Cyprus-Forum.com

[Agios Amvrosios]

Kretschmer: "Signing of the protocol would mean that Ankara recognises the membership of the Republic of Cyprus in the EU"
Istanbul NTV television (16.03.05) broadcast that Mr Hansjörg Kretschmer, European Commission's Representative to Turkey, said that Turkey must enforce its reforms with determination and without hesitation. Interviewed on NTV-CNBC, Mr Kretschmer affirmed that he does not believe that a clause saying Turkey does not recognize the Republic of Cyprus can be added to the protocol expanding the Ankara Agreement.
Mr Kretschmer reiterated that the protocol expanding the Ankara Agreement must be signed as soon as possible. He added: "I do not think that a clause saying Turkey does not recognize the Republic of Cyprus can be added to the protocol expanding the Ankara Agreement. This must be assessed by both sides, especially by the jurists in Brussels. We have always said that by signing the protocol, Turkey recognizes the Republic of Cyprus' EU membership. The signing of the protocol does not mean anything beyond that. Nevertheless, if it thinks that it needs to add a declaration to the protocol that is up to the Turkish Government.

Mr Kretschmer stressed that Turkey still has certain steps to take regarding the reforms, adding: "Turkey needs a continuous determination."

The European Commission official stated that the chief negotiator must have the power to influence everyone as well as the prime minister's full support. "It is enough if the chief negotiator is appointed before 3 October", he said.

Mr Kretschmer described the police intervention in the women's demonstration in Istanbul as excessive and as a backward step taken in the wrong direction. He explained that the report that will be submitted to the European Parliament on this issue will be determined in line with the results of the ongoing investigation.

The EU seems to be playing the 2 sides against each other.

[insan]

One big outpost with a huge army,economic potential and one small outpost with the advantage of easy to dominate would wery well serve their interests in East Mediterennean, Middle East through Far East.

The question is this conjuncture should serve the interests of all parties including TC. Without "political equality" of two communities, Turkey's guarantorship and secure bi-zonality(restricted with %33 because of political stability and TC quality of TCCS); this conjuncture don't serve for the interests of TC community. I think majority of GCs think exactly the opposite of what majority of TCs think because they consider TC community nothing more than a minority and in case of a power sharing on "political equality" basis; TC community is a big obstacle in front of their Great national cause; Hellenistic ideals.

[BigDutch]

I think majority of GCs think exactly the opposite of what majority of TCs think because they consider TC community nothing more than a minority and in case of a power sharing on "political equality" basis;

I`m not a GC and i`m sure the rest of the world taking a "snapshot" of the current situation would agree that numerically the TC community is a minority. There is a lot of history in Cyprus which the vast majority of the world is not interested in.

TC community is a big obstacle in front of their Great national cause; Hellenistic ideals.

I would interpret from your comment here that you have a major problem with a straight "one-man - one vote" democracy.

[insan]

I would interpret from your comment here that you have a major problem with a straight "one-man - one vote" democracy.

A problem that Hellenic ruling elite created in the last 100 years. One man one vote democrasy only applies to the nation states that have no huge divisive elements in their past and recent past history.

[metecyp]

I would interpret from your comment here that you have a major problem with a straight "one-man - one vote" democracy.

Ok, according to your simplistic model of democracy, the US is not democracy either because they sure don't have "one man- one vote" democracy. I'm amazed by how much you can twist what someone said.

[BigDutch]

... the US is not democracy either because they sure don't have "one man- one vote" democracy

I see you live in USA and Cyprus so obviously you are far more aware of the US voting system. I have to admit that my assumption was that each man regardless of colour/creed/religion gets one vote.

[BigDutch]

I'm amazed by how much you can twist what someone said.

I don't mean to twist anything. I don't know what Insans "Hellenistic ideals" are ? I assumed it was a one-man one-vote democracy.

[insan]

I'm amazed by how much you can twist what someone said.

I don't mean to twist anything. I don't know what Insans "Hellenistic ideals" are ? I assumed it was a one-man one-vote democracy.

Ask Hellenistic Ruling elite to tell you what their Hellenistic ideals are. I have already posted many articles and speeches made by representatives of Hellenes from official Hellenic websites which describes their Hellenistic Ideals.

[BigDutch]

Ask Hellenistic Ruling elite to tell you what their Hellenistic ideals are. I have already posted many articles and speeches made by representatives of Hellenes from official Hellenic websites which describes their Hellenistic Ideals.

Assist me to understand your opinion .... link me to the speeches and articles directly.

[metecyp]

I see you live in USA and Cyprus so obviously you are far more aware of the US voting system. I have to admit that my assumption was that each man regardless of colour/creed/religion gets one vote.

I'm no expert in US system either but here's some basic stuff I know. In the US, the legislative branch is composed of 2 houses, Senate and House of Representatives. In Senate, each state gets 2 seats regardless of size and population . In House of Representatives, each state gets a representation approximately equal to its size/population. But again smaller states usually get more representation than they actually deserve if one man one vote rule applied.

Yes, every man gets one vote regardless of color/religion/sex but each vote counts differently in the Senate or House of Representatives depending on the size/population of the state.

Does this mean there's no democracy in the US? Absolutely not. It's just one form of democracy where there's a strong checks and balances system to make sure that smaller states participate in the decision making.

There are many democracies in the world and "one man one vote" is by no means the only form of democracy. What we need in Cyprus is a federal system that will address fears of TCs (domination by GCs, not being part of decision-making) and fears of GCs (TC blocking everything, TC determining fate of 82% of the island) and it'll be unique to Cyprus.