ANYONE who had wondered what I was talking about when, just before last February’s elections, I had written that a Tassos Papadopoulos win would signal a return to the 1960s, must now have good idea of what I meant. Also, my claim of a few weeks ago, that Papadopoulos and Christofias had become a danger to the country with their bizarre declarations and behaviour, is now easier to grasp.
We have witnessed a practical illustration of what I meant in the last few days. I was referring to the nightmarish revival of the “centre of the universe” syndrome; a syndrome that allows a few hundred thousand, semi-literate, semi-educated Cypriots — who are no more than the population of an Athens suburb – to take on the whole world. I was referring to the repugnant revival of the warped, anti-American rhetoric. I was referring to the absurd revival of the self-destructive policy of taking a confrontational position against all those who could play a positive role in the effort to solve the Cyprus problem and rid us of the Turkish occupation army so that we can live, for once, in conditions of peace and security. I was referring to the revival of the paranoid presidency of Spyros Kyprianou, the era of incoherent and vacuous declarations; this was the time when, according to our current president, “foreigners were laughing at him (Kyprianou)”.
All the incredible goings-on of today come as no surprise to this column. What is a true surprise is the fact that some people are surprised that, in less than a year, Papadopoulos and Christofias have succeeded in turning everything on its head. Exactly a year ago, thanks to Rauf Denktash’s stupidity, we had managed to convince the whole world that we were the sensible side, committed to securing a Cyprus settlement and the international community was urging the Turkish side to change its stance.
The European Union was praising us for our constructive approach, the UN Secretary-general was putting pressure on Denktash and the Americans, for the first time, were laying blame for the deadlock, squarely, on Turkey. Even Britain was blaming Turkey. Meanwhile, the representatives of the British and American governments in Cyprus declared war on the intransigent Denktash.
What is the situation today? Everything has been reversed. Turkey is now “one step ahead”, as Prime Minister Erdogan has been claiming. The international community is now praising Turkey for its change of stance and is asking us to also to show flexibility. The UN Secretary-general states he is convinced about Erdogan’s good intentions and has told us to take a similar approach; EU officials have taken a similar line, while the US government has praised Erdogan’s move and urged us to show flexibility.
How things have changed. The Turks are now the good guys and we are the bad guys. This is Christofias’ and Papadopoulos’ great achievement. The “change” is exactly what they had promised us in the election campaign – “big and substantive”. Now that he has made a mess of things, the president has is behaving erratically, reminding us of the heyday of the late Spyros Kyprianou. Adopting the authoritative tone of a Talleyrand, he informed us that the “Cyprus problem will not be a priority issue at the Bush-Erdogan meeting”, presenting his hope as a fact.
After the meeting, it was evident that Cyprus was the main issue discussed. The US president decided, for the first time, to send us his Secretary of State to the help the efforts for a settlement. I do not know, if any foreigners are laughing, but I do know that a lot of locals are. Papadopoulos has surpassed Kyprianou.
The column would like to offer a word of advice to any foreigners involved in the Cyprus peace efforts. If they really want their efforts to achieve results, that is get a solution to the Cyprus problem, there is only one way to go about it now. They should use a whip. Are they not fed up of our childish antics? Have they not understood yet that we have been taking them for a ride all these years? I cannot believe they have not yet realised that in order to get a settlement they need to take a whip in their hands.
Fortunately, the international community has a very effective weapon – EU membership. Turkey is extremely keen to secure a date for the start of accession negotiations. Cyprus is anxious to become a full member on May 1. There is no better opportunity than this one. The UN chief, together with top-ranking EU officials, should give us an ultimatum: “Gentlemen, if by the end of March you do not reach an agreement, Turkey will get no date for the start of accession negotiations and Cyprus’ accession to the EU will be put back.”
This is the only way we will see sense. This is the only way the Cyprus problem can be solved.
