not against each other and show how it can be done.