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THE INTERVIEWS given by President Papadopoulos have developed into a unique form of self-flagellation, to such a degree that we should be asking what is actually happening. His responses in the interview to the publisher of the United Arab Emirates-based English language newspaper Khaleej Times, Mohammed Galadari, were bizarre and raised several questions. Here is an excerpt:

Galadari: Turkish Cypriots said that after independence and before the Turkish troops came, within 11 years, lots of massacres occurred. When the Turkish troops came, they saved them from further violence, and if they hadn’t come, all of them might have been killed?

Papadopoulos: They say that and claim that the Turkish troops protected them.
Galadari: The Turkish Cypriots say that Mr Papadopoulos is a hard liner.

Papadopoulos: From the beginning, they were planning for a separation. But, in fact, the Turkish Cypriots were the ones who committed massacres and in 1963 we asked to increase the police patrols, but they refused. From 1963 to 1974, how many Turkish Cypriots were killed? The answer is none.

We should resist the temptation to laugh at this response by the president. The situation might be more serious than what it seems and it would be wrong to laugh at it. I did not have time to read my archives so as to give you a relatively accurate number of Turkish Cypriots (or of Greek Cypriots) who were killed between 1963 and 1974. I will just remind you that during this period, there were bloody clashes in Masoura-Tylliria, in Lefka-Ambelikou, in Trypimeni, in Arsos, in Mari and in Kophinou-Ayios Theodoros.

In Kophinou alone, Unficyp had counted 22 corpses of Turkish Cypriotsd by 10am on November 15, as was reported by Brigadier Michael Harbottle in his book, The Impartial Soldier. If my memory serves me well, the total number of Turkish Cypriots killed during this period, either in clashes with the National Guard or in isolated incidents, exceeded 600.

I do not think there is anyone who would consider it wrong to describe the President’s claim that no Turkish Cypriots were killed as a blatant lie. Which leads me to deduce one of two things: either our president is a liar or he is suffering from an illness that causes memory loss. Both theories can be supported by a host of contradictory statements made by Papadopoulos during his presidency. I will cite the most recent example. In an interview published in Phileleftheros on July 31, he served another blatant lie, denying he had ever said on July 15, 2003, that acceptance of the Annan plan "constitutes acceptance of the fait accompli of the invasion and occupation."
It certainly does not fall within the remit of this column to investigate and find out what is wrong with the president. It is our right and duty, however, to note the problem and call and invite people who, because of their public position, are burdened with the responsibility of dealing with the situation, to show an interest. House President Christofias, for instance, has no excuse for passively watching what is going on.

Because, whatever the problem is, Papadopoulos is the President of the Republic and the problem has an effect on all of us, irrespective of whether we belong to his circle of supporters or, as in the case of this writer, to the camp of his critics. In the event that the president is facing serious memory loss problem, there is no shame in the people being informed about it.

At least we, his opponents, would be much less critical of him if we knew that he said these things, not because he underestimates our intelligence or likes to lie, but because he has some problem. After all, we are all people and anyone of us could be affected by such a problem at some point.