Cyprus-Forum.com

[bagold]

Piratis,

It would be very wrong of me to even presume for a moment that I understand the problems of the division of Cyprus.

You are correct that TRNC is not recognised by the UN and nearly all countries. But as far as occupation by a foreign army is concerned Pakistanis see 2/3 of Kashmir occupied by the Indian army and India sees the other third occupied by the Pakistani army. India calls this 'Pakistan occupied Kashmir (POK)'. Pakistan calls it 'Azad Kashmir' (liberated Kashmir).

From what I gather a major source of conflict is the issue of attrocities, killings and missing persons. Each side claims this against the other and there must be an element of truth on both sides. It is difficult to forget or forgive when a person has witnessed this happening to a close family member. Again the parallels are there. My uncle witnessed his mother being killed by Indians in 1947. I am sure Indians can tell of similar incidents. Many people lost their properties and livelihoods.

But a generation later both sides want to forget and to move on. The consequences of not doing so are more defence spending (lining the pockets of western defence contractors) and more poverty - for both sides.

With increased interaction people are realising that the people on the other side are also humans. They have the same aspirations and are not focused on destroying the lives of people across the border.

Again I do not claim to understand the issues but I do know that it will take a leap of faith from the people of both sides to come to an understanding (whether this leads to unity, or two nations on friendly terms or whatever). If the people have this understanding then the politicians of both sides will have no choice but to follow suite. This is starting to happen in India and Pakistan. There are signs of it in Northern Ireland. I hope it happens to you too.