Disappointment in the north as Greek Cypriots celebrate

WHILE the rest of Cyprus celebrated joining the EU yesterday afternoon, Turkish Cypriots were disappointed at being left behind.

“Every newspaper in the north wrote about Cyprus signing the EU accession treaty today,” Ruzen, a Turkish Cypriot who did not want to be further named and who lives in occupied Nicosia, told the Cyprus Mail yesterday. “We are all very unhappy because on our side nothing has changed.

“I think if our politicians had said yes we could now be part of Europe,” she added.

Another Turkish Cypriot who did not want to be named, also from occupied Nicosia, said some Turkish Cypriots were angry with Greek Cyprus.

“We are surely disappointed that we missed the train today, and angry with the responsible politicians, but now that the Greek Cypriots have got what they really want, we don’t think the Cyprus problem will be negotiable anymore, and anger is rising towards the other side.”

Turkish Cypriot Journalists who were in Athens yesterday to cover the ceremony voiced some of the same sentiments coming out of Nicosia.

Hasan Kahvecioglou of Turkish Cypriot daily Ortam said that Turkish Cypriots generally supported reunification, and blamed the leadership for its failure to materialize.

“Unfortunately, the status quo in Turkey and especially Mr Rauf Denktash are not acting in a parallel way with the community.

“They have always been against EU membership so that is why there is a great struggle there (in Turkish occupied Cyprus), there are great demonstrations there, and now I think Turkish Cypriots have lost their hope.”

But Ruzen said that Turkish Cypriots were proud of what they had accomplished with their pro-unification movement, and that there still remained a glimmer of hope.

“We are happy about our demonstrations, and feel that if we hadn’t done them, things would be worse now. Now at least the world knows we want change, and Annan’s plan is still on the table. If we didn’t demonstrate I think the doors would have closed on us.”

She added that the coming elections could be a new chance for change, and felt confident that Denktash would not be re-elected.

Back in Athens, Kahvecioglou added it was a bad move by Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul not to attend the Accession Treaty ceremony because Turkey does not recognise the Republic of Cyprus, saying that it was “meaningless and a catastrophe for Turkey.”

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.