The cardinal error committed by the Greek Cypriots

LAST Monday, I attended the presentation of the newly published book written by Ioannis N. Gregoriades, under the title “Sisyphus going East”.  The presentation was organised by the Secretariat for Intercommunity Cooperation and the Association of Young Scientists of the Democratic Rally (Disy), at Journalists’ House, in Nicosia.

Mr Gregoriades is an Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science and Public Administration of Bilkent University, in Ankara.  The book is an X-ray of Turkey, analysing in a cool fashion the political, economic, social and religious structures of the important and in many respects unknown neighbour of ours.

What I found truly interesting in the presentation of the book was the position taken by key members of Disy who attended and participated in the event, that the current president of Turkey, in the first phase of his march as the country’s new leader, was in favour of the reunification of Cyprus and the peaceful co-existence of Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots within the framework of the Republic of Cyprus.

In their opinion, Erdogan’s position has shifted in the past few years thus rendering the Cyprus problem a much harder nut to crack.

The other important assessment, which was almost universally adopted by the speakers, was the desire of Turkey to secure a protagonistic role in the region and, in particular, in the play, which is currently being staged, concerning the new energy map of Eastern Mediterranean – a factor that has already become a critical dimension of the Cyprus problem.

The obvious way for Turkey to attain this goal is through its neighbouring petite Cyprus, which appears to be the ideal first step on which she could put her foot in the process of attaining her objectives.

To this harsh and ruthless reality how have we reacted in the past and how are we reacting at present?  The position we have clearly adopted and consistently followed is that the law is on our side and, provided we apply the correct methodology in the international diplomatic sphere, we will succeed in forcing Turkey to back-track and to accept our terms and conditions.

This has been, and it continues to be, our big mistake. It is a mistake because our thinking is based on three tragic misconceptions:

The first big misconception is that in the world we live, justice prevails and vested interests, power and resources do not have a role or they play a secondary role on the international chessboard. And, whereas practice has shown – beyond any doubt – that our position is childish and unwarranted, we remain firmly convinced about the correctness of our belief.

The second big misconception is that what constitutes “right” and what constitutes “wrong” is something absolutely clear in the world we live in and there are no conflicts between one “right” and another “right”, nor is there room for doubt as to which is the stronger “right” between two conflicting “rights”.

A good example of such conflict is the “owner’s right” against the “user’s right”.  If you ask the average Greek Cypriot which of these two rights prevails, it is certain that he/she will tell you that it is the owner’s right.  And if you ask “why”, he/she will respond by telling you that “simply because it is so”.  In our logic, what we find inconveniently out of line with our thinking we simply ignore and we conclude that we got rid of the problem but, unfortunately, that is not the case.

The third big misconception is that, if we cannot achieve a goal today, all we have to do is hang around until tomorrow, provided that we have the patience to wait. This assessment has been tangibly proven incorrect.

It is incorrect because it provocatively ignores the fact that with the passage of time what has happened becomes an irreversible fait accompli. A fait accompli in respect of the occupied lands; a fait accompli in respect of the population mix; a fait accompli in terms of the established world order.

No Greek Cypriot leader has the guts to say that the goal of all refugees returning to their homes will never be realised; that the target of all settlers being sent back to where they have come from will never be attained; that Turkey will never cease to be within a breathing distance of Cyprus.

And because Greek Cypriot leaders do not have the courage to spell out these undisputable truths and take the decisions that are necessary for salvaging whatever can be salvaged, they choose to take us for a ride and to accuse those who demand that they should grab the bull by the horns, that they are cowards and submissive while they themselves are heroic fighters, ready to sacrifice everything (sic) for their homeland.  When the spinelessness of the established order becomes synonymous with patriotism, God help us all!

Christos Panayiotides is a regular columnist for the Cyprus Mail, Sunday Mail and Alithia