Bananiot wrote:The most crucial chapters that are discussed at the talks, as most people know, are governance and property. The rest have been or can easily be agreed upon. YFred said something interesting, that is, when you see the far right worry, something good may be brewing.
The governance issue is debated about the effective participation of the two communities in the central state. The UN resolution seems to be understood differently by the two sides. Of course I completely ignore the far right cry for a unitary state and moving away from the bbf proposal. Talat wants equal representation in all bodies of the central state whereas Christofias seems to want participation which will not be detrimental to decision making. Remember, the UN said, effective participation. How does one translate "effective participation"? In my opinion, equal participation will give the sense of justice to the Turkish Cypriots and we stand to lose nothing by accepting this. It will be a huge step towards enhancing the reconciliation process.
The property issue sees our side wanting to safeguard the right of all refugees to return to their properties while the Turkish Cypriot side has opted for an exchange and compensation policy in order to make sure that there will be a Turkish Cypriot majority in the Turkish Cypriot state. Another issue that seems to be of concern to the TC side is the % of Turkish Cypriot owned land within the TC state.
This is how things stand at the moment. Those of us that seek solution wholeheartedly as the only way to safeguard the existence of our island, can compromise in a spirit of good will for the benefit of our common country. Christofias has been pressed very hard by the deep state in the Greek Cypriot side (oh yes, it exists since day one of the RoC) and he even finds it difficult to reform a stale, anachronistic education system, which has seen our education records plummet to record lows while producing, xenophobic children who are racist and spoilt brats. If Christofias finds the strength to stand up to the reactionaries, you will be surprised how many people will stand by his side.
As I said we should accept the idea that the Turkish Cypriots will participate on an equal basis in all decision making bodies of the Central state. Also, by definition, it is not possible for one community to have a majority of either population or land ownership in both states. The legal owner of every property should have the final say of course and any exchanges or compensations need to be very welcome by all concerned, at the end of the day.
If we cannot agree on the above, partition is the only way left and this will prove detrimental to both Greek and Turkish Cypriots. Thus, eventually what it boils down in the end is what we want, partition or bbf. All other options do not exist and it is a waste of time even arguing about them even as an exercise on paper.
Bananiot,
The first question I need to ask you is, from what you read of this "secret" document on page one, do you agree with the terms Talat insisting on.?
Second question is, do you not see Talat's proposals as a Confederation and not a Federation.?
Third question is, after all you read about the AP, don't you think this is what AP looks like once the disguised partition veil has been removed.?
You tell us that you are against Partition and Confederation, but at the same time, you want the solution based on what's in this "secret" document, or did I get this wrong and that you do not want these proposals made by Talat, because you are against Partition and Confederation.? Can you please clarify your position.!
Let me tell you all what these proposal by Talat are to me. YES, they are Confederation based proposals and YES, they are Partition based proposals and I do not see anything close to resembling a Unified Cyprus, the country or the people. It is actually far worse than any Confederation can be, just as the AP was. Therefore, these proposals are the naked truth of what the AP was about, and Talat has no choice but to spell them out in details, because the AP cannot be used as the basis of these talks in it's original format with it's disguised partition veil on. Once the AP has been stripped down to it's "Birthday Suit", you get to see it very clearly what it was all about. So my friend Bananiot, this is what you actually voted for when you voted for the 2004 AP, even though you may have thought you were voting for something different that was going to bring long lasting peace to Cyprus. So let me ask you again. Knowing what you know now, would you still vote for the 2004 AP, and if so, then you have no choice but to agree with what Talat is proposing in this "secret" document.
In closing this posting, let me put what Talat's proposal really means in a laymen’s terms. It is an "Open Marriage" proposal. It means that either one of the married couple can have whom ever they want for sex, with or without any protections, when they want it ,how, and where. They can invite to the house whom ever they want and let them stay there and do as they wish as long as they want, whether the other partner likes it or not, because there is nothing the other partner can do about it, because they both agreed on their "Open Marriage" agreement. So let me ask all those members who support Talat's proposals, and that is, are you all willing to have an open marriage relationship which your partners and spouses in the same way as I described above, that you will let you spouse go off with another person to have sex with as they seem fit and you can do the same of course, but you cannot stop your partner from doing what they want with whom they want, even if you are not willing to do it yourself, but from here on, you cannot stop your partner.? So let me see those hands who are up to Talat’s proposals and are equally up to Open Marriages and Open Relationships of their own.!
