My article in KATHIMERINI of 28 December 2014 under the title WHY WE SAY NO TO PARTITION translated into the English language for my Turkish Cypriot compatriots and other English speaking friends. WHY WE SAY NO TO PARTITION Recently voices are being heard in favor of maintaining the status quo, which, in essence, is nothing other than partition. Statements such as we (live) here and they (live) there are expressed by various circles, accompanied by condemnations of the bizonal, bicommunal federation as racist, which of course they interpret on the basis of the Turkish positions. Due to strong concerns about the enormous dangers inherent in such political positions, I feel the need to explain why in my view the solution of partition or perpetuation of the status quo is disastrous. But let us first see what partition means in practice. In fact, partition will mean the end of the unified state of the Republic of Cyprus and its final division into two states, one under Turkish Cypriot power and the full military-economic and political control of Turkey and the second under Greek Cypriot power. With the perpetuation of the status quo the result on the ground would be the same, but from the legal point of view, the Republic of Cyprus would remain as the only internationally recognized state, while the secessionist entity, for a period at least, would not be accorded recognition, without any guarantee, however, that this would not be changed in the future. But let us first see the consequences, so far, from the perpetuation of the status quo and the dangers of partition: 1) Turkey has already created the territorial and the demographic conditions for partition, with the occupation of 37% of the territory of the Republic of Cyprus and the expulsion of all Greek Cypriot inhabitants of the occupied territories, save for a few hundred enclaved persons. The transfer of the Turkish Cypriots from the free areas coupled with the introduction of more than 300.000 Turkish settlers in the occupied territories and the huge Turkish investments in Greek Cypriot properties, have completed the first step of the Turkish goal of the partition of Cyprus, namely the creation of a pure Turkish region on the island, something which had not been achieved by Turkey during the more than three centuries of the Ottoman occupation of Cyprus. 2) With the declaration of the secessionist entity Turkey tried to give political independence to the occupied area, but the international community rejected and condemned the attempted secession by the adoption of resolutions of the Security Council of the United Nations. This position has remained unchanged since then, but it would be totally and irrevocably canceled out if we consented to partition. 3) In the event of partition Turkey would not, in my view, be prepared to return territories, except perhaps for the fenced area of Varosha, which covers only 27% of the territory within the limits of the Famagusta municipality, as well as for the buffer zone to be under Greek Cypriot administration. All other now occupied areas, with a history stretching back thousands of years of Greek and Christian presence, will be abandoned to the full control of Turkey, in other words they would indefinitely be Turkified. Hundreds of churches and monasteries, archaeological sites and museums would have remained in Turkish hands, with their desecration and final extinction being indisputable. Really, what Greek character has remained today in Asia Minor and Pontos, which were once thriving by the Greek presence, after their Turkification by the Young Turks? 4) In the event of partition who can actually guarantee that Turkey will not continue the policy of colonization and will not transfer even one million Turks, with the visible danger that one day Turkey could demand the annexation of the whole of Cyprus, which would have, in fact, a sizable Turkish majority and a small Greek Cypriot minority population? 5) Some argue that all the above dangers could be prevented if both “states were in the EU and, therefore, the restrictions on the free residence for third-country nationals were in place. My view is that Turkey would never consent in a Turkish Cypriot state joining the EU, without a guarantee for its own membership, but, above all, a guarantee of the safeguarding of its own vested rights on the island. In addition, it has been proved over time how dispensable Turkey considers the Turkish Cypriots and how she primarily seeks to ensure her own strategic interests. In conclusion, partition means full Turkification of the territory that would remain under the control of Turkey, with which we would ultimately have borders, and a continuous threat for the future annexation of Cyprus on the basis of demographic data. Fortunately, partition is not something that is wanted and, in fact, it is being rejected as a solution by an overwhelming majority of the people of Cyprus, including a significant proportion of our Turkish Cypriot compatriots. Our ancestors have bequeathed to us a territorially intact Cyprus with thousands of years of history and culture. Short-sighted and precarious solutions that would endanger this valuable legacy are not acceptable.
Posted on: Sun, 04 Jan 2015 17:41:38 +0000
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