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Comment - Partition is the solution we deserve
By Loucas Charalambous
(archive article - Sunday, January 30, 2005)
IN AN ARTICLE published in Athens newspaper Ta Nea, Alexis Heraclides, a
lecturer at Greece’s Pantion University, arrives at the following conclusion:
"The Cyprus problem cannot be solved – and will not be solved – as long as the
majority of Greek Cypriots are not in a position to comprehend the level of
their responsibility for the situation in Cyprus up to the fait accompli of
1974. And this is, I would say, the deeper meaning of the ‘resounding no’ of
April 24, 2004 – they said no because they cannot yet face up to their guilt
for that period."
I disagree that this was the reason we rejected the settlement last April, but
I will agree with Heraclides’ point that Greek Cypriots are in no position to
comprehend their responsibilities – the responsibilities of their leadership,
to be more precise – for the situation before 1974. When they discuss the
Cyprus problem, they always start from the premise that the Turks are to blame
for everything. Our guys are the innocent virgins.
This column has on countless occasions pointed out the horrific
responsibilities of our leadership. These responsibilities can be seen in the
violent dissolution of the state established by the Zurich agreement three
years earlier, with the aim of terminating the participation of the Turkish
Cypriots.
That Tassos Papadopoulos – one of the protagonists of this depressing story,
which led to all the misfortunes that have followed since then – is today the
president of the Republic, thanks to the vote of the Greek Cypriots, is the
most conclusive proof of their inability to recognise the responsibilities
that Heraclides correctly talks about.
In a country with a politically mature people, Papadopoulos and the other
instigators of the bloody events of 1963 would have been finished as
politicians. No mature people would have elected as their president, with the
main responsibility of solving the national problem, one of the men who had
been instrumental in creating it.
The uproar, which was sparked the previous week by the views expressed by the
General Secretary of the United Democrats, Costas Themistocleous, about the
absurd term, ‘pseudo-state’, which the politicians and media insist on using,
perfectly illustrates our political immaturity. Themistocleous had said he
disagreed with the use of the prefix ‘pseudo’ for everything relating to the
occupation regime, and preferred the terms ‘illegal regime’ or ‘unrecognised
regime’, provoking a storm of protest.
These idiotic word-games betray the politicians’ inability to approach the
problem with any seriousness. Paranoia has taken grip – placing the ‘pseudo’
prefix in front of every word relating to the Turkish Cypriots and their
regime has come to be considered national policy. And we are under the
illusion that this pitiful practice is an adequate way of tackling the
national problem.
I would take Heraclides’ views a step further, to their logical conclusion.
The Cyprus problem has already been solved. A gullible population, thanks to
the guidance of Papadopoulos and Christofias, supported by the political
lightweights governing Greece since last March, has already chosen partition.
This will inexorably lead to the creation of two states, along today’s
dividing line.
No matter how repugnant, I personally consider that, in the end, such a
solution is the one that our behaviour deserves. And it will prove our just
punishment. |
