Cyprus-Forum.com

[DT.]

That old bone has been chewed over too many times.Turkey has no intention of invading Southern Cyprus with or without the Green Line.
I am afraid the Green Line is a convenient excuse for prolonging the Cyprus Problem...

YOU unlock the bloody door to 40,000 troops in your country with your family living in a house 1 km from the green line. YOU take the risk!

Don't be so arrogant as to name a country invaded and split in 2 by the same army you now consider harmless as making up excuses.

[Nikitas]

Purdey, do you honestly think that people will not try to reclaim their properties on the "other side"? That the mayor of Famagusta will not stage a "peaceful march" to get back to the deserted city?

Or that the proportions of 37-63 per cent of territory are fair and can stay so for ever? The Turkish army has pushed into the Green line several times in the past even with UN presence (Ayios Kassianos school being one instance). It will try to do so again and the GC side will have no option but to resist.

Greece will not let the Greek Cypriots at the mercy of the Turkish army. No Greek government could survive if it did that. Reinforcing Cyprus would raise tensions along the whole line of confrontation from Cyprus all the way to the Bulgarian -Turkish- Greek border. A line which is already tense with daily violations by the Turkish air force and navy. Pulling out the UN is an invitation to disaster.

[purdey]

Nikitas,I have done two stints on the Green Line.One in the forces,once as a civilian.
To be fair both sides step over the line.It happens on a monthly basis,and all that happens is a message goes out and a Lynx helicopter flys down the middle,all over in two hours.
I think they call it posturing..
Turkey have far to much to lose by involving it's military,it would just not happen.

[Jerry]

Purdey, whilst the Turkish government may feel that it has too much to lose the Turkish military could not give a toss - and guess who has the last word in matters that involve the occupation troops in Cyprus - not the TCs and not the government in Ankara. They will follow the government line when it suits them. In the unlikely event of an agreement soon it will be interesting to see how much notice the military take of Mr Erdogan. Turkey threatened to strike at the ROC over the deployment of missiles some years ago, how safe do you think the GCs feel after that?

[purdey]

ROC missile deployment,and how safe do you think the GC's felt ? tit for tat...
I am sorry, I am still of the opinion Turkey have too much to lose if involved in any hostilities.

As for DT's post.Why is it arrogance ? what has talking achieved so far,sorry bickering.I see no blood been spilt at present,but I do see it in other parts of the world.
The UN needs to be freed up to work in other trouble spots,where killing is taking place on a daily basis.
Have you been in the armed services DT,have you watched blood been shed on a daily basis,I do not know if you have,but I have.
Put the troops where they are needed !!!

[paliometoxo]

forcing a solution as we found in the past does not help

The problem though, Paliometoxo, is that if neither side wants to come to a solution (and a solution for Cyprus is going to entail give-and-take on both sides), a third party is going to be needed to push one through. Didn't someone say that the art of diplomacy entails leaving both sides dis-satisfied to some degree?

your right but from what i understand the turkish side wants to take take and give nothing back a minority that basically wants full control over all of cy. any sugestions south side makes is unacceptable to the turkish unless south either offers two seperate states or give away most the power to the turks. so they have to be at least reasnoble and co-operate with the prolems from the south side.

[DT.]

ROC missile deployment,and how safe do you think the GC's felt ? tit for tat...
I am sorry, I am still of the opinion Turkey have too much to lose if involved in any hostilities.

As for DT's post.Why is it arrogance ? what has talking achieved so far,sorry bickering.I see no blood been spilt at present,but I do see it in other parts of the world.
The UN needs to be freed up to work in other trouble spots,where killing is taking place on a daily basis.
Have you been in the armed services DT,have you watched blood been shed on a daily basis,I do not know if you have,but I have.
Put the troops where they are needed !!!

I've done my service Purdey (and probably outrank you) but have not seen any action obviously. The Cyprus national Guard has curbed its expansionist strategies in recent years .

The UN in Cyprus is fully subsidised by the Govt of Cyprus and Greece, so we're paying for this "protection". If these troops are freed, knowing the UN's budget they will probably be disbanded rather than posted elsewhere.

As for no bloodshed....let me take you back to 1996. Cypriot climbs up the Turkish flagpole and gets shot down. Turkish soldiers then turn their guns into crowd injuring a number of people....one of which was a UN soldier.

Our troops were positioned 50 metres away but did not return fire.

[purdey]

The majority of UN soldiers go back to their respective units once their term is up.Like all UN personnel (well from the UK) you volunteer for the role and then face interview and selection.
I did a few months in Bosnia,before the UN came in and then with UN.
In future I will adhere to our EX Military standing and address you as Sir.

[DT.]

The majority of UN soldiers go back to their respective units once their term is up.Like all UN personnel (well from the UK) you volunteer for the role and then face interview and selection.
I did a few months in Bosnia,before the UN came in and then with UN.
In future I will adhere to our EX Military standing and address you as Sir.

Not Ex...still active soldier...reserves.

[purdey]

My appologies Sir.