TCs - post-74 - how is it (and has it been) for you?
Posted: Tue Dec 11, 2007 12:53 am
Why ask this question? Well I think it's important. If you are happy with life within the current political stalemate then the prospects for reunification of the island surely recede. Pre-74 Cyprus does not seem to have been a particularly safe place to live - killings within and between communities, living in enclaves, etc. So, post-74, presumably life got better for you - so why seek any change to the current situation?
I challenged the GCs in another thread 'Is there a coherent GC strategy to reunify Cyprus'
http://www.cyprus-forum.com/viewtopic.php?t=14608
and have to say that few of them engaged in answering the question (with the notable exception of Nikitas). I'm not convinced they have one.
I know the southern part of the island quite well having visited many times, but have never been to the north. So, in order to understand thinking from your side of the equation and whether there is any incentive for you to seek a change to the staus quo, I'd like to ask the TCs who have experience of life in the northern part of the island the following questions:
1. Immediately post-74 - what was the feeling? Jubilation, or trepidation?
2. How was and is 'isolation' from the international community for you? Have you been disadvantaged? Or, to the average man in the street, is life pretty comfortable, and these international pressures don't really matter?
3. How do you feel about people from Turkey settling on the island?
4. Do you resent the obvious prosperity enjoyed by the GCs, and wish a piece of that?
5. Does the thought of reunification scare you? And, if so, why? Do you think GCs are a threat to you even within the boundaries of the EU?
6. Do you feel your destiny lies in the hands of (i) yourselves, (ii) Turkey, (iii) GCs, (iv) the international community?
7. What do you want for the future?
I challenged the GCs in another thread 'Is there a coherent GC strategy to reunify Cyprus'
http://www.cyprus-forum.com/viewtopic.php?t=14608
and have to say that few of them engaged in answering the question (with the notable exception of Nikitas). I'm not convinced they have one.
I know the southern part of the island quite well having visited many times, but have never been to the north. So, in order to understand thinking from your side of the equation and whether there is any incentive for you to seek a change to the staus quo, I'd like to ask the TCs who have experience of life in the northern part of the island the following questions:
1. Immediately post-74 - what was the feeling? Jubilation, or trepidation?
2. How was and is 'isolation' from the international community for you? Have you been disadvantaged? Or, to the average man in the street, is life pretty comfortable, and these international pressures don't really matter?
3. How do you feel about people from Turkey settling on the island?
4. Do you resent the obvious prosperity enjoyed by the GCs, and wish a piece of that?
5. Does the thought of reunification scare you? And, if so, why? Do you think GCs are a threat to you even within the boundaries of the EU?
6. Do you feel your destiny lies in the hands of (i) yourselves, (ii) Turkey, (iii) GCs, (iv) the international community?
7. What do you want for the future?