MINORITY groups on the island are insisting they have no problem serving their military service like everyone else, insisting only on full equality within the army, and an end to the confusion regarding their status.
When the government announced some weeks ago that it was entering discussions with the minority groups, Maronites, Armenians and Latins, all said they supported their communities doing armed service.
All that was needed was to iron out the details, they said.
However, days later Maronite House representative Antonis Hadjiroussos said although Maronites wanted to serve their country, they continued to have problems, particularly since many of them remained enclaved in the occupied areas and all of their villages were under occupation.
Other Maronites claimed that they should retain their exemption from doing national service on the grounds that the swearing in ceremony, as well as the majority of the National Guard’s religious ceremonies, concerned only Greek Cypriots.
The new regulation, which aims to promote equality within the military following the island’s EU accession, is expected to go before the Cabinet for approval as soon as it is ready.
The issue of minority conscription is one that comes up every so often. Many people see it as unfair that the religious minorities are exempt and that all Cypriot citizens should equally serve, while the minorities themselves worry about how equal things might be within the National Guard.
Others blame successive Cypriot governments for the current situation.
Edouardos Hadjihannas, who challenged Hadjirousos in the May parliamentary elections, and who says he represents those Maronites who do not come from occupied Kormakitis, said if the government was facing problems now, it was its own fault.
Hadjihannas said that between 1963 and 1974 all Maronites joined the army “without any complaints”.
“It was compulsory. I served in the army and I was very proud to serve my country,” he said.
After the invasion, President Makarios decided that since so many Maronites remained in the occupied north, the community need no longer do military service.
Hadjihannas said Makarios did this in order to protect the diminished numbers of the community on the Greek Cypriot side.
“Then in 1988 when George Vadsiliou won the election we had another president who said Maronites should go to the army and so we went again and joined the National Guard,” said Hadjihannas.
“And then in 1993 [Glafcos] Clerides said no Maronites”.
Hadjihannas said Clerides signed a presidential order at a the time. “This was the time of the joint defence dogma with Greece and he didn’t trust the Armenians and the Maronites to know any secrets,” said Hadjihannas.
“And now Papadopoulos is saying Maronites must go to the army. What I want to know is: who are we? Can I know who I am or what I am?
What do they want us to do? I believe they are playing with us,” he said.
“Please define what we are. My kids’ future seems to depend on who is elected president and who wants votes from the Maronites at a particular time. It seems that if they want our votes they take us out of the army.”
Hadjihannas said he didn’t know why Papadopoulos was chasing Maronites to put them in the army but he thinks there is a chance it might not happen.
“It might be a bit like the Turkish Cypriot bridge on Ledra Street. Create something that wasn’t there and then take it away before the elections to look as if a favour has been done. It’s a trick,” he said, adding that in any case only around 30 people from all three communities would be affected.
Benito Mantovani, the Latin representative at the House said only six or seven people would be conscripted from the community.
But like the Armenian representative Vartkes Mahdessian, he worries about equality and opportunities within the National Guard, and about access to church services on a Sunday.
“We do hope the government will give due time to consider that people must have some opportunity to become officers in the army, if proper procedures are followed, and that they have access to church,” he said.
“The biggest worry for members of the community is that their children will not be given the same opportunities within the army. It’s also unfair that it come into force this year since people have already applied or secured places in college. We will make a recommendation on this.”
Conscription for Latins only applies to those of whom one parent is Greek Cypriot and the other is Catholic. And although some Greek Cypriots have taken their children to the Catholic Church to convert them in an effort to avoid the army, the Church will not allow it unless one parent is a Catholic, Mantovani said. “People have tried but were refused,” he said, adding that last year alone there were around 30-35 attempts by Greek Orthodox parents to have their children baptised Catholics.
Mahdessian said that the Armenian community had reacted positively to the proposed legislation, adding he was confident that the hurdles that existed could be overcome.
“The reaction of the community has been positive, but there are some hitches, let us call them technical difficulties. This is not just being negative to the whole proposal, as the Armenian community has always wanted to comply with the laws of the Republic. Cyprus is our county,” he said.
Mahdessian said he was preparing a letter to President Tassos Papadopoulos where he would address all these issues, and would propose some suggestions to counter the possible problems recruits might face. He said his community had already proved in 1992, when they were called into the army, that they had no problem in fulfilling their military obligations.
