Speech causes uproar, tension

UPROAR yesterday greeted comments made by President Christofias that those against a federation should “stand up as good Greeks and say it”, provoking outraged comments from all other parties.

House President and DIKO leader Marios Garoyian said the President’s reference – made during a speech to students on Monday – was “irrelevant, unnecessary and wrong” and called on the President to “leave Hellenism and Greece there where it deserves to be”.

He added, “Each one of us can express his view and position, express political arguments; give his stigma. But on the other hand, what good comes out of these characterisations, which are constantly being made, and what is their purpose?”

In his speech to students’ union POFEN, Christofias said the quest for a bizonal bicommunal federation was not something he had just invented; it was a principle that was accepted by Archbishop Makarios III in 1977 and reaffirmed by every successive president.

“We dare, based on the bitter experience of the past and current developments, to specify what bizonal bicommunal federation means,” said Christofias. “Those who don’t want a federation should stand up as good Greeks and say it: ‘We don’t want a federation’. And we will see who wins at the end of the day.”

But Garoyian said political arguments were one thing, while it was quite another to use Greece, Greeks and Hellenism “at the drop of a hat”.

“We need to be more careful,” said Garoyian. “Unity and collectiveness cannot be built with such comments, whoever they may come from.”

The DIKO leader clarified that a bizonal bicommunal federation was not the banner of Cyprus’ battle, but a historic compromise.

“Independent of the reservations everyone may have at times, everyone says that the goal is to achieve a viable and functional solution, based on a bizonal and bicommunal federation,” said Garoyian. Any conflicts over the issue are “pointless and of no use”, he added.

Christofias’ comments did not go unnoticed by EDEK president Yiannakis Omirou either, who yesterday said the President was intensifying the uneasy climate on the domestic front at a time that demands national and popular unity.

“There is concern and there is anxiety over the President of the Republic’s statements yesterday, because unfortunately once again, the President of the Republic has chosen to intensify the climate on the domestic front,” said Omirou.

Christofias’ reference to good Greeks, he added, “is an unacceptable approach, which apart from being sarcastic towards Greeks – and we are most certainly Greeks, what else are we? – unfortunately, he is identifying the federation with unacceptable concessions that he has made, with the rotating presidency, the weighted vote, the remainder of 50,000 settlers with the merger of two equal states – and I am referring to the announcement of May 23”.

Meanwhile, opposition DISY’s leader, Nicos Anastassiades, launched a further attack on the President, who he said had justified the Turkish army’s refusal to allow pilgrims to attend their annual church service in Rizokarpaso by likening it to the actions of a few hooligans who attacked Turkish basketball players in Nicosia last week.

During a visit to an old people’s home in Strovolos, Nicosia, Anastassiades was asked whether he thought Christofias was sending out partition-invoking messages.

“I would like to believe that – without being sure that he wants to – (Christofias) is offering an alibi for actions by the occupying force,” said Anastassiades.

“It is unfathomable,” he added. “How will we ever convince anyone who reports the actions of the occupying regime, when the President himself says: ‘one for you, one for me’? So he is equalising the actions of 15 brainless hooligans with the specific course and policy of the occupying force.”

Responding to all three of the President’s critics, Government Spokesman Stefanos Stefanou yesterday wondered what all the fuss was about.

Referring to the “good Greeks” comment, Stefanou said the President’s reference had only bothered people because he had called on those who oppose a bizonal bicommunal federation to admit it publicly; “to find the courage to say it and not shoot down anything that relates to the solution of the Cyprus problem”.

Referring to the cancelled church service in Rizokarpaso, Stefanou said it was unacceptable and reprehensible. “The government has reported the incident to the United Nations, the Council of Europe, with a specific and well-aimed manner,” he explained.

He added that the government felt that acts of vandalism and outbursts like that with the APOEL fans last week – who created mayhem during a basketball match between their team and a Turkish team, attempting to attack the Turkish team players who needed to be escorted out of the building – only harmed “our national issue” and gave ammunition to 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.