Cyprus-Forum.com

[karma]

@bigOz

Personally I am glad that Gul was elected. I like Erdogan very much, I think he is a man of dignity.

Goshhhhhhh

I hope u wont ask for Sunnet (peritomi) next and U wont force ur wife to cover herself with burka next days...

[Pyrpolizer]

I like you too Karma.
This doesn't mean I have to sit like you are sitting in your avatar.

[paliometoxo]

so this gul person.. whats his position on cyprus? same as the last president ?

[oranos64]

Here is a big slap in the face of all the "loonies" in this forum, who have been claiming Turkiye and Turkish politics are ruled by the army?

GUL IS THE DEMOCRATICALLY ELECTED PRESIDENT BY THE PEOPLE against the displeasure of some army generals!

And what a shame? The bad news to our doomsday predictors is that no military coups, street fights or demonstrations have taken place either!

To add insult to injury of all those wishful thinking enemies of Turkish nation this is what Gul said:

"I will be impartial. We should not be afraid of freedom; we should embrace it. Difference and variety are our richness. I will embrace all citizens."

The US Ministry of Foreign Affairs Representative Tom Casey declared in a written announcement that he congratulates Abdullah Gül and said,

"The achievement of this election is the outcome of the Turkish democracy and a result of the power of the Turkish Constitution. The USA is expecting to perpetuate its strong relations with Turkey in the period of Gül and the new government as well."

The army will of course continue to carry out warnings about any deviations from a secular democratic state created by ATATURK (towards an islamic state which some enemies of the nation may hope to see). AND SO THEY SHOULD! That way Turkiye can have the best of both worlds. People's "will" prevailing in a true democratic state, with no fear of any fundamentalist radicals turning Turkiye into another Iran or Iraq, because the the might of Turkish army will always be there to remind them of the consequences of anyone even attempting such a backward move!

wont last ...the army is not happy ...and he is a pro islamic ...2 moves wrong and he gets shot down ...

[kalahari]

I am personally delighted that Gul has finally been elected.

Now, one of two things will happen:

1) Gul's pro EU stance will necessitate a major token action regarding Cyprus. The easiest thing for him to do here would be to withdraw the Cyprus army of occupation – a move which would demonstrate firstly clear willing to the EU and secondly his control over the maverick dictatorship of the army generals. Political change would follow – although I believe that a federal open-bordered Cyprus will be the best we can hope for for some time to come.

2) The army will assassinate Gul.

I hope to God that I am not right about 2 – as, secular or not, any state that is ruled by the gun is doomed. I hope to God that Gul does prove to be the new wind of change that Turkey and Cyprus so desperately needs.

[miltiades]

I am personally delighted that Gul has finally been elected.

Now, one of two things will happen:

1) Gul's pro EU stance will necessitate a major token action regarding Cyprus. The easiest thing for him to do here would be to withdraw the Cyprus army of occupation – a move which would demonstrate firstly clear willing to the EU and secondly his control over the maverick dictatorship of the army generals. Political change would follow – although I believe that a federal open-bordered Cyprus will be the best we can hope for for some time to come.

2) The army will assassinate Gul.

I hope to God that I am not right about 2 – as, secular or not, any state that is ruled by the gun is doomed. I hope to God that Gul does prove to be the new wind of change that Turkey and Cyprus so desperately needs.

In full agreement here Kalahari , let us hope that the army will have more sense than create chaos in Turkey by attempting to change the democratically elected President , and let us hope that the President will be wise enough to know that drifting towards an Islamic state will inevitably encourage the army to take action.

[Bananiot]

Papadopoulos a lawyer that specialises in international affairs GR? Where did you unearth this gem from? Can you provide some proofs? Surely you do not mean the shady deals of his office with the dictator of Serbia or the numerous offshore companies (sic) that sprung to life thanks to his office?

Gul now. His elections constitutes a major shift in political thinking in Turkey. The army, however, is not defeated and if there is going to be a smooth transition to a civil state, the army must not be seen to be defeated or humiliated because there probably will be a backlash in this case. It is going to be a slow process, a step by step process which will only be completed once Turkey becomes a full member of the EU. Gul seems the right person for this and I do hope he succeeds. Another thing, we often get carried away and think that the sun rises every morning because of Cyprus. Of course we are justified to place the cyprob as our number one priority but countries such as Turkey have other pressing priorities too. We would be wise to show some sensitivity to this too.

Another thing that bothers me is the forlorn hope many people live on in Cyprus that the end of our problems will come when Turkey disintegrates into smithereens. This reminds me of a person that dreams on winning the lottery in order to solve his financial problems. Dreaming that winning the lottery is not half as bad as expecting Turkey to disintegrate. This is because you start living in a make believe world and you remain inactive while others shape the future.

In a nutshell, we should understand that Turkey is here to stay and make peace with this. Furthermore we should try to make the most of the presence of this country, in a positive way. If we start thinking along these lines it will make it easy for the civil government of Turkey to work with us in finding a just and lasting solution. Gul also needs the encouragement in order to fend off any pressure from the die harts.

[kalahari]

I would like to point out that I, for one, do not wish Turkey to disintegrate. Quite the contrary – I wish it all the best and continue to support Abdullah Gul in his efforts to join the EU.

I sympathise with his terrible dilemma however. It cannot be easy knowing that you are a marked man, marked by the very troops that are supposed to be your protectors.

It does bother me that there is this trend of deification of figures from the past. For the Turkish army, it's Ataturk – undoubtedly a visionary man, but let's move on. For the Cypriot's it's Makarios – a deeply flawed statesman who only recently has had yet another monument to him unveiled on Makarios Avenue, Limassol. In the end it has less to do with respect for the figure and more to do with providing a smokescreen for one's own agenda.

[Bananiot]

Well said kalahari.

[phoenix]

I would like to point out that I, for one, do not wish Turkey to disintegrate. Quite the contrary – I wish it all the best and continue to support Abdullah Gul in his efforts to join the EU.

Good luck

Chances of Turkey gaining EU entry, pre-Gul = 0%

Chances of Turkey gaining EU entry, post-Gul = 0%

Find some other suckers for your third world, backward nation to join.

Pip-pip
Phoenix