Cyprus-Forum.com

[THE HIGHLANDER]

no just had too much amber nectar tonite !!!!!

[BirKibrisli]

no just had too much amber nectar tonite !!!!!

[yialousa1971]

What is the Parthenon doing in the Troodos?

Whats wrong with the Parthenon, here it is without it.




Here it is without the map.

[Tim Drayton]

Tim ,
I hope you can find the answer why they changed and why they feel to change their ideas ?
question yourself about AP and promises of the EU and others .
on your next trip to north try to talk with people what they felt after the referendum and asked them what they are feeling about next coming one.
properly it will be in autumn and let us to know . by judging old articles or sayings are nothing now . It is in past . Important what they are planning or what they are thinking now .

Halil, dostum, I am pretty sure in my own mind why they have changed, and it is not for the reasons you have stated.

There is a puppet regime in the north of Cyprus directly controlled by Turkey. The European Court of Human Rights recognises the situation as such and holds Turkey directly responsible for human rights abuses in that part of the island. When you consider that Turkey directly bankrolls the administration in the north to keep it afloat - you yourself were trumpeting a fresh loan granted by Turkey in another recent thread - it is not hard to understand the degree of leverage that Turkey has over that administration and those that hold office in it.

The simple truth is that there has been a shift in the balance of power in Turkey and, with it, a sharp change in Turkey's Cyprus policy. Talat, Soyer and other leading lights in the CTP have no choice but to eat their words and do as Turkey tells them.

Even so, it is astonishing to see the kind of things that Talat was saying only a few years ago. For example:

"Türkiye, bazı gericilerin anavatanı olabilir ve benim anavatanım değil." (19 December 1997-Kıbrıs Gazetesi)
[Turkey may be the motherland of certain backward people, but it is not my motherland]

"Türkiye'nin Kıbrıs'taki varlığı uluslararası hukuka aykırıdır." (19 September 2003-Vatan Gazetesi)
[Turkey's presence in Cyprus is contrary to international law.]

Tim,

All the quotes by the present TC leaders in the north from yesteryear's who took "shots" at Turkey were before the 2004 Annan Plan referendums, which once again feeds on my belief as to why Denktash was removed by Turkey, because by him being in a leadership position, he was never going to be trusted by the GC's to agree on the AP to vote YES, and Turkey needed a YES vote from the GC's. Talat and others made a showing that they were independent from Turkey and spoke about it, with Turkey's approval no doubt, but since the AP did not pass, it was time to stop playing charades. Now you see who these people really are, because there's no use pretending anymore and they are now trying to save their own asses before being replaced by other politicians chosen by Turkey once again to rule the north. That is the reason they are saying everything they can to praise Turkey in the hopes that they will get to stay around. But they always praised Turkey from the beginning in private, but they want to use the failed Annan Plan as an excuse as to why their position has changed, as Halil want us to believe.

I think you are being a little hard on Talat, Soyer etc. Iceman can give a more definitive opinion on them than I can, but I think at the time they made quotes such as the ones above, they genuinely believed in Cypriotness and opposed 'motherland' interference in Cypriot affairs. Certainly, it suited Turkey's interests at the time to bring people with this kind of past into office. The reason, of course, why they have changed their tune and why, probably, they will be removed from office in next year's elections is that Turkey pulls the strings.

It is interesting to debate the extent to which Denktash's ousting from office was due to Turkey's own foreign policy interests, and the extent to which it was due to the mass demonstrations held by Turkish Cypriots at the time. If the latter indeed made a significant contribution, then there is still hope for Cyprus.