Harness the best of both cultures

Greek Prime Minister George Papandeou is absolutely right in saying that both Greece and Turkey must free Cyprus from ‘Motherlands’ etc.

Nothing will work until Cypriots – Greek and Turkish – class themselves as Cypriots first.

In America you are an American first and then you can acknowledge your heritage by claiming to be an Irish-American, an Afro-American, an Hispanic-American etc. But first and foremost they are all Americans.

Pride in the country of Cyprus should start by its citizens acknowledging that they are Cypriots. The mix of the best of Greek and Turkish culture harnessed in one nation would make this island quite unique. 

Old men live in the past, the future is for your children and it should be a future of promise for peace and prosperity building on the best of both cultures, not living with the differences of the past.

Brian Taylor,
Paphos

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.