Cyprus-Forum.com

[CBBB]

By Simon Bahceli
Published on February 13, 2011

UNTIL Thursday it may have been possible to pass off the ongoing clash between Turkish Cypriot unions and Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan as a spat between spoilt public sector workers and an overbearing and tactless leader. Likewise, up until three days ago, it may have been possible to defuse the arguments, kiss each other on the cheeks and say it had all been a big misunderstanding.

But not any more.

With the appointment on Thursday of Halil Ibrahim Akca as Ankara’s new ‘ambassador’ to the north, Erdogan sent a clear message to the Turkish Cypriot unions, the Turkish Cypriot leader Dervish Eroglu, and the Turkish Cypriot people in general: “Either you are with me or against me. Either way, my wishes will prevail.”

Not only has Erdogan incensed public sector workers angry at Ankara’s austerity measures, but he has also put the breakaway state’s leader Eroglu in a Catch-22 from which he will have to emerge as either an enemy of the affronted Turkish Cypriots, or as an enemy of Erdogan himself.

What started as a spat over anti-Turkish banners at the January 28 rally against austerity measures has now grown into a full-blown crisis. Upset by banners expressing such sentiments as, “Ankara, get your hands off the Turkish Cypriots!” and “Hassiktir!” (a mild cuss in Cypriot Turkish but a full-on swearword in mainland Turkey) Erdogan, along with some of his ministers, berated Eroglu and his ‘government’ for not punishing such insolence. When Eroglu refused to kowtow to Erdogan’s wishes and arrest and jail the bearers of the “insulting” banners, the Turkish PM then saw fit to up the ante by replacing his moderate ‘ambassador’ with a man not only despised by the unions as the main architect of the contentious austerity package, but also someone who Eroglu had previously expressed grave misgivings about.

In short, by sending Akca to Cyprus, Erdogan has knowingly provoked the ire and indignation of nearly all Turkish Cypriots, regardless of whether they believed the austerity package necessary. Furthermore, whether or not he intended it, Erdogan has created an unprecedented situation in which virtually all Turkish Cypriots are ready to stand behind Eroglu’s rejection of Akca’s appointment – something which he has until the end of Monday to do.

Who knows what Eroglu will decide to do? Going on past record, it is hard to imagine that he will face off Ankara, and in particular the formidable Erdogan.

Political analyst Ahmet Sozen of the Eastern Mediterranean University’s (EMU) Cyprus Policy Centre told the Sunday Mail he believes Eroglu cannot afford to say ‘no’ to Akca’s appointment.

“Erdogan is 100 per cent determined to see the austerity package implemented,” he said on Friday.

“As far as Erdogan sees it, the Turkish government has been tricked and lied to so many times by the Turkish Cypriots. Ankara tried three, four, five years ago to talk sense to the Turkish Cypriots and to rationalise the north’s economy in the same way Turkey has been rationalising its own since 2001. Now their patience has run out,” Sozen said.

For Erdogan, seeing the implementation of the package may indeed be the main issue. But for the Turkish Cypriots the matter has come to be seen as one of life or death for the community.

“Erdogan is opening Pandora’s box,” analyst Erol Kaymak, an international relations professor at EMU told the Mail. With all investments and aid packages for the north now being devised and implemented primarily by Ankara, Erdogan is being seen by many Turkish Cypriots as “a colonial”.

“In all walks of life, Turkish Cypriots feel the squeeze. They feel they have nothing to hold onto with certainty. The public sector was their last bastion, and that too is now being squeezed. Most Turkish Cypriots feel like Aborigines on a reservation,” he observed.

With Erdogan’s cards squarely on the table on Friday, unions and the authorities were in crisis mode. As Eroglu sought consensus among disparate political leaders, unions reiterated their determination to fight the package and “Ankara’s creeping colonisation”. Even before Ankara’s shock diplomatic posting on Thursday, the Platform of Unions that oppose austerity measures had announced March 2 as a date for a second “Communal Survival Rally”. If that rally takes place, all eyes will be on banners to see whether any Turkish Cypriots will have the guts and/or audacity to “insult” Ankara again.

One thing the unions and other indignant Turkish Cypriots will have to remember is that Erdogan will not back down, and especially not before he faces his electorate in June this year. As Sozen points out, backing down or compromising in such situation is not the Turkish PM’s style.

“[Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party] AKP people, although they have made numerous reforms in Turkey, are not democrats. They are Muslim semi-democrats, and semi-authoritarian. They do not have tolerance [towards dissent or criticism]. It’s not in their DNA,” he said.

And it is most likely this approach and attitude that will fuel the flames of this conflict more than austerity itself, primarily because it exposes and juxtaposes the socio-cultural natures of Turkish Cypriots and mainland Turks.

“Turkish Cypriots have a more tolerant and democratic tradition than mainlanders, and this is not the norm in Turkey,” Sozen said.

http://www.cyprus-mail.com/features/col ... 2/20110213

[quattro]

By Simon Bahceli
Published on February 13, 2011

UNTIL Thursday it may have been possible to pass off the ongoing clash between Turkish Cypriot unions and Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan as a spat between spoilt public sector workers and an overbearing and tactless leader. Likewise, up until three days ago, it may have been possible to defuse the arguments, kiss each other on the cheeks and say it had all been a big misunderstanding.

But not any more.

With the appointment on Thursday of Halil Ibrahim Akca as Ankara’s new ‘ambassador’ to the north, Erdogan sent a clear message to the Turkish Cypriot unions, the Turkish Cypriot leader Dervish Eroglu, and the Turkish Cypriot people in general: “Either you are with me or against me. Either way, my wishes will prevail.”

Not only has Erdogan incensed public sector workers angry at Ankara’s austerity measures, but he has also put the breakaway state’s leader Eroglu in a Catch-22 from which he will have to emerge as either an enemy of the affronted Turkish Cypriots, or as an enemy of Erdogan himself.

What started as a spat over anti-Turkish banners at the January 28 rally against austerity measures has now grown into a full-blown crisis. Upset by banners expressing such sentiments as, “Ankara, get your hands off the Turkish Cypriots!” and “Hassiktir!” (a mild cuss in Cypriot Turkish but a full-on swearword in mainland Turkey) Erdogan, along with some of his ministers, berated Eroglu and his ‘government’ for not punishing such insolence. When Eroglu refused to kowtow to Erdogan’s wishes and arrest and jail the bearers of the “insulting” banners, the Turkish PM then saw fit to up the ante by replacing his moderate ‘ambassador’ with a man not only despised by the unions as the main architect of the contentious austerity package, but also someone who Eroglu had previously expressed grave misgivings about.

In short, by sending Akca to Cyprus, Erdogan has knowingly provoked the ire and indignation of nearly all Turkish Cypriots, regardless of whether they believed the austerity package necessary. Furthermore, whether or not he intended it, Erdogan has created an unprecedented situation in which virtually all Turkish Cypriots are ready to stand behind Eroglu’s rejection of Akca’s appointment – something which he has until the end of Monday to do.

Who knows what Eroglu will decide to do? Going on past record, it is hard to imagine that he will face off Ankara, and in particular the formidable Erdogan.

Political analyst Ahmet Sozen of the Eastern Mediterranean University’s (EMU) Cyprus Policy Centre told the Sunday Mail he believes Eroglu cannot afford to say ‘no’ to Akca’s appointment.

“Erdogan is 100 per cent determined to see the austerity package implemented,” he said on Friday.

“As far as Erdogan sees it, the Turkish government has been tricked and lied to so many times by the Turkish Cypriots. Ankara tried three, four, five years ago to talk sense to the Turkish Cypriots and to rationalise the north’s economy in the same way Turkey has been rationalising its own since 2001. Now their patience has run out,” Sozen said.

For Erdogan, seeing the implementation of the package may indeed be the main issue. But for the Turkish Cypriots the matter has come to be seen as one of life or death for the community.

“Erdogan is opening Pandora’s box,” analyst Erol Kaymak, an international relations professor at EMU told the Mail. With all investments and aid packages for the north now being devised and implemented primarily by Ankara, Erdogan is being seen by many Turkish Cypriots as “a colonial”.

“In all walks of life, Turkish Cypriots feel the squeeze. They feel they have nothing to hold onto with certainty. The public sector was their last bastion, and that too is now being squeezed. Most Turkish Cypriots feel like Aborigines on a reservation,” he observed.

With Erdogan’s cards squarely on the table on Friday, unions and the authorities were in crisis mode. As Eroglu sought consensus among disparate political leaders, unions reiterated their determination to fight the package and “Ankara’s creeping colonisation”. Even before Ankara’s shock diplomatic posting on Thursday, the Platform of Unions that oppose austerity measures had announced March 2 as a date for a second “Communal Survival Rally”. If that rally takes place, all eyes will be on banners to see whether any Turkish Cypriots will have the guts and/or audacity to “insult” Ankara again.

One thing the unions and other indignant Turkish Cypriots will have to remember is that Erdogan will not back down, and especially not before he faces his electorate in June this year. As Sozen points out, backing down or compromising in such situation is not the Turkish PM’s style.

“[Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party] AKP people, although they have made numerous reforms in Turkey, are not democrats. They are Muslim semi-democrats, and semi-authoritarian. They do not have tolerance [towards dissent or criticism]. It’s not in their DNA,” he said.

And it is most likely this approach and attitude that will fuel the flames of this conflict more than austerity itself, primarily because it exposes and juxtaposes the socio-cultural natures of Turkish Cypriots and mainland Turks.

“Turkish Cypriots have a more tolerant and democratic tradition than mainlanders, and this is not the norm in Turkey,” Sozen said.

http://www.cyprus-mail.com/features/col ... 2/20110213

now we have to sit and wait . is he brave enough to say NO to the meeting ? (akca is been declared as persona non grata in the north)

[Hermes]

“In all walks of life, Turkish Cypriots feel the squeeze. They feel they have nothing to hold onto with certainty. The public sector was their last bastion, and that too is now being squeezed. Most Turkish Cypriots feel like Aborigines on a reservation,” he observed.

It has come to this. All the propaganda over the years about how the T/Cs were "saved" by the Turkish army. Finally we have the truth. The humiliation of the T/Cs is complete. The choice is stark: T/Cs either submit to the humiliation of life on a reservation under Turkish rule or they re-join the ROC for some kind of future in a unified state.

[Kikapu]

“In all walks of life, Turkish Cypriots feel the squeeze. They feel they have nothing to hold onto with certainty. The public sector was their last bastion, and that too is now being squeezed. Most Turkish Cypriots feel like Aborigines on a reservation,” he observed.

It has come to this. All the propaganda over the years about how the T/Cs were "saved" by the Turkish army. Finally we have the truth. The humiliation of the T/Cs is complete. The choice is stark: T/Cs either submit to the humiliation of life on a reservation under Turkish rule or they re-join the ROC for some kind of future in a unified state.

VP says, "Better than living with the GCs in a Democratic Cyprus".!

[Viewpoint]

“In all walks of life, Turkish Cypriots feel the squeeze. They feel they have nothing to hold onto with certainty. The public sector was their last bastion, and that too is now being squeezed. Most Turkish Cypriots feel like Aborigines on a reservation,” he observed.

It has come to this. All the propaganda over the years about how the T/Cs were "saved" by the Turkish army. Finally we have the truth. The humiliation of the T/Cs is complete. The choice is stark: T/Cs either submit to the humiliation of life on a reservation under Turkish rule or they re-join the ROC for some kind of future in a unified state.

VP says, "Better than living with the GCs in a Democratic Cyprus".!

[url=http://postimage.org/image/232th7mf8/]

[/url]

Clearly you have never been to the TRNC.

[Kikapu]

“In all walks of life, Turkish Cypriots feel the squeeze. They feel they have nothing to hold onto with certainty. The public sector was their last bastion, and that too is now being squeezed. Most Turkish Cypriots feel like Aborigines on a reservation,” he observed.

It has come to this. All the propaganda over the years about how the T/Cs were "saved" by the Turkish army. Finally we have the truth. The humiliation of the T/Cs is complete. The choice is stark: T/Cs either submit to the humiliation of life on a reservation under Turkish rule or they re-join the ROC for some kind of future in a unified state.

VP says, "Better than living with the GCs in a Democratic Cyprus".!

[url=http://postimage.org/image/232th7mf8/]

[/url]

Clearly you have never been to the TRNC.

Clearly, you are one of the privileged one's, while the rest are in "chains".

[Viewpoint]

How proud he stands against evil, treachery and traitors.

[Hermes]

How proud he stands against evil, treachery and traitors.

VP - the Last of the Aborigines.

[Kikapu]

How proud he stands against evil, treachery and traitors.

And that's just against his people in the north who are bound by "chains" in wanting a Democratic Cyprus.!

You will be know as "Uncle Tom" by your own people, that you help enslaving them by giving into everything Turkey wants against your own peoples future, just to satisfy her own "strategic interests".!

[Kikapu]

Future TCs used as tourists attractions in the north by the settlers!