Cyprus-Forum.com

[AWE]

A few months ago I happened to attend a discussion (or attempt thereof) held on Oct. 10, 2011 at the Cultural Center of Larnaca, Cyprus, regarding the concept of federation.

The event was indented to take the form of a discussion with Mr. Alexander Downer, the UN Secretary General representative in Cyprus since 2008. Mr. Downer had just stepped off the plane from a trip in Australia and had graciously accepted the invitation to hold a discussion that same evening. The event was organized by the NGO Support Center and the Engage Program funded by UNDP. What ensued after Mr. Downer's brief comments about some of the fundamentals of a federation system, was a dramatic comedy of errors: shouting, personal attacks towards Mr. Downer and others attending -- including the mayor of the city of Larnaca- and lo and behold verbal fist fights amongst several audience members that walked out. Some of us tried to restore the balance with apologies and shifting gears to the subject at hand, while a teenager in the audience asked the most poignant question of all evening.

As the evening drew to an end, one thing was clear: The events revealed once again that there exists a huge chasm in the three generations in Cyprus and their perceptions of the past, the present and the future brought by unresolved pain, lack of transparency, lack of dialogue and an anemic civic society. The baby boomers were bitter, feisty and one could even say, uncivilized. They didn't comprehend the point of the event, they didn't listen to anything anyone said and they seemed blinded by their emotions. The two Generation Xers tried to focus on the present, apologized for the verbal jabs and tried to make sense of the technicalities of customizing a federation system in Cyprus. The Generation Y representative asked a forward-looking question clearly with eyes in the future.

The events also revealed once again a deep division of left and right (and I don't mean in driving regulation), north and south in Cyprus. It seems that the various local politicians are holding self-built compasses wrought with personal dogmas, unreliable and rusty and they are guiding the emotionally charged masses to nowhere... perhaps a bit like the emotionally and strategically blind leading the blind?

Well, we no longer need rusty dogmatic compasses: We have iPads and Google Earth and satellites. As Cypriots mostly of the repatriating Diaspora, we are multilingual and multicultural and we appreciate a good glass of arak and a delicious dragon roll (not together perhaps).

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marina-th ... 00377.html

Reading this article raises questions for me. What are the differences between the generations and between diaspora and Non-diaspora Cypriots on the Cyprob? If they are as expressed in the article then there is hope that there might be a future united Cyprus as the generations change and or return.

[Piratis]

A few months ago I happened to attend a discussion (or attempt thereof) held on Oct. 10, 2011 at the Cultural Center of Larnaca, Cyprus, regarding the concept of federation.

The event was indented to take the form of a discussion with Mr. Alexander Downer, the UN Secretary General representative in Cyprus since 2008. Mr. Downer had just stepped off the plane from a trip in Australia and had graciously accepted the invitation to hold a discussion that same evening. The event was organized by the NGO Support Center and the Engage Program funded by UNDP. What ensued after Mr. Downer's brief comments about some of the fundamentals of a federation system, was a dramatic comedy of errors: shouting, personal attacks towards Mr. Downer and others attending -- including the mayor of the city of Larnaca- and lo and behold verbal fist fights amongst several audience members that walked out. Some of us tried to restore the balance with apologies and shifting gears to the subject at hand, while a teenager in the audience asked the most poignant question of all evening.

As the evening drew to an end, one thing was clear: The events revealed once again that there exists a huge chasm in the three generations in Cyprus and their perceptions of the past, the present and the future brought by unresolved pain, lack of transparency, lack of dialogue and an anemic civic society. The baby boomers were bitter, feisty and one could even say, uncivilized. They didn't comprehend the point of the event, they didn't listen to anything anyone said and they seemed blinded by their emotions. The two Generation Xers tried to focus on the present, apologized for the verbal jabs and tried to make sense of the technicalities of customizing a federation system in Cyprus. The Generation Y representative asked a forward-looking question clearly with eyes in the future.

The events also revealed once again a deep division of left and right (and I don't mean in driving regulation), north and south in Cyprus. It seems that the various local politicians are holding self-built compasses wrought with personal dogmas, unreliable and rusty and they are guiding the emotionally charged masses to nowhere... perhaps a bit like the emotionally and strategically blind leading the blind?

Well, we no longer need rusty dogmatic compasses: We have iPads and Google Earth and satellites. As Cypriots mostly of the repatriating Diaspora, we are multilingual and multicultural and we appreciate a good glass of arak and a delicious dragon roll (not together perhaps).

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marina-th ... 00377.html

Reading this article raises questions for me. What are the differences between the generations and between diaspora and Non-diaspora Cypriots on the Cyprob? If they are as expressed in the article then there is hope that there might be a future united Cyprus as the generations change and or return.

The Cyprus problem was caused by certain foreign imperialists, who, to serve their own interests, didn't allow the Cypriot people to freely and democratically take decisions for their own island. A truly united Cyprus (in essence, not just a label) can only happen when those specific imperialists (British and Turks) lose the power that they currently have to terrorize and meddle in the affairs of other nations.

There is no much difference in how different generations see the Cyprus Problem. One difference however is that most young people have grown up to expect from Cyprus to be a modern European country and they want it to take steps forward in this direction, not steps backward with frankenstein systems based on human rights violations and racist discriminations.

As far as the diaspora goes, the how different they are depends on how much they have been assimilated in their host countries. The more assimilated they became, the more different they become. If they are very different that means that they have been almost completely assimilated.

In general this woman you quoted seems clueless about the issue. She makes conclusions about "Generation Y" based on what a single individual said, and then she goes on to tell us how different she is because she owns an iPad, Google Earth and a satellite dish, believing that people in Cyprus are still "goat herders and potters" as her grandfather was.

As far as multiculturalism goes, Cyprus as a country must be one of the most multi-cultural countries in the world, and I doubt you will find many countries with such a high percentage of multilingual people. But as I said this woman is clueless, and she seems to confuse the racist and undemocratic "solutions" that her real compatriots want to impose on Cyprus, with multiculturalism!

[AWE]

Hi Piratis,

ok, fair enough. So no differences between Gens and Disapora and Non then.

[Piratis]

Hi Piratis,

ok, fair enough. So no differences between Gens and Disapora and Non then.

When it comes to the Cyprus Problem I wouldn't say there is much difference between generations.

About the diaspora, that depends on how much they were assimilated by their host countries. There might also be some other differences. For example some of them might feel more comfortable to accept solutions that entail a very high risk, since if everything collapses it is not their own lives which will be ruined. Some of them might also feel comfortable to accept "solutions" that are supported by their host country believing that their politicians would care about Cypriots as much as they care for their own citizens, and they would not support something which would be racist, undemocratic and against human rights. Of course this could not be further from the truth since foreign governments would act based on the interests of their own countries and they wouldn't care about our well bring.

[Me Ed]

Let me unravel it for you then.

The Cypriots that think they are Greek harp on about racism, appartied, one man one vote.

The Cypriots that think they are Turkish want a federation where no "Greek" can ever live.

The UN are supporting a BBF with political equality.

What you Cypriots that think you are Greek or Turkish don't realise that there is only one feasible solution to this deadlock.

... and that is the realisation that you refuse to be pigeon holed as one ethnic group or another, but you are CYPRIOTS.

When you realise this, it all falls into place:

One man one vote.
The Turkish Troops and their settlers have no place.
The position of the British vases becomes untenable.

But us long as you want to play as "Greek" or "Turk" and not Cypriot, expect the status quo.

[Piratis]

We are Greek and we are of course Cypriot. The two sets are not exclusive, quite the contrary. Being a Cypriot means that you are most likely Greek, just like being a Paphian means that you are most likely Cypriot. I can very easily be Limassolian, Cypriot, Greek and European, and there is nothing strange about it. On the contrary it would be much less common if I was Limassolian but not Cypriot, Cypriot but not Greek or Greek but not European.

You are also very naive if you believe that if we label ourselves "just Cypriot" that this will solve the problems. Cyprus will still have a Greek speaking Christian majority and a Turkish speaking Muslim minority, and these are more than enough differences to be exploited and used as an excuse for division by those who have interest in keeping our island divided. There are countries where communities have major conflicts because they differ merely on the denomination of the same religion.

It would be impossible to have a homogeneous Cypriot population even if division was not sponsored from abroad. What we could have, if we were left alone, is a modern multi-ethnic democratic country, where our differences are respected and are not used as an excuse for conflict.

Unfortunately you fall in the trap of the British and Turkish propaganda, which is trying to blame the Cypriots for the Cyprus Problem, even though the problem was created by these Imperialists because they are the only ones who gain from the division of the island.