Cyprus words of the wise?

Piratis · Moderator

The reason the 1960 agreements didn't work were mainly three:

1) Many people (most?) at that time didn't believe in independence. They saw the 1960 agreements as something transitional to something else. This something else for many GCs was union with Greece, and for many TCs partition.

The lesson we should have learned from point 1: If you agree and sign something, then better believe in it and try to make it work. If you don't like it, then don't sign it in the first place. Signing an agreement with hopes that you will later manage to change it is something totally wrong.

2) The 1960 agreements were not very fair. I can understand the theory behind TCs having veto power on some matters, but what about the part that said TCs should get 30% of government jobs and such? In Cyprus were getting a job in the government is the dream of every middle class person, giving to some citizens double the chance of getting this kind of jobs is obviously something that wouldn't create very nice feelings on the rest.

The lesson we should have learned from point 2: While arrangements on the high level (e.g. ministers, parliament members etc) can be arranged on a ratio different from the population one, all "regular" citizens should be equal and there shouldn't be any special treatment because of somebody's religion and language. (of course in case that a part of the population is under represented somewhere, affirmative action can be taken.)

3) Some foreign powers didn't want a united independent Cyprus. They used Cyprus to serve their interests and they have us fighting between each other and loosing, while they were gaining on our loss.

The lesson we should have learned from point 3: We should stop seeing each other as something separate. We should think that we are all Cypriots and we want a better Cyprus for every Cypriot. We should be strong enough to resist their manipulations, and smart enough not to fall in their traps. They want to serve their interests and thats natural. It is time that all Cypriots together start to see how we will serve our interests as Cypriots.

brother · professor

I completely agree with you piratis, except that we must introduce an equal opportunities law to ensure that everyone has the same chance to get the goverment jobs or as we all know it will go "this is my sisters son and................." or " we are both from the same religion, communitie etc...." that will also happen we the cypriots however good natured need time to get over our prejudices and favouratisms.

MicAtCyp · lecturer

I beleive any solution must be such that the TCs will feel responsible for the fate of the new State. In this respect I fully agreed with Erol in the past about his meaning of equality, which I am glad to say that is the same like what Piratis described a few posts above. Although I stated many times that I don't agree with the meaning of equality of Denktash which is for 2 totally separate states with clear and defined borders.

It is unfair and undemocratic for the numerical minority group not to have this say and responsibility, as it is unfair and undemocratic for the numerical majority group to undertake all say and responsibility.
Look for example what happened with the Maronites.They don't have any political say or responsibility.They just rely on the GCs. One day however they started complaining that we treat them unequally, that they don't get enough government jobs etc.The result? Since we the GCs had "all" responsibility for them we ended up granting to 1 out of 3 Maronites a government job!!

What I mean to say is that if the minority has no real say, then the majority will either be accused of discrimination or has to grant "overinflated benefits" to prove itself "fair".
I beleive any solution must be such that the TCs will feel responsible for the fate of the new State. In this respect I fully agreed with Erol in the past about his meaning of equality, which I am glad to say that is the same like what Piratis described a few posts above. Although I stated many times that I don't agree with the meaning of equality of Denktash which is for 2 totally separate states with clear and defined borders.

It is unfair and undemocratic for the numerical minority group not to have this say and responsibility, as it is unfair and undemocratic for the numerical majority group to undertake all say and responsibility.
Look for example what happened with the Maronites.They don't have any political say or responsibility.They just rely on the GCs. One day however they started complaining that we treat them unequally, that they don't get enough government jobs etc.The result? Since we the GCs had "all" responsibility for them we ended up granting to 1 out of 3 Maronites a government job!!

What I mean to say is that if the minority has no real say, then the majority will either be accused of discrimination or has to grant "overinflated benefits" to prove itself "fair".

brother · professor

There is much truth in your statement and you are right we must be all responsible for our island so a few initiatives would not go amiss to ensure everyone feels that they are treated equally.