Cyprus-Forum.com

[Magnus]

I came to the UK at the age of 15 , now 62 , NEVER once have I or the two children that I and my wife brought to the world had any problems what so ever with their VERY Greek name. Likewise my older brother whao brought 5 children to this world again naturally with a VERY Greek name , my younger brother who also had 2 children all again with a Greek surname , mt late sister too with just the one girl never reported anything of the sort.
Sorry mate , I'm not being rude but council estates are notorious for the type of people that live in them .You could be a blue eyed American with the name of Smith the bullies would still pick on you , so dont go around saying that Greek Cypriots in the UK were persecuted because they had foreign names !! Its just plain nonsense.
I have been living here for nearly 47 years I think that is enough time to form an opinion dont you.My surname is MILTIADES SAVVIDES , that's foreign enough surely.
As for this comment of yours : """""I've been on the same marches as you and had the great British public shout insults and mockery. I've been told to 'get out of our country' (and assorted variations of the phrase) more times than I can recall. """
I have attended about 26 or 27 times the March . A few isolated incidents yes , even yesterday a group of young English kids asked as we were entering Trafalgar Square if we were English , I replied Yes mate we are English Cypriots !!
The March is well known by the British Police as one that is totally peaceful , to the best of my knowledge nobody ever got arrested over 34 years.

Again, I'm glad that things have been ok for you and your family.

If you look at my original post again, you'll notice that I didn't say 'Greek Cypriots have been persecuted'. I said 'I have been persecuted'. I have. Me. I don't claim to speak for any of you. I speak only for me. I'm glad if people have had happy lives in the UK where they have never encountered any form of prejudice.

Yes, estates are notoriously bad and getting worse. I already stated that I have friends that had a far worse time than I did. If 'Paki bashing' was an olympic sport, England would win gold every time. But jokes aside, it is pretty obvious to anyone who has ever lived in those places that the underclass is not very tolerant to 'foreigners'. And who can say that they are not merely expressing the sentiments of a great number of 'English' people in their uneducated way?

Look at the bigger picture. To some of these people we are foreigners and that is all we ever will be. As far as I'm concerned that's plenty good reason to embrace what we are and I'm much more offended by someone trying to stick a knife in me for being 'foreign' than by someone carrying a Greek flag at a demonstration or flying it outside their house.

You can dismiss my views and experiences as 'nonsense' or whatever else. I just answered your question and request to elaborate.

[Agios Ionas]

It's quite interesting that 'poor' people in 'rich' countries usually seem to be a bunch of racist bigot cretins whom tend to avoid labour as much as soap and water.

'Poor' people in 'poor' or 'not so rich' countries usually seem to be the most warm and welcoming kind, always eager to make acquaintances of strangers... even if they can barely communicate with each other.

Generalisation of the day... I know... but there lies some truth in my assumptions don't you agree?

[miltiades]

I came to the UK at the age of 15 , now 62 , NEVER once have I or the two children that I and my wife brought to the world had any problems what so ever with their VERY Greek name. Likewise my older brother whao brought 5 children to this world again naturally with a VERY Greek name , my younger brother who also had 2 children all again with a Greek surname , mt late sister too with just the one girl never reported anything of the sort.
Sorry mate , I'm not being rude but council estates are notorious for the type of people that live in them .You could be a blue eyed American with the name of Smith the bullies would still pick on you , so dont go around saying that Greek Cypriots in the UK were persecuted because they had foreign names !! Its just plain nonsense.
I have been living here for nearly 47 years I think that is enough time to form an opinion dont you.My surname is MILTIADES SAVVIDES , that's foreign enough surely.
As for this comment of yours : """""I've been on the same marches as you and had the great British public shout insults and mockery. I've been told to 'get out of our country' (and assorted variations of the phrase) more times than I can recall. """
I have attended about 26 or 27 times the March . A few isolated incidents yes , even yesterday a group of young English kids asked as we were entering Trafalgar Square if we were English , I replied Yes mate we are English Cypriots !!
The March is well known by the British Police as one that is totally peaceful , to the best of my knowledge nobody ever got arrested over 34 years.

Again, I'm glad that things have been ok for you and your family.

If you look at my original post again, you'll notice that I didn't say 'Greek Cypriots have been persecuted'. I said 'I have been persecuted'. I have. Me. I don't claim to speak for any of you. I speak only for me. I'm glad if people have had happy lives in the UK where they have never encountered any form of prejudice.

Yes, estates are notoriously bad and getting worse. I already stated that I have friends that had a far worse time than I did. If 'Paki bashing' was an olympic sport, England would win gold every time. But jokes aside, it is pretty obvious to anyone who has ever lived in those places that the underclass is not very tolerant to 'foreigners'. And who can say that they are not merely expressing the sentiments of a great number of 'English' people in their uneducated way?

Look at the bigger picture. To some of these people we are foreigners and that is all we ever will be. As far as I'm concerned that's plenty good reason to embrace what we are and I'm much more offended by someone trying to stick a knife in me for being 'foreign' than by someone carrying a Greek flag at a demonstration or flying it outside their house.

You can dismiss my views and experiences as 'nonsense' or whatever else. I just answered your question and request to elaborate.

Have looked at the post in question and it is clear when you say the following: ""I've been persecuted for having a Greek name.""
It is therefore quite reasonable for me or any other reader to surmise that the reason you were persecuted was because of your Greek name ,
this is what you implied , that because you had a Greek name you were persecuted , similar to saying that because " I was Jewish I was persecuted."
Since you are not the ONLY one with a Greek name , your statement inferred that the reason for your persecution was the Greek name and that therefore persecution of anyone with a Greek name was widespread. I challenged that presumption justifiably I feel.

[Oracle]

It's quite interesting that 'poor' people in 'rich' countries usually seem to be a bunch of racist bigot cretins whom tend to avoid labour as much as soap and water.

'Poor' people in 'poor' or 'not so rich' countries usually seem to be the most warm and welcoming kind, always eager to make acquaintances of strangers... even if they can barely communicate with each other.

Generalisation of the day... I know... but there lies some truth in my assumptions don't you agree?

I think the roots of that dissatisfaction lie in the wheels of Capitalism.

The constant striving and competition set up to keep the workforce hankering for that next must-have goody turn society into a dog-eat-dog world.

But I think Marx and Engels put it better

When my son was young we used to go to a Steiner based playgroup. Rudolf Steiner's idea of the perfect society was small social groups ( ~ 200 people) which were large enough for everyone to have a role, blacksmith, farmer, butcher, medicine-man, teacher etc ... but small enough that everyone behaved without laws, for fear of being caught, easily recognised and hence accountable.

Sounds good to me .... my village seems too big now

[miltiades]

I am a Cypriot firstly secondly and thirdly

You support the "RoC", therefore you are nothing of the sort.

Therefore all those heads of International organizations , nations , the EU and the United Nations who fully support the RoC by not recognising the Turkish Mainland created and administered "TRNC" are in your opinion barmy !!!
As for the 40, 000 T/Cs holders of ROC IDs and passports they are , in your opinion holders of illegal documents

Since you don't support the ROC , unlike Humanist , are you a Cypriot first then ??

[bill cobbett]

My Dear Miltiades,

Regretfully being a Brit of CY ancestry can't in all conscience vote but let me take the opportunity of condemning the too commonplace prefices gr and tr where they appear before the word Cypriot. About time we ditched the language of the former colonial power, the partitionists, and the motherland-loving fascist fanatics of both sides.... oh and yes and get rid of the flags of both "motherlands".

[miltiades]

My Dear Miltiades,

Regretfully being a Brit of CY ancestry can't in all conscience vote but let me take the opportunity of condemning the too commonplace prefices gr and tr where they appear before the word Cypriot. About time we ditched the language of the former colonial power, the partitionists, and the motherland-loving fascist fanatics of both sides.... oh and yes and get rid of the flags of both "motherlands".

Indeed Bill , you can still vote though !!
I'm so proud of the nation of Cyprus that has achieved so much during the last half a century , from a nation that provided the best waiters to the UK to a nation that now " imports" waiters from Europe !!! and water from Greece !!
I only wish that the people of Cyprus accepted the Cypriot ethnicity , they dont have to reject their "perceived" motherlands but at least make an effort to become what they are destined to be .CYPRIOTS !!

[miltiades]

It's quite interesting that 'poor' people in 'rich' countries usually seem to be a bunch of racist bigot cretins whom tend to avoid labour as much as soap and water.

'Poor' people in 'poor' or 'not so rich' countries usually seem to be the most warm and welcoming kind, always eager to make acquaintances of strangers... even if they can barely communicate with each other.

Generalisation of the day... I know... but there lies some truth in my assumptions don't you agree?

I think the roots of that dissatisfaction lie in the wheels of Capitalism.

The constant striving and competition set up to keep the workforce hankering for that next must-have goody turn society into a dog-eat-dog world.

But I think Marx and Engels put it better

When my son was young we used to go to a Steiner based playgroup. Rudolf Steiner's idea of the perfect society was small social groups ( ~ 200 people) which were large enough for everyone to have a role, blacksmith, farmer, butcher, medicine-man, teacher etc ... but small enough that everyone behaved without laws, for fear of being caught, easily recognised and hence accountable.

Sounds good to me .... my village seems too big now

Has the sun affected your brain cells , what on earth does your signature convey !!

[Magnus]

Have looked at the post in question and it is clear when you say the following: ""I've been persecuted for having a Greek name.""
It is therefore quite reasonable for me or any other reader to surmise that the reason you were persecuted was because of your Greek name ,
this is what you implied , that because you had a Greek name you were persecuted , similar to saying that because " I was Jewish I was persecuted."
Since you are not the ONLY one with a Greek name , your statement inferred that the reason for your persecution was the Greek name and that therefore persecution of anyone with a Greek name was widespread. I challenged that presumption justifiably I feel.

Unfortunately this is a problem with typing things on the internet rather than saying them. I did not intend to make such an inference and thought that my choice of words was clear enough. In my mind, 'I' means 'me' while 'we' means 'us'. If I had meant to include everyone, I would have said 'we have been persecuted'.

The comma after 'Greek name' is due to the fact that I followed it with a further item ('my religion') and hence used it in the correct grammatical form. It was not used to infer that the name issue is something that affects every Greek Cypriot, and neither that it was the only reason my former 'neighbours' were quite so intolerant.

Anyway, there's no point arguing over these details, it detracts from the overall discussion. Please accept my apologies if my posts have led the discussion away from the original theme.

[miltiades]

Have looked at the post in question and it is clear when you say the following: ""I've been persecuted for having a Greek name.""
It is therefore quite reasonable for me or any other reader to surmise that the reason you were persecuted was because of your Greek name ,
this is what you implied , that because you had a Greek name you were persecuted , similar to saying that because " I was Jewish I was persecuted."
Since you are not the ONLY one with a Greek name , your statement inferred that the reason for your persecution was the Greek name and that therefore persecution of anyone with a Greek name was widespread. I challenged that presumption justifiably I feel.

Unfortunately this is a problem with typing things on the internet rather than saying them. I did not intend to make such an inference and thought that my choice of words was clear enough. In my mind, 'I' means 'me' while 'we' means 'us'. If I had meant to include everyone, I would have said 'we have been persecuted'.

The comma after 'Greek name' is due to the fact that I followed it with a further item ('my religion') and hence used it in the correct grammatical form. It was not used to infer that the name issue is something that affects every Greek Cypriot, and neither that it was the only reason my former 'neighbours' were quite so intolerant.

Anyway, there's no point arguing over these details, it detracts from the overall discussion. Please accept my apologies if my posts have led the discussion away from the original theme.

My dear Friend , agapite mou file , den ine anaggi na apologithis .
No need to apologise , you merely expressed your feelings , I respect that and hope sincerely that we are still compatriots and friends .