Oracle wrote:Now the heat is off, and we have all had the benefit of reflection, I propose you return Expatkiwi.
But, instead of coming back to keep telling us you have an
unchangeable stance (bad in anyone), for whatever reasons and wasting our time, why don't you have a go at putting down your favourite flag and not behaving as though you are a football hooligan.
I've seen positive change in other "outsiders";
Talisker was fairly pro-partition when first posting, and Tim was also pretty pro-Turkish at the start, but they have followed the logical arguments and their changing (healthier) positions are self-evident.
That is the right way ....
Actually, this is completely false. My stance has not wavered on the application of democracy and human rights.
I'm intelligent enough to use the forum and other sources to find out about important facts before becoming judgemental about a situation. Despite visiting Cyprus many times I had never been to 'the north' and so was interested to know the thoughts of TCs if I was to engage in any CyProb discussion. Also felt it important to communicate in a non-judgemental manner, as I wondered if many TCs felt uneasy about living behind the screen of the Turkish military and wanted to understand their views. So I would read information provided by forumers, and also make my own enquiries by posting suitable threads. For example:
TCs - post-74 - how is it (and has it been) for you?
http://www.cyprus-forum.com/cyprus14776.html
I also felt the GCs should also be challenged:
Is there a coherent GC strategy to reunify Cyprus?
http://www.cyprus-forum.com/cyprus14608.html
Lingering resentment over abandonment by Greece?
http://www.cyprus-forum.com/cyprus17431.html
I also wanted to expore how the UK, being complicit in CyProb, might also be able to assist in finding a solution.
Solving the CyProb - should and could the UK assist?
http://www.cyprus-forum.com/cyprus16747.html
None of these threads suggest I was in any way a partitionist, but I was prepared to treat any TC view with respect, as well as the views of others. I soon came to realise who had a political agenda towards partition and who had more moderate views, and ones that align more with my own. I don't believe in tarring all with the same brush, so you should not confuse respectful dialogue and questioning with a lack of belief in democracy and human rights - completely the opposite I would suggest!
As for Expatkiwi - I would suggest he and I have little in common - he was a propagandist for no reason that I could ever understand (he claims never to have been to Cyprus and to have no familial connection with the island), and I felt his stance was always to antagonise GCs - he was just an attention-seeker.