Did we really need to have so many episodes of violence?

I am with Maria Angela Holguin, personal envoy of the UN secretary-general all the way with her almost poetic open letter to the people of Cyprus about the 60+ year old “Cyprus problem”. 

Male politicians and officials often talk about the mechanics of inter-communal problem solving – constitutions, structures, territories, military quotas, deadlines, etc. As a woman, Ms Holguin spoke kindly, from the heart, and identified the crucial importance of winning hearts and minds through radical change in education and learning practices. She explained that this could, in turn, free people’s minds from fear, mistrust and discrimination so that they can make rational decisions about their joint futures. I discussed all the issues outlined by Ms Holguin which stand in the way of inter-communal progress through two previous articles entitled “Education remains contested territory in Cyprus problem debate” and “Establishing a truth commission is long overdue”.

Of course, change in attitudes takes time, and so this can only be a long-term ambition. In the case of Cyprus, it may not happen at all, given centuries of disaffection between Greek and Turk and the influence on education of the ultra-nationalist church. Perhaps this is being pessimistic, but all efforts to establish a historical dialogue and agree a Cypriot narrative which is respected by both peoples have failed spectacularly to date, which says a lot.

Sadly, on the contrary, some of the most cherished days of celebration of the one community continue to be the days of commiseration of the other (e.g. April 1 Eoka day and July 20 the date of the Turkish military incursion). The villains of the one community are the heroes of the other. Without the resolution of such fundamental historical contention, can the two communities ever unite? We can live in the hope that this will happen, through strong leadership, but accepting that realising this desired outcome is not by any means a certainty.

We are fast approaching July 15 and July 20, the two shocking dates in the Cyprus calendar, representing the attempt by Greece to annexe Cyprus through the use of force, and the ensuing Turkish military incursion on Cyprus. Will the leaders of the two sides take heed of what Ms Holguin is saying and change their annual vitriolic rhetoric, or will they still bring with them the dusty old speeches which remain unchanged for 50 years and recite them ad verbum? I fear it will be the latter.

Ms Holguin also used the metaphor of the olive tree being a symbol of permanent regeneration and peace. What would have happened if the Cypriots had lived the pacifists’ dream, as opposed to the nationalists’, and there had been no fighting at all? Did we, Cypriots, really need to have so many episodes of violence in our history prior to 1974?

We can never prove the negative – what might have been – but we can make educated guesses. 

Let’s take this chronologically, starting with the events of 1955-58, and the violent attacks on British colonialists by the Greek Cypriot nationalist guerrilla organisation Eoka.

We know for a fact that the British Empire was in serious decline in the first half of the 20th century and after the Second World War Britain was virtually bankrupt. It was simply unable to support armies around the world. By 1955, the year in which Eoka militia’s armed operations against the British began, Afghanistan, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Pakistan, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Israel and Libya had already gained their independence. We also know that after 1955, Sudan, Ghana, Malaya, Somaliland, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Kuwait, Tanganyika, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Uganda, Zanzibar, Kenya, Malawi, Malta, Zambia, Gambia, Maldives, Guyana, Botswana,  Lesotho, Barbados, South Yemen, Nauru, Mauritius, Eswatini, Tonga, Fiji, Oman, Bahrain, Qatar,  United Arab Emirates, The Bahamas, Grenada, Seychelles, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Dominica, Saint Lucia, Kiribati, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines went on to gain their independence in rapid succession. Many of these chose to remain part of Britain of their own volition for decades before establishing independence.

Accepting that Cyprus has always been of geo-strategic import to Britain, it is still inconceivable that it would have remained a colony to this day, so it was only a matter of time for Cyprus to gain its independence, peaceably, alongside all these other countries. Were the deaths of 550 British, Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriots and the poisoning of the relationship between the two communities justified? No.

Did the 1963-64 and 1967 outbreak of violence, initiated again by Eoka where 562 Cypriots died and 25,000 people became refugees achieve anything, other than the segregation of the two communities? No.

What was achieved by the next wave of violence initiated by the Greek Colonels regime, the National Guard and the re-established Eoka on July 15, 1974 which resulted in the deaths of many hundreds of Greek Cypriot people, drawing in the Turkish army on July 20, 1974 for an even bigger tragedy which caused the further deaths of some 7,500 of Greek, Turkish, Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot people and the displacement of 215,000 Cypriots? Nothing.

European history has shown that warring communities can be brought together over time by wise leadership, intermarriage and education. This has not happened for nearly half a millennium in Cyprus although it is clear that the communities did enjoy lives in parallel co-existence up until 1955 despite their differences. All of this was destroyed by the actions of a few hundred extremist nationalists, and this month sees the 50th anniversary of the final act of such utter folly.  

History cannot be allowed to repeat itself. At the very least, progressive and fair-minded people should converge on a common positive vision of the future irrespective of the type of political solution. As John Lennon put it: “Imagine there’s no countries. It isn’t hard to do. Nothing to kill or die for. And no religion, too. Imagine all the people. Livin’ life in peace. You may say I am a dreamer. But I am not the only one.”

Fahri Zihni is former chair of Council of Turkish Cypriot Associations (UK), a former policy advisor at the UK’s Cabinet Office and a former president of the Society of IT Management, UK