Cyprus-Forum.com

[Paphitis]

GR, if I am not wrong you lived abroad for most of your life and maybe you personally don't have Greek as mother tongue and that is why you might not feel as Greek.

Thats fine. I am not going to tell you what you are, you have to decide that yourself. Thing is that by becoming less Greek you didn't become "Chrokitian" You didn't start talking "Chrokitian" or having Chirokitian traditions. (you don't even know what those things are like). You just become less Greek and more English (or whatever). If you stayed and raised your children there then after some generations your grand grand grand children would be fully assimilated, and they would not be Greek (or Cypriot) at all.

Of course there are some other Cypriots that discard their own history solely for political reasons, because they are trying to appease the Turkish minority which apparently hates everything Greek and is not willing to accept the history of this island. Knowing you however I know you are not one of these people. Maybe Bananiot is like this, but I think he would just avoid answering in some way than deny that he is Greek.

There is also another category of Cypriots. Those that have a major chip on their shoulders, as they blame Greece for all of the islands woes. The same individuals are also responsible for politicising the Hellenic Ethnic Identity.

[pappy_sydney]

well said Piratis and Paphitis, I dont know why we have to keep echoing the obvious about Cypriots to self haters like Get Real or Miltiades who deny their own Greekness. They actually sound like a certain people from the Former Yugoslavia in their fabrication of history.

[psycho]

Why are Cypriots becoming so politically correct?

Having recently returned from Greece, it has struck me how sensitive Cypriots seem to have become. Whereas, Greeks still tell it as it is, and damn the consequences!

Cypriots seem to be bending over backwards to make everyone feel welcome, whereas the Greeks don't give a monkey's. Like it or lump it ... or better still, bugger off as far as they are concerned!

As Churchill said: "Today we say that Greeks fight like heroes, from now on we will say that heroes fight like Greeks."

What about the Cypriots?

e.g. Why are we so PC about TCs

I thought you went to Scotland?

[CopperLine]

Thats fine. I am not going to tell you what you are, you have to decide that yourself. Thing is that by becoming less Greek you didn't become "Chrokitian" You didn't start talking "Chrokitian" or having Chirokitian traditions. (you don't even know what those things are like). You just become less Greek and more English (or whatever). If you stayed and raised your children there then after some generations your grand grand grand children would be fully assimilated, and they would not be Greek (or Cypriot) at all.

Indeed Piratis, indeed. So over the centuries and millenia people are coming to the island and leaving the island. Do the maths and demographic distribution and work out for yourself the absurdity of the claim that Cypriots are somehow 'pure' anything - like most island populations in this part of the world we're a mongrel (horror of horrors ) population.

[Paphitis]

Thats fine. I am not going to tell you what you are, you have to decide that yourself. Thing is that by becoming less Greek you didn't become "Chrokitian" You didn't start talking "Chrokitian" or having Chirokitian traditions. (you don't even know what those things are like). You just become less Greek and more English (or whatever). If you stayed and raised your children there then after some generations your grand grand grand children would be fully assimilated, and they would not be Greek (or Cypriot) at all.

Indeed Piratis, indeed. So over the centuries and millenia people are coming to the island and leaving the island. Do the maths and demographic distribution and work out for yourself the absurdity of the claim that Cypriots are somehow 'pure' anything - like most island populations in this part of the world we're a mongrel (horror of horrors ) population.

You should read the posts again. I do not know why I bother, because it appears you do not let the truth get in the way of a good post, just for the sake of being argumentative.

No one has claimed that Cypriots are "pure". Every race in this world is a blending or melting pot of many other ethnicities. Cypriots are no different.

But this does not change the main Ethnic Identity and Culture of the island and its people - which is Hellenic. This has been the case for around 4,000 years, and will be the case no matter who tries to change it. Cyprus has endured many invasions and in the end, Hellenism has always prevailed and will do so again.

The sooner the Ottoman Remnants realise this fact, the better off we will all be.

[Nikitas]

I think Oracle is alluding to something which is abstract but perceptible and after living in Greece for 35 years I see it too.

Greeks are more confident and self assertive ias a culture than Greek Cypriots. Also, in Greece the way to arrive at consensus is by open public conflict. After 1974 GC public life has been tempered by the disaster and conflict is avoided, hence the institution of the National Council which started as anadvisory body but has assumed the function of an institution.

There is another factor at work here. Cypriots have British influence in their culture, the Greeks are more continental European in outlook. Despite having millions of expats in USA and Australia, the major foreign influences in Greece come from France, Italy and Germany. The small expat Greek community of Paris is much more influential in Greece than all the Greek Americans put together. It is interesting to see how the internet (mostly anglosaxon input) will affect this influence in the future.

Now as to whether we are pure bred etc. The role of the Greek Orthodox church in preserving the language and collective memory is much stronger than any genetic trace. The language of religious texts, set in Byzantine Greek, remained as a fixed language reference point for 1500 years and preserved the language, which is the most important glue for any culture. I am not religious, but recognise the huge role of the church in this aspect. It is one piece of the puzzle that Copperline does not take into account when he says we are mongrels. Genetically we might be, but a Greek Orthodox church in every village kept the mongrels true to type, as dog breeders would say.

[CopperLine]

Agreed, Nikitas, that the Orthodox church is crucial in maintaining and reproducing patterns of life, beliefs, and so on. So it is in this way, amongst other reasons, that people entered particular traditions and identities and left them. There has been continuous mutation and metamorphosis which makes it (i) impossible to speak of an undifferentiated and singular 'we' over the centuries and (ii) and therefore makes a nonsense of claims by certain posters that they/we have been here longer than anyone else.

[Sophia1]

Can I ask a question and I do not want to start any insults or anything... I love the Cypriot culture its in me and I can't get away from it but what I have noticed when I lived in Cyprus is that every one is different.. My cousin is a very good policeman friendly and helpful, I went to the station were he works to bring him something to eat and I heard some one behind me say ENGLEZA he he he he, it was his Sergeant dressed in an English Police uniform ??????? I didn't care coz Im use to it but my cousin was soooo embarrassed bless him. Cyprus slowly and silently want to be just like uk and I really do not know why coz so many times I heard them say that they hate the English but still grab hold of Debenhams, Next and the good old M&S.

England has an influence in Cyprus but a bad one, I liked Cyprus when they had there own way of life and they use to be open people and you other took them as they are or piss off basically. Now the adults HATE kids, before they use to love telling them stories and educating them, I mean the best education I got was from my Grandparents.

Each to there own at the end of the day but yeah you do think about these things.

[denizaksulu]

Why are Cypriots becoming so politically correct?

Having recently returned from Greece, it has struck me how sensitive Cypriots seem to have become. Whereas, Greeks still tell it as it is, and damn the consequences!

Cypriots seem to be bending over backwards to make everyone feel welcome, whereas the Greeks don't give a monkey's. Like it or lump it ... or better still, bugger off as far as they are concerned!

As Churchill said: "Today we say that Greeks fight like heroes, from now on we will say that heroes fight like Greeks."

What about the Cypriots?

e.g. Why are we so PC about TCs

It begs the question, what did the mass murderer want from the Greeks. (I know that Greeks can show heroism, as in Korea)

[michalis5354]

There was a research done by National Geoographics and IBM and published in an American Journal and revealed that 20,000 Cypriots are of phoenician origin- 1 out of 17 Cypriots -and have these roots. This is the reason of the differences in attitude between Greeks and Cypriots. This was published at Politis paper yesterday.

These people have settled in Malta, Cyprus , Marocco , Tynisia, and Syria.