Turkish Cypriots must shake free of Turkey’s grasp

Sir,

I seem to have hit a nerve with Mr Denktash, regarding his response in Sunday’s edition to my previous letter (‘Cyprus has done remarkably well’, January 14).

Admittance of wrong-doing was part of the opening paragraph in my initial letter, something which Mr Denktash (like all politicians) seems to have selectively omitted from his tirade.

The Republic of Cyprus is recognised by international law and the EU. The occupied areas are not.

It is actually quite simple. The longer Turkey tries to stall a reasonable solution, the harder it will become to have one. I am myself in my 40s and have a hard time remembering much of anything pre-1974. My version of Cyprus is a republic, where for all its faults, we have a non-military democracy.

I refuse to live under the eye of the ‘Generals’.

Mr Denktash can wax lyrical about ‘partnerships’ and pre-1974 agendas; but the reality of today is very different. If Turkey cannot change, then Turkey will be left behind. If Turkish Cypriots want to join us in the Republic, then they must shake free of Turkey’s military grasp and free themselves.

The flawed constitution and the divide and rule tactics pressed upon us by the Empire are the real culprits here. Tit-for-tat local spats will get us nowhere and are exactly what the ex ‘guarantors’ would have us doing eternally.

But all my generation sees when looking north is a military dictatorship that is out of time, and grabbing at straws to survive.

The Turkish Cypriots must, (as another Turk recently and aptly said on these pages) ‘wake up and smell the coffee’! The choice that Turkish Cypriots have is whether the coffee they smell will be just Turkish, or if they will (like us) have the option of Cappuccino.

That is of course if they want to free themselves at all.
M Evgeniou, Limassol

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