Does Tassos really want peace?

Sir,
I am beginning to wonder whether Tassos Papadopoulos really wants peace and reconciliation between the Greek and Turkish peoples of this island. Before long, his policies are going to drive him and the good Greek people into an abyss of political blunder.

He made his people bluntly say ‘no’ to the Annan plan. His motives were a shamble because there was no motive. If you ask the people in the street they will say “I do not know why”. He told the world a lie by saying he wanted guarantees – he wanted all the Turkish mainland refugees out of Cyprus, he wanted all the Turkish soldiers out of Cyprus.

If a level-headed man analyses all the above excuses, he will conclude that he did not mean even one word of what he said. Why?

1. Over 80 per cent of the 40,000 mainlanders allowed to stay are either born in Cyprus or married to a Turkish Cypriot.

2.Turkey agreed to withdraw 90 per cent of theTurkish military force, leaving a handful just to please its own people in Turkey. By saying ‘no’ Tassos legalised the existence of this military presence, even giving it a chance to increase it to any numbers.

3. Guarantees: what guarantees? Doesn’t Tassos know that refusal to implement the conditions of the plan would have given the EU the biggest reason to decline the date for a start of accession negotiations. Not only would Ankara have been blamed by The EU, but also by the United States.

4. Greek owned properties: if the Greek Cypriots had said ‘yes’, they would have returned to their lands or been paid compensation for it. Now they have lost again. Who is to blame? Well everybody knows. God knows which future generation will ever get their ancestors’ land and when?

Well Tassos, what will you do next? Keep protesting to nations and governments for inviting Talat as Prime Minister. If you watch very closely, The USA started it, now it is the UK, the Islamic Conference has upgraded the Turkish Cypriot community to the status of Turkish Cypriot State. How long before other nations and governments invite Talat? Then what?

Jan Ismail Adem
Kyrenia

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.