Cyprus-Forum.com

[Nikitas]

Neo Cypriot

You are pointing out a major flaw in all this talk of solving the Cyprus problem, namely the compulsion of two smaller minorities to forsake their cultures and be fengulfed by either one of the major communities of the island.

Something tells me that this arrangement is contraty to the European Convention of Human Rights as well as contrary to the general body of European Community law. I am willing to bet that a legal challenge in the Court of Human Rights would end in favor of a person , of let us say Armenian origin, who does not want to be classed as Greek.

And there is another point. The Turkish side is insisting that regardless of relative numbers the two major communities are politically equal. If that is so then why aren't the smaller communities politically equal? The Annan plan makes a short and therefore insulting reference to these communities calling them minorities, a term not used for the Turkish community.

And finally if the two major communities have territory apportioned to them in a federal solution why not the smaller ones? There are areas of the island inhabited by Maronites since the 9th century, why not make those parts "component states" in a federal Cyprus?

I would love to read comments on these observations.

Nikitas

[oranos64]

because ..both communities are selfish ,arrogant,corrupt ..and undemocratic ... show me a country in europe which takes 2 years to give locals living there voting cards ....

cyprus is shambles on both sides ..minorities are treated with 3rd class values ...the foreign workers are nothing more than slaves ...voters are bought openly in the public ...i though mexico was bad ..cyprus is shameful ...

If my plans fall into place next month all will change in the next election (E.U VOTING RIGHTS /E.U WORKERS VOTING RIGHTS - MY LEGAL TEAM/FRIENDS ARE ON IT ).... all £££ and $$$ for votes will need to proceessed .time for this law we have

" vote or fine /jail to be enforced ....BYE BYE COMMIES AND CENTRE LEFT WEIRDOS ..COME TO THINK ...ALL THE SAME CRAP ...

we need some youngsters ...someone on the forum run for the presidency !!!

[BirKibrisli]

Hi Bir , planning my next trip to Cyprus for September 7th to Sep 11th. Will go to my village to pay tribute to the victims of the September 10th , 1953 earthquake , amongst them of course my mother . I think I will make it to Istinjo this time and will ask Kafenes to come too if he is free.
As you know I visited the "trnc" on my last visit and intent to do so again if my dear friend Halil is free to meet me at the check points and accompany me on a visit to that wonderful woman who is so dedicated to her noble cause in raising funds for cancer victims in that part of Cyprus , our Cyprus and our people.
Hope one day soon we shall together visit Paphos and Lefcosia and together pay our respects to all Cypriots who became victims of that horrible conflict that saw our island become divided , but I beleive that our people are closer now than they were 30 years ago and with so much in common we hope one day we will see our island united again.

How fortunate you are,dear miltiades,that you can visit our homeland frequently. When you are visiting you village,please remember that I too was there facing the forces of nature on September 10,1953. My father was teaching at Sarama (a stone's throw from Istinjo) and that was where we were on that tragic day...

Have no doubt that one day sanity will prevail,and we will have plenty of occassions to celebrate the reunification of our beloved country. Enjoy the Sheftalides with our friend Halil and have a drink for me too...Cheers

BİR,thanks for the good wishes.Don't scare man.İf i was u i will get the plane and join us.
Militiates, is it possible that i can come with u to go Papos? we can visit his village together, may be with Kafenes.

Thanks for the invitation,Halil kardash.That day when I get the plane will not be too far away I hope.If you go to Istinjo with dear miltiades, check to see if we can hold a wedding party there one of these days...

[BirKibrisli]

am from mars

You want us to visit Mars with you,dear humanist???
That might take some more arranging
cheers

[BirKibrisli]

Neo Cypriot

You are pointing out a major flaw in all this talk of solving the Cyprus problem, namely the compulsion of two smaller minorities to forsake their cultures and be fengulfed by either one of the major communities of the island.

Something tells me that this arrangement is contraty to the European Convention of Human Rights as well as contrary to the general body of European Community law. I am willing to bet that a legal challenge in the Court of Human Rights would end in favor of a person , of let us say Armenian origin, who does not want to be classed as Greek.

And there is another point. The Turkish side is insisting that regardless of relative numbers the two major communities are politically equal. If that is so then why aren't the smaller communities politically equal? The Annan plan makes a short and therefore insulting reference to these communities calling them minorities, a term not used for the Turkish community.

And finally if the two major communities have territory apportioned to them in a federal solution why not the smaller ones? There are areas of the island inhabited by Maronites since the 9th century, why not make those parts "component states" in a federal Cyprus?

I would love to read comments on these observations.

Nikitas

That just highlights the total absurdity of insisting to classify people on their ethnic origins,and forcing them into a mold. I probably have in me as much Latin, Greek Cypriot and Armenian as Turkish Cypriot...What does that make me? A True Cypriot...And what is that? The inheritor of a unique culture and identity which goes back 10,000 years and incompasses most of the glorious civilisations of the world. And why do some forces insist that we must chose on single ethnic backround and stick to it??? To divide and rule us of course!!!

So to borrow from a great Lover of Life and Divinity:



Come
Come
Whoever You Are!
Wanderer,Worshipper,Lover of Leaving
British,Armenian,Latin,Jewish,Greek,Turkish...
Come
This is Not a Caravan of Despair
It doesn't matter If you have Sinned a Thousand Times
Against you fellow Cypriots
Come
Still and Yet Again
Come
To the Ranks of True Cypriots!
Come!

(With appologies to Mevlana Celaleddin Rumi)

[Nikitas]

Bir you got my point!

I do not seriously expect anyone to come forth with a plan that gives official recognition and equal status to the smaller communities of Cyprus. But if I recall the Annan plan in the preamble mentioned that the plan is based partly on the Swiss model. From what I know in Switzerland there is a rotating presidency and by custom the cabinet meetings are held in the language of the current president.

I smile inwardly thinking of the possibility of the Swiss model being well and truly applied to Cyprus, imagining that the presidency rotates to the Rom community and the cabinet meetings are held in the Rom language! Funny to think of the self important politicians of the two major communities having to master that language. On the other hand it might do us all good to go through a phase like that. It will teach humility and help deflate some egos on the island, that need deflating.

[humanist]

Bir

You want us to visit Mars with you,dear humanist???
That might take some more arranging
cheers

How you visit Cyprus with me dear Birk, not sure if you saw my post in another topic but am heading over to northern hemisphere in mid November to probably mid December.

[BirKibrisli]

Bir

You want us to visit Mars with you,dear humanist???
That might take some more arranging
cheers

How you visit Cyprus with me dear Birk, not sure if you saw my post in another topic but am heading over to northern hemisphere in mid November to probably mid December.

No I missed that post,dear humanist. With some luck I should be in the Northern hemishere at the same time...We just have to organise a meeting in Cyprus...Will keep you posted!
Cheers,mate.

[pappy_sydney]

We are very proud of being Greek, although I admit that we are different from Greeks of Greece, because we are Greeks from Cyprus. Even in Greece some Greeks are very different. For example, Balkan Greeks (i.e. those who live in the Macedonian region) are very different from the Greeks of Rhodes, have different dialects and even look different. I would say GCs are very similar to the Greeks who live on the Greek Mediterranean islands, i.e. Crete, Rhodes etc. We have an almost identical dialect to Rhodes. Of course if Cyprus was competing against Greece in any competition, I would support Cyprus, because that is my island. This is obvious; for example, if Crete for whatever reason played the rest of Greece in a game of football, who would Cretans support? It does not mean that they are not Greek, but it means that are Cretan Greeks, so they will support Crete. The same applies to Cyprus.

I am surprised you even need to ask this question really. Yes, there are many neo-Cypriots on this Forum, but many of these people don't even live in Cyprus. If you look at Cyprus daily, consider the celebrations when Greece won Euro 2004, that shows we are proud greeks? Consider our celebrations on OXI day, and Greek Independence Day. Look at the many Greek flags in Cyprus and Greek football tops that Cypriots wear. GCs even consider the Greek National Anthem as theirs also! Of course there will always be a minority that dont consider themselves greek, whether because of personal experiences, no knowledge of their own history or because of the Junta period etc. But these are definitely the minority.

[Neo_Cypriot]

We are very proud of being Greek, although I admit that we are different from Greeks of Greece, because we are Greeks from Cyprus. Even in Greece some Greeks are very different. For example, Balkan Greeks (i.e. those who live in the Macedonian region) are very different from the Greeks of Rhodes, have different dialects and even look different. I would say GCs are very similar to the Greeks who live on the Greek Mediterranean islands, i.e. Crete, Rhodes etc. We have an almost identical dialect to Rhodes. Of course if Cyprus was competing against Greece in any competition, I would support Cyprus, because that is my island. This is obvious; for example, if Crete for whatever reason played the rest of Greece in a game of football, who would Cretans support? It does not mean that they are not Greek, but it means that are Cretan Greeks, so they will support Crete. The same applies to Cyprus.

I am surprised you even need to ask this question really. Yes, there are many neo-Cypriots on this Forum, but many of these people don't even live in Cyprus. If you look at Cyprus daily, consider the celebrations when Greece won Euro 2004, that shows we are proud greeks? Consider our celebrations on OXI day, and Greek Independence Day. Look at the many Greek flags in Cyprus and Greek football tops that Cypriots wear. GCs even consider the Greek National Anthem as theirs also! Of course there will always be a minority that dont consider themselves greek, whether because of personal experiences, no knowledge of their own history or because of the Junta period etc. But these are definitely the
minority.

Cyprus in nothing like Greece! I'd like to point out again that Cyprus has a unique curlture as well... You can say it has a simular culture to Greece but it isn't the same.
Cyprus has gone its own way a lot more than any place in Greece. Greeks have a large amount of Slavic blood while Greek Cypriots have a large proportion of Latin blood and other mediterranean decent. As I said in previous postings, a lot of Greek Cypriots have Latin surnames. I don't just mean some! .
Greece and Turkey have been trying to impose their curltures and beliefs on Cyprus and its people for many years. Many generations ago Greek and Turkish Cypriots wouldn't have called themselves Turks or Greeks before the Turks and British took hold of Cyprus -that was imposed by foreign powers and by those wanting to be Greek and imposing their beliefs on the rest of the population. The British imposed a seperate schooling system for Christians and Muslims and decreed that if you spoke Greek you were Greek and if you were muslim you were Turkish. They also brought in many Turks to Cyprus. Cypriots as a whole were not used to having the freedom to express and think for themselves because of being occupied by foreign powers for generations.
Being Greek or Turkish is a way of feeling secure because of the threat of being different imposes. Thats why the two community thing was imposed by foreigners - to stop Cypriotness or to control it. The church or Cyprus is just that, ''Church or Cyprus'', not ''Church of Greece'' which no place in Greece has.
Thats one thing they never removed which has the power or had the power of contolling which way Cyprus goes. Most things Cypriot have been or are considered a threat. Especially Neo Cypriots who find it easier to live abroad. Thats why in London (unlike it appears in Sydney) Cypriots are more Cypriot than in Cyprus because they have less influence from outsiders.

Also this is not the first time Cyprus has been independent or tried to be.

Then again, you lived in Australia by the looks of it where there is a large proportion of Greeks. Do you perhaps feel left out if you said you were Cypriot in a place like Australia where a lot of people came from Greece?. Here in the UK, there are a lot of Cypriots. Many Cypriots I have speoken to from Australia usually say how they call themselves Cypriot rather than Greek and don't think they are the same. I have spoken to people in Cyprus who want to be just Cypriot.