Cyprus-Forum.com

[Maxx]

The 3:2 rotating Presidency is a major folly inmho.

I mean who ever heard of such a ludicrous scenario. A rotating Presidency shared between 2 "racially distinct" groups. Ridiculous.

[Piratis]

I was born in Cyprus and lived on the island most of my life. The same for my parents, grandparents, great- grandparents etc etc. I have the same identity as my parents do, and they in turn have the same identity as their parents did and so on and so forth. So no, I don't need a foreigner to tell me what my identity should be, I already have one.

On the other hand you are a foreigner here, whose knowledge about Cyprus is based on what you choose to read, most of which was written in the last century with a political agenda. The same political agenda that British and Turks had when they fought against Cypriots to deny to us our right for freedom and self-determination which would result in Cyprus uniting with the rest of Greece, as it happened with the other Greek islands.

I am Greek, and your views about the Greeks, either for the past or the present, are irrelevant. I couldn't care less if you like us or not. I wouldn't change my identity to make myself more likable to you or the Turks. And if your hate against the Greeks would lead you to crimes and atrocities, that is really your fault, not mine. Blaming us for being Greek to excuse the atrocities others inflicted upon us is the same us blaming the Jews for the holocaust, claiming that the Jews should have given up their identity seeing how hated their identity was by some others.

I don't care to convince you, as you are apparently very naive to understand even some basic things. You even claim that "it was the Cypriots who probably gave the Greeks their new Alphabet", and you don't understand that for that to happen it means that Cypriots were already Greek who created an alphabet for their own language. And that is 1200BC you are talking about, a time when people in Britain didn't talk anything even remotely resembling English, and had no alphabet whatsoever. The roots of our nation are far deeper on this island than those of the English in Britain or the Turks in Asia Minor. If Greeks are foreign in Cyprus then the English are 10 times more foreign to Britain, and the Turks are 100 times more foreign to Asia Minor.

[Piratis]

probabaly just as credible as yours.

I havee never seen how Cyprus would benefit from Enosis. So explaim apart frim neglect and high taxes what is in it for Cyprus, particulalrly bearing in mind the Fubar that Papandreou and his Ilk have made of the so called mother-land

Our nation is 1000s of years old and unity within our nation is an aim far bigger than any short term negative effects.

In general and on the long term, being part of a bigger nation can have both negative and positive aspects and it should be up to the people of the territory (not any foreigners) to weight the pros and cons and decide what would be best for their own interests to do.

Take for example Luxemburg and compare it with similarly sized German and French territories nearby. You will find that Luxemburg is on average much richer. If every territory of France was a small independent state like Luxemburg then they too could have the benefits that such independence would offer. But what would probably happen in the long term, is that those small and powerless French statelets would have been swallowed by the English, the Germans and others.

The same is true with Cyprus. While independence does offer certain benefits, being part of a greater and more powerful nation offers greater security, something which is very important in a region such as ours. What good are any economic benefits when our country is so small is not able to defend itself from foreign aggressors?

If having a separate state offered only advantages then every little island and every little territory would be a separate country. We would go back to the era of city states. But having a separate state is not all benefits, it has some major disadvantages as well, one of which is loss of power. This is why it is generally better for people of the same nation to unite in single states.

If the UK can be a single state, even though it is made by different groups such as the English, the Scots and the Welsh, then why can't Cyprus, like every other Greek island, be part of a Greek state? The answer to this question has NOTHING to do with the interests of Cypriots. The answer has everything to do with the interests of certain foreigners (Turks and British), who used force and blackmail in order to prevent our nation from being unified and in this way serve THEIR OWN interests on our expense.

[Hermes]

according to one Greek lady I discussed this with even the Greeks do not consider the Cypriots as Greek but as uniquely Cypriot.

The relationship between Greece and Cyprus is a complex one. But it is undeniable that Cypriots speak Greek, are overwhelmingly Greek Orthodox by religion while their customs, culture and history are irrevocably linked to Greece. Cyprus is a unique part of the Greek world. Just as Alexandria, Antioch, Constantinople, Crete and Smyrna were. Yes Cypriots are uniquely Cypriot. But they are also uniquely Greek. It is pointless to deny the Hellenic aspects of Cypriots because Cyprus has always been part of the Hellenic world. Even under occupation, the people of Cyprus saw themselves as a part of the wider Hellenic diaspora. The Enosis struggle of the 1950s was a manifestation of a sense of Cypriot identity that placed Cypriots as participants in the wider historical struggle for Hellenic independence.

Cypriots can now formally add European to their list of identities. So you're right that Cypriots are unique. Uniquely Cypriot, uniquely Greek and uniquely European. As they have always been, stretching back thousands of years.

[Mikiko]

May I add Uniquely choirokitian , Armenian ,Turkish , Maronitian . Latin , Persian , Syrian , Palestinian who also passed through the island. To be more accurate. My Grandfather spoke Turkish and Greek Fluently.

[kurupetos]

probabaly just as credible as yours.

I havee never seen how Cyprus would benefit from Enosis. So explaim apart frim neglect and high taxes what is in it for Cyprus, particulalrly bearing in mind the Fubar that Papandreou and his Ilk have made of the so called mother-land

I guess you can't teach an old dog new tricks, dog.

Here's an example of a credible source: http://www.timesatlas.com/Pages/default.aspx

This is an ethnographic map of Europe from 1896.



http://ookaboo.com/o/pictures/noindex/p ... 6_publishe

No have a look at Cyprus. Why does it have the same colour as Greece? What's the meaning of Gr.?

[kurupetos]

May I add Uniquely choirokitian , Armenian ,Turkish , Maronitian . Latin , Persian , Syrian , Palestinian who also passed through the island. To be more accurate. My Grandfather spoke Turkish and Greek Fluently.

Also dogs passed through Cyprus.

[Mikiko]

May I add Uniquely choirokitian , Armenian ,Turkish , Maronitian . Latin , Persian , Syrian , Palestinian who also passed through the island. To be more accurate. My Grandfather spoke Turkish and Greek Fluently.

Also dogs passed through Cyprus.

True but dogs do not have an ethnicity only race.

[Mikiko]

DP

[Hermes]

May I add Uniquely choirokitian , Armenian ,Turkish , Maronitian . Latin , Persian , Syrian , Palestinian who also passed through the island. To be more accurate. My Grandfather spoke Turkish and Greek Fluently.

Or English, Russian, Philippine, Vietnamese, Bangladeshi. Lots of races continue to pass through or settle on Cyprus for various reasons. And most Greek Cypriots now speak modern Greek (the Cypriot Greek dialect is dying out). And many GCs speak some English and perhaps even a bit of Russian. Times and influences change. In both directions. No doubt our English, Russian, Philippine, Vietnamese and Bangladeshi residents are learning Greek while they are here as well. Just as the Maronites, Turks and Latins have done in the past...