It’s time to consider the Belgian model

Cyprus became an independent island state on August 16, 1960. It is a member of the UN and the EU. It bothers me when I see Greek and Turkish flags everywhere and most people calling themselves a Greek or Turkish Cypriot.  It’s time to implement the Belgian model of one nationality with two official languages. Most Belgians do not go around saying they are French or Dutch they say Belgian.

It’s time for Cypriots of all backgrounds to come together as one people, create a new national anthem, a new flag a new constitution and begin the process of moving forward as a united island.

If this can work in places like Belgium and Switzerland it can work in Cyprus. Greece and Turkey need to cut the umbilical cord and let the Cypriots decide for themselves their fate and future. The less desirable option is to continue to look back in anger and live with division.

 

George K. Georgiou

Australia

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.