Resurgence of “ambiance” to entrench partition
Praxoula Kyriacou, Leader of the United Democrats (Cyprus)
The Germans celebrate these days the fall of the Berlin wall and the reunification of their country. The end of partition in Germany led to the end of the cold war in Europe and to the opening of a brighter future for the new generations of Europeans.
In Cyprus, the prospect of an agreement on reunification being achieved in the near future has given rise to grave concerns amongst certain quarters and has activated neutralizing plans.
It’s obvious that the new ambient atmosphere has been well planned and graciously funded on the basis of the well tried model of recent years. The aim is to discredit both the UN representatives as well as the interlocutors, in an attempt to intimidate them and damage their image among the public.
In this way, either the interlocutors and facilitators will be forced to resign from their efforts or in case they continue the dialogue and reach an agreement on reunification, the voters will have already been convinced that the agreement at hand is treacherous.
“The central objective of the proposed new strategy”, say the proponents of the “Correct Yes“, “is the establishment of a cleansed Greek Cypriot state” !!
What is not being explained to the public is that without an agreement on reunification, we will be heading automatically to partition, which will certainly not be about ethnically clean solutions. In the absence of an agreement on reunification, the Republic of Cyprus will continue to function on the basis of the 1960 constitution and other agreements, which is tantamount to the return of most Turkish Cypriots to the south and to their participation in government, parliament and civil service, at the same time that settlers from Turkey will be pouring unobstructed into the north. And what the new generations of Cypriots will be faced with will not be a new military invasion but a social explosion of financially deprived settlers that will look to the south for their survival. And such a “clean” solution will of course not involve any return of property nor the cessation of the guarantees which currently exist on the basis of the 1960 agreements. Such is the foresight and the patriotism of those who work hard to sabotage the current process of dialogue between the leaders of the two communities.
This is the time for the leaders of the two communities to respond to the responsibility which History has bestowed upon them and proceed with courage to ensuring a brighter truly European future for the new generations of Cypriots, rather than condemning them to a perpetuation of a dark and bitter past. This is the time for the leaders of political Parties to collectively shoulder the responsibility of an agreement on reunification, rather than balancing between interparty and intra party politics.
The United Democrats will continue to support and encourage the leaders of the two communities in their efforts to reach a timely agreement on the reunification of Cyprus on the basis of the agreed framework of a bizonal bicommunal federation with political equality as this is defined in the relevant Security Council resolutions.
We consider that our target with reference to December cannot be the punishment of Turkey nor the mere opening of Turkish ports to Cypriot vessels. A visionary and long view approach involves the encouragement of Turkey by both Cyprus and Greece to contribute positively to a win-win situation where the problems of Turkey with its neighbours are truly resolved and where the reunification of Cyprus and the prompt resolution of issues in Greco-Turkish relations will allow Cyprus and Greece to evolve to major economic and political partners of Turkey in the eastern Mediterranean, forming a common bridge of Europe to the area and beyond.
By Praxoula Antoniadou Kyriacou,
President of the United Democrats
Tags: history, liberal solutions, responsibility