By Andreas Pittatzis *
I do not know whether the talks on the Cyprus issue will end or not. I do not participate in the negotiation, nor am I a member of any party yard to know what is happening. I am an ordinary citizen, informed through modern methods of information.
It is with the voice of an ordinary citizen, insignificant, that I want and know how to throw a small stone in the sea of what is heard and written in recent months.
I do not ignore and in fact I embrace the concerns and objections of some political parties, regarding the form of the solution. By resolving the problem, on the rails of what is made public, we accept a historically painful compromise. They attribute to the Turkish Cypriots what they have been claiming for decades and the international community has rejected. Territorial integrity, international recognition, population recognition of a particular portion of settlers, which is a war crime, but also the transformation of the minority of the island's inhabitants into an equal partner in the administration of the state. These are contempt for both the recent history and the modern institutions of the Republic.
The above, if they were the only parameters of the solution, should lead any prudent politician, not only to reject any solution before him, but not even to participate in the negotiation. That is why I understand to some extent the objections of some.
However, I criticize the way in which these objections are formulated, especially when they are made public and in the middle of a historic effort to find a solution. Their concerns should not be expressed in bad faith in an effort to strengthen the rejectionist tendency in the people, but in good faith in the right recipients in an effort to improve and strengthen those at the forefront of the negotiation.
However, there is a historical circumstance and fact, which completely refutes or even weakens the monster under negotiation and neutralizes the voices of those who oppose it. This fact is none other than the participation of the Republic of Cyprus in the European Union, with the mandatory implementation of the European Acquis.
Fundamental freedoms, like the rest of the laws and regulations of the European Union, will inevitably apply to the single, federal state.
In this united Europe, every citizen can live, work and work professionally in any corner of the country. The economies of countries, especially the euro countries, are now common and an integral part of a common strategy. Banks are not affiliated with the National Central Bank, but with the European Central Bank. Our laws are passed by Europe, or are greatly influenced by Europe, at a rate of over 60-70%.
Human rights are no longer part of national law or constitutions, but are enforced at a pan-European level through the EU Charter of Human Rights. Foreign policy now has the competent "Minister" of the EU. for the gradual establishment of a common European foreign policy, the Euromilitary is slowly developing, the European Police is strengthened, etc.
For better or worse, the democratically elected leaders of each EU country are gradually turning into modern "rulers", into a virtually confederal European state, which, after the Treaty of Lisbon, is gradually but not in strings, in federation. Sovereign parliaments are now limited to minor legislation and only to issues that do not conflict with the European Acquis.
Therefore, in view of the above, the negotiated solution, although a democratic offense, if implemented in a wider European context, most of its provisions are symbolic rather than essential. It does not matter if they give us Morphou or Kyrenia. As long as we can live, do business, buy property, it does not matter. If I will not be able to vote in Kyrenia, I do not mind. It is enough for me to know that it is an integral part of my homeland.
The borders of Cyprus are not today in Paphos or Paralimni or Kyrenia. Our modern borders start from the fishing shelter of Paralimni and reach the port of the English Channel in Calais, France.
The only danger that lurks is in the event of the dissolution of Europe. In that case, it would be a huge problem. Because then and in the event of a subsequent secession, a new independent state will be created in the North and we will not be able to invoke the arguments for invasion.
However, apart from Britain's exit from the EU, the rise of nationalist parties and despite the Cassandras, there is no tangible evidence or signs of disintegration, on the contrary, the dangers that Europe went through, seem to strengthen the ties of the member states even more. .
With sacred respect to those who disagree, something bothers me in the literature of those who oppose the Government's negotiating tactics and those who want a solution. Those who want the solution did not suddenly fall in love with their rapist, abductor and conqueror. They are not Turkophiles, nor do they forget their history. They do not consider that the prescribed solution is either fair or imaginary.
Alas for the history of thousands of years of a homeland, if for 50-100 years of differences of those who temporarily inhabit this land, the course of history and the map change. Regimes have changed a lot in these thousands of years of our history. Tyrants, kings, conquerors passed. Once upon a time there was oligarchy, aristocracy and so on. But the map was always one and our story is common.
It would be a pity if, with the criterion of the field and the "stalk" of mine, I decide for the future of my homeland and for the next generations. It would be a shame if, for our own fully justified feelings of bitterness, pain and resentment for the invasion, we change the course of history.
The pain of the one who was forcibly forced to leave his home and his neighborhood; the one who did not shed tears for the loss of his own people, whatever the solution will not be cured. Even if we throw all the T / Cs into the sea, the pain will not go away, the tears will not be lost, but only the feeling of revenge will be satisfied.
But even if we wanted to completely oust the conqueror, the rapist, the invader, unfortunately we do not have the power. Only once in history did David beat Goliath. In all other matches, it is Goliath who sets the rules of the game. The friendly countries, those who declare that they love us and want to stand by us, for 42 years have neither expelled the occupier, nor have they made a decisive contribution to our vindication. Maybe the status quo suits them.
I do not know if the negotiators will end up in a referendum. I do not know whether the President of the Republic of Cyprus will finally agree to the proposed plan. I hope, I wish and I pray, however, that I will be given the opportunity to live in a free homeland. I want to live with the hope of tomorrow and not with the pain of yesterday.
In a homeland where my son when he grows up will not have to take up arms, learn how to shoot and say raids on his enemy in the watchtower… that the word Turk will no longer be a curse… that Famagusta will no longer be ghost. In a homeland that will know how to leave behind everything that hurt her and will envision for the future; that in the ashes and hatred of today will build a hopeful tomorrow. In a homeland where people will be judged, not on the basis of their ethnic origin and religious beliefs, but on the quality of their character.
I want to live in a future where there will be no free Cyprus and occupied Cyprus, but one and indivisible United Cyprus.
* Andreas G. Pittatzis, Lawyer