They will be Greek Cypriots living in a new Turkish Cypriot state. How can you say they will not be or feel like foreigners?
Would you accept the opposite? TCs becoming a minority in a Greek Cypriot state?
It is sad and self defeating to talk of Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot states. This assumes that the RoC is GC and the "TRNC" is TC . This may be the current reality but Cyprus has not yet sold away its entitlement to be unified. And there are some positive things on the horizon including Turkey's EU application. The politicians may not agree but the future could still be a unified Cyprus ..... but the people need a strong vision and sense of BELIEF. In fact, the entire Cyprus Problem is prolonged by lack of belief.
I am Greek and I have no objection in principle to living in a foreign state - in Europe, for example. Europe and USA is full of minorities but they do not insist on their own state nor unequal voting rights. They largely appreciate their new homelands and their democratic and human rights principles.
No Cypriot needs or deserves to be a foreign Cypriot on their own island. But when is one a foreigner? When there is one state or two? A sense of foreigness is a state of mind. One that is created by isolation and often by people with the wrong interest. Cypriots still have a collective identity. Years of Turkish occupation could not take away that. And this sense of identity can be repaired, reinforced and adapted to the modern age.
The island has a collective identity, history and a potential. That potential relies on a sense of VISION and the POWER of BELIEF - that is what we are lacking now thanks to our politicians.
Many step could be taken. Advantage can and must be taken of being part of the EU - above all else that means embracing EU principles or human rights and democracy. It also of course means the conditional access of Turkey.
It is in fact a myth that partition is "practical" as some would have us believe. I could write a long list of benefits of unification as opposed to unification. Some people have already closed their eyes to the "practical" opportunities (yes, even financial ones!!!) of reunification.
There is no practical tangible obstacle that can prevent reunification bar 35000 guns to our heads. The only obstacle is created by a self fulfilling collective mindset which is saying "we are heading toward partition".
This has been allowed to stray thanks to pressure from those with dubious interests. That mindset which was so masterfully engineered by the politicians and their propaganda machines.
Some others of us are afraid of reunification - even though partition allows Turkey to permanently maintain its military presence on the island. Can we rediscover our daring spirit, return to the grand vision and dare to believe?
