Cyprus-Forum.com

[MicAtCyp]

First of al apologies for the long article, but I don't have the link.I actually received it by E-mail from a friend, hence the many > signs.
Sevgul is a respectable writter, I did not find anything wrong in what she says.

Perhaps my only comment is that RoC cannot do many things that would prove it is a biccomunal state, because the TCs are not participating in it.However it could at least do something regarding RIK.

*********************

> The `Golden Days` of Ankara in Cyprus. (*)
>
> Sevgul Uludag
>
> Ankara is living its `Golden Days` in Cyprus. Things
> have not been `better` for it. Having made sure, with
> the help of the `West` that is the UK, US and the UN,
> that the `Greek Cypriot side is the terrible side`,
> now Ankara enjoys `freedom` of its movements and
> `praise` for things it has not necessarily done.
> Keeping 40 thousand troops, military and semi-military
> installations, as well as an `extended` embassy and a
> big `aid mission` in the northern part of Cyprus, it
> continues to run the daily life in practice in the
> northern part.
> The Turkish ambassador makes a round of visiting civil
> organizations and trade unions. There is no talk of
> turning over the `power` to Turkish Cypriots. There
> is no `questioning` of how the `aid` is spent or how
> the `aid mission` operates. The illegal labor is being
> `legitimized` through a law passed recently where they
> can register and in about 5 years' time, they can
> become 'citizens' of the north. The doors are kept
> wide open for all the ills of society to flow into the
> north: with a high rate of unemployment and poverty in
> Turkey, people come to look for a better job, a better
> place to steal, a better place to live where there's
> no controls. They can choose what they want to do:
> They can rob some houses or stab some people, or
> create their own ghettos to live in. They can bring
> their wives and kids, no one will question them. If
> their wives are pregnant, they can use the `services`
> of the hospital and enroll their kids in the schools.
> No one will ever question `where they come from`.
> Here, Ankara is living its `Golden Days` and the
> famous `West` for its `human rights records` and
> scrutiny of the `records` of others, can turn a blind
> eye to everything and pretend that things are all
> right in this corner of the earth. The `north` is
> still like a `ghost` when it comes to the application
> of international law.
> Turkish Cypriots are mesmerized: Now they have a new
> `present` to play with- the illusion of `sharing`
> power with Ankara. Finding a job for their kids.
> Getting an appointment to the head of a school or a
> department which those `terrible Denktash people`
> never gave them. Now it's their turn to take `revenge`
> and perhaps `compensation`. The "civil society`, so
> `famous` for taking thousands of people to the
> streets, is now quiet - trade unions are negotiating
> with the `coalition` the increase in salaries. Mass
> majority of the NGOs are `blaming` the `Greek Cypriots
> who voted OXI` and have lost their creativity of
> getting together despite the fact that the
> check-points are open. The Greek Cypriot civil society
> is not really keen on meeting their counterparts
> because they fear that all they would hear would be
> blaming words: `See, us, Turkish Cypriots, we made a
> velvet revolution! You did nothing! You do nothing!
> You don't do anything for peace!` The results of one
> such meeting was terrible: even the interpreter had to
> intervene and calm people down! The Greek Cypriot
> women's organization POGO was meeting CTP women's
> branch and there was a big fight. The interpreter had
> to remind the women that they were addressing their
> sisters, not their `enemies`! Now is the time for the
> NGOs to `blame` as much as possible, the Greek
> Cypriots. Wasn't it Talat who said, `The Greek
> Cypriots don't even want us to breathe on this
> island?`. And wasn't it Ferdi Sabit Soyer, the new
> leader of CTP who said that it is the `Republic of
> Cyprus which is under occupation`?
> So people have taken the lead from everyday propaganda
> by the new team in `government` in the north: The
> `status quo` of Denktash and Eroglu has been replaced
> with another `status quo`: that of Talat and his
> party. And Ankara remains untouched, with all its
> `power` and continues to live its `Golden Days`. The
> Talat team is playing the `blaming game` even though
> they could have used the `controlled power` they have,
> in a different way. The Talat team could have
> addressed the needs and concerns of not only Turkish
> Cypriots but Greek Cypriots as well, if a message of
> `reconciliation` was to be given. The Talat team
> could have used a language of peace and reconciliation
> from the very beginning, instead of the `language of
> conflict`. The `looting` of the property of Greek
> Cypriots by `foreign investors` could have been
> stopped by the Talat team but instead, the `coalition`
> in the north decreased the amount of tax that the
> foreigners have to pay for the acquiring of such
> properties from 15% to 5%, encouraging them to buy
> more!.
> Yes, the `power game` is not for the idealists. Talat
> gives the impression of a `tough administrator` who
> would be a `hard negotiator` with the Greek Cypriots.
> Greek Cypriots are `the others` and generalizations
> are made in daily statements, helping a new form of
> `nationalism` develop among the Turkish Cypriots. And
> in this process, Cypriots are hurt.
> People in the north have now forgotten that they live
> under `occupation`, that the `Deep State` (the state
> within the state) is still there. The dogs that were
> barking loud once, have been hushed by their master.
> The `famous` Grey Wolves are sleeping now because
> there is no need to unleash them. The `NGOs` who were
> the mouthpiece of the regime are now very busy
> visiting the newly elected CTP `ministers` and nobody
> sees anything wrong with the `dialogue` they are
> developing. One of the repeated campaign slogans of
> CTP during elections was: `No confrontation between
> left and right, it's now time for communal unity!`
> Things are not as `dramatic` as before, Turkish
> Cypriots are not `rebelling` against the regime and
> the commanders can have a little rest for the time
> being, until a new round of the `game` necessitates
> their `clever interventions`.
> The only change in `civic rights` that's `needed` now
> is those which would not put Ankara in the `accused`
> stand. The Turkish Cypriot police forces are under the
> direct command of the military General Staff of the
> Republic of Turkey for instance and it must `change
> hands` so that Turkey would not be blamed for exerting
> control through the police in the north. No one will
> contradict that. The regime must clean up its act in
> the north so that it would look nice and tidy and
> would give the illusion that there is `democracy` and
> `freedom` in this part of the earth.
> Of course, the Greek Cypriot power structures are
> giving the northern regime, all the necessary pretexts
> to act this way. Every now and then, the regime in the
> south would come out and say, `Look, the Turkish
> Cypriots are using our health services free of charge!
> Look, the Turkish Cypriots are using our social
> security funds! Look, they are even using our
> medicine! See how much money we pay for them?` They
> haven't developed an effective way of communication
> with the Turkish Cypriot community either.
> Perhaps it's better to look at what's missing from the
> picture in order to understand, what could have been
> done. The status quo in the south is happy with
> itself: they feel no need to change. The official
> languages of the Republic of Cyprus are Turkish and
> Greek. The AKEL-Papadopoulos government does not feel
> the `need` to create space for the Turkish language to
> be used in the daily life in the south. All the road
> signs, all the signs in official buildings, in the
> ministries and even in the hospitals are in Greek. The
> only contact of Greek Cypriots with one of their
> official languages is through a pack of cigarettes: if
> they are smokers, they can see a warning in Turkish on
> the pack of cigarettes about the harmful effects of
> smoking. If they don't smoke, they wouldn't even see
> these words in Turkish! If you apply to get a card for
> the hospital, the forms you have to fill are in Greek.
> The bilinguality, the multiculturalism of our island
> is not `visible` in the offical politics of the
> AKEL-Papadopoulos government's daily policies. It's
> the mentality that's the problem: That is, accepting
> that the Turkish language is one of the official
> languages of the Republic of Cyprus. If you don't
> accept this, you can create many pretexts, in order
> not to use it and to make it invisible.
> If we look at RIK, which is the semi-official radio
> and TV of the Republic of Cyprus, there is only ONE
> bi-lingual, bi-communal programme, called `BIZ`. Any
> news concerning the Turkish Cypriots is presented not
> in `local news` but under the section `international
> news` in RIK radio and TV news programmes. Turkish
> Cypriots are still `the other` so they must be put
> under `international news`, not in the news that
> concerns the Greek Cypriots.
> The radio programmes of RIK in Turkish is on the verge
> of collapse: only a few personnel remains since almost
> 20 of the personnel left to work in TV. Repeated
> proposals by Turkish Cypriots to do programmes in
> Turkish on RIK radio fell to `deaf ears` - repeated
> proposals of the programme makers of RIK Turkish
> section, went into the dustbin. In theory, RIK has
> Turkish programmes on the radio but when it comes to
> practice, there is no support or encouragement to
> increase programmes in Turkish which would have an
> impact. This has been the case for many years now and
> even those who tried to change the setup on this issue
> within the Board of Directors, resigned after some
> time, encountering a wall of indifference and
> resistance. Sure, RIK has a `token` body of Turkish
> Cypriots to `advise` on policies and programmes but of
> course this `token body` does not have any say in the
> decision-making process or any `power` to change
> things.
> Some very bright young academicians have applied to
> work in the Cyprus University. One of them, enquiring
> if `not speaking Greek would be an obstacle to his
> application`, did not even get an answer! There is no
> `policy` to enroll young Turkish Cypriot academicians
> in the university. Remember how Niyazi Kizilyurek and
> Neshe Yashin had to give a long struggle to get where
> they are now in the University of Cyprus? Remember how
> much reaction there was against them being enrolled in
> the university?
> The Ministry of Education of the Republic of Cyprus,
> also does not feel any urge for change in the outdated
> textbooks that the children are taught from or the
> mentality of the teachers. Many things are changing in
> this geography, the checkpoints are open, people
> cross: students see something they haven't seen in
> their lives, students encounter Turkish Cypriots who
> are supposed to be citizens of the same island. But
> there is no movement from the official Ministry of
> Education to look at what needs to change in education
> and how the content of textbooks need to be
> Cypriotized. After all, we are supposed to be
> European, right? And what does `European` mean?
> Doesn't it mean accepting differences, accepting what
> is not similar to you? Doesn't it mean reconciliation
> and building consensus with what is different? Doesn't
> it mean an attitude towards `the others` which
> embraces, rather than rejecting and making them
> `invisible`?
> So through these policies of the regimes in the
> northern and southern parts of the island, our two
> communities are gradually drifting apart and Ankara
> can continue to live its `Golden Days` on the island.
> Those who want a `separation` (TAKSIM) of the island
> can sleep peacefully now because it would take years
> and changes of policies on both sides to bring the two
> communities together.
>
> (*) Article published in the ALITHIA newspaper on the
> 5th of June, 2005.

[metecyp]

For those who are interested in other articles of Sevgul Uludag, here's the website: www.hamamboculeri.org. The site is mainly Turkish but Uludag has both Turkish and English articles.

[cannedmoose]

An interesting piece of analysis... and a disappointing reality check to boot.

[pantelis]

Mike,
Sevgul speaks the truth, as always.
It is not enough to blame the politicians, of both sides, for the problems.
The politicians have the support of the people; they draw their power from the masses.
What ever happens to us, regardless whether we are directly involved or not, we deserve it, because we allowed it to happen, with our apathy and many times, our stupidity.
We, the people, are our worst enemies.
If the two communities do not start making small steps, an inch at a time, towards each other, “Taksim” and more troubles are for sure.
If you remember, I have supported the "closing of the gates", in one of my posts. What is the purpose of having the gates open? We watch each other, when we have nothing better to do, without conversing, dieing very slow sure death. No, I don’t really want the gates to close. My hope was that, if you threaten the people with the closing, they may converge and unite with a common cause, to keep them open; just a crazy/desperate idea.
Try and live with your spouse or your housemate, without communicating. The marriage will be over in no time. This is the kind of life that the two communities live. We sleep in separate bedrooms and sometimes pass each other in the kitchen or outside the bathroom.
We could be making steps towards each other, at the social level, without the fear of giving up our “political or economic rights and interests. We should start being human with each other, first. That is how we will be able to build the necessary level of trust, until we reach the point when we realize that we share the same politico-economic interests and human rights.

The politicians should follow the minds of the people, not the other way around.

See you all, sometime in July.

[Nickp]

In an posting where we were actually discussing practilcle ways of taking small steps to a solution instead of slagging each other off. I put foward some proposals that would be constructive points within this artlice.

A shame the politicans wont make any effort to do them.

One was TC's having an admin office within the ROC to handle things for TC's, e.g passports, medicine benefits other things that TC's would want to know or take advantage of until a solution was found.

More so giving back TC propeties that are uninhabitated. But proberbly the best thing would be opening Varosha, as proposed as a joint working town. I'm sure the TC quarter there would make a fortune from the influx of GC's tourists and investment into the town.

Then there's simple things, like removing greek national flags from villages squares and government buildings, turks could do something similar in particular those on the kyrenia moutain range.

You could start to re-sign post everything but i think cost wise this would not be such a wise move at this point, as most things are Greek and hence only greeks will want to know. However, maybe resignposting villages and towns that had Turkish interest in them with the equivlient Turkish name would be a good idea. For example, the main towns and villages such as "Kophinou." I just go this idea when i was in the north and saw the sign post for Apostolos Andreas had a greek version under neath on the way in the Karpas penisular.

Apart from that, in the article it says the only things that Greeks see in Turkish is a packet of ciggs. I beg to differ, the two biggest things we see in Turkish is the currency and passports. Both have Turkish on them and it's quite a big thing considering there two major attributes to national identity.

Oh well! wishful thinking!