Cyprus-Forum.com

[mehmet]

I am Cypriot, I am Turkish, I have Uk passport and there is a lot about me that is English (i.e. I wouldn't be the person I am if I was born in some other place). I am an internationalist. I think I can be all of these and more without being confused. Things aren't so simple to just choose a single idendity because my life is more complicated than that.

There is discussion about the importance of Cypriot idendity to counteract Turkish and Greek Cypriot conflicts but at the end of the day we will still have a separate mother tongue and separate religious outlook. The answer isn't to focus on Greek and Turkish aspects either (that's how we got into this mess). Still there is much for us to be proud about with regard to our history and also issues to be uncomfortable about. Being born in 1965 ther is only so much historical responsibility I can bear.

The solution to our problems isn't going to be found by denying our Turkishness and seeing the state of Turkey as the problem. I'm not going to ask Greek Cypriot's to cut themselves off from the state of Greece either. In an age when Cyprus has just joined EU it doesn't make a lot of sense to me to think small, better to think big. A solution for us also has to be a solution that Greece and Turkey are comfortable with. I don't mean they should have veto on solution or rights to interfere with internal affairs.

[Piratis]

A good example can be the US. There you have people that are proud that are Irish Americans or African Americans, and others that call themselves simply Americans. Whats important is that they are all proud that they are Americans, and they don't put America below Ireland, Africa etc.
In a country not everybody has to be the same. Now with the EU anybody can move to Cyprus freely from another 24 EU countries.
I hear some TC saying that if they are not separate from us we will "swallow" them and their unique identity will disappear. If they have such concerns then they shouldn't want to join the EU of 25 nations and 450 million people. The reality is that in 20-30 years we will be more "general Europeans" and less "Cypriots", "Greeks" or "Turks" than we are today. This might not sound very good to some, but with globalization this is they way we are heading.

[Oneness]

America is a good example of advanced principle identity. The Irish American or the African American are both aware and proud of their Irish and Africen identities but they do not feel the need to seek approval from Ireland or Africa respectively. We need more confidence in our Cypriot identity not to have to seek approval from our "motherland" especially when one "motherland" shows no respect to the other side. No one expects anyone to deny their language or their religion - that would be human right abuse - but history has shown that it is not advisable to allow Greece and Turkey in Cyprus politics. That is exactly what has happenned though in the latest UN plan.