GoogleKOFI ANNAN SETS PRIORITIES FOR THE NEW YEAR: CYPRUS?


It must be close to thirty years, in that each year with the same setting for the same speech, that an end to the "Green Line" which started in Cyprus, would again be the UN's first priority. When did that stop I asked myself? Is this a failure of the UN?

What about the Family of Man? Where villagers, in Cyprus, nurtured this love and respect for human dignity, who could claim a root to its modern origin, with the inception of the UN. their own history dating back to an origin beyond any respective religion, Mankind sought here to preserve its' own neolithic past. Cyprus, a word meaning copper, was given it's name by the Egyptians when they were building pyramids, even before Alexander. Cypriots have lived on this island peacefully, developing a culture which was the most socialised in the world, based on cooperation, an identity which was clearly focused on longstanding agreements, tradition and mutual respect. As a people, are they to become doomed to extinction?

There was a time before Turkey and even before Greece, when Cypriots were giving names to their villages in Arabic. Cypriots enjoy the relics of a wide array of colonisers over the ages, it was they who built these great edifices, its culture prospered because it was so closely rooted to the land, and that they were able to pay taxes. Cyprus is, as it has always been, a gateway for: Africa, Europe, and the Middle East; all the World Religions have a path from their origins there. Contemporary international politics has left the island, after a coup dÂ’etat that failed, divided along a line strinkingly similar to that proposed by Dulles before the UN found the peace which gave Cypriots , for the first time in their history, as a Nation, sovereignty over their island and their own affairs.

Today,the Republic of Cyprus rests uncomfortably under one of the world's most heavily fortified borders with at least 100,000 refugees living in their own homeland, for the first time wrested from their land sincemillenniaa over 300,000 people, one third of its population, many who wish to return to theirs that belonged to theirs before them, as a European country, and a member of the EU, while Turkish Cypriots, living in a zone that is occupied by Turkey, unrecognised, with a toponomy, and a demography that has been changed, designed to promote Turkey's interest, receive even less attention in a social-economy which is prospering greatly. Greece and Britain are not innocent by-standers in this imbroglio: Britain is still in possession of the property which it uses militarily, the value of which rivals her great allies for intelligence and air superiority. Greece continues to use the same tactics as Turkey in their External-Affairs, dividing people by language/religion, fighting a proxy war, and using terror, which leaves their citizens with little loss while Cyprus, another nation-state remains divided.

The UN needs to resolve this problem, it's credibility depends on it. The players: Greece and Turkey need to look at the power they would have as allies, after the ironically hopeful experience both entertained afterseparatee disastrous earthquakes, I had hopes that a regional alliance including the Balkans, Macedonia, Albania, and others, brokered by a country like Great Britain, promoted for security and their economic prosperity could fructify. However, the same intransigence continues as it has, now for decades.

A bi-cameral, bi-communal state is the basis for agreement accepted by the communal states and their guarantors in Cyprus more than once; which would mean in one house, for example, Cypriots regardless of their ethnicity would vote for two candidates, one from each community to represent their electoral district in a Parliament, who by majority vote elect a leader, while in the other house, regardless of their ethnicity, citizens would vote for only one member, representing their electoral riding in a legislature divided by canton, with a distinct ethnicity, having a slate of candidates which represents this bias.

Simple, basic, Human Rights are at play here: many survivors want no longer to remain up-rooted, an attempt must be made to explain the disappearance of over 6,000 Greeks and the great number of Turkish Cypriot disappearances which remain unclear. Famagusta, a great and vital city made famous byShakespearee, where Othello was once king, whose beach front in 1974 was the most valuable property by square foot in all the Mediterranean is now home to dogs and snakes, the whole cityuninhabitedd by people, guarded abandoned as it was when airplanes strafed and bombed its hotels will continue to remain empty. How can Greek Cypriots be blamed for voting against a proposition which leaves these central issues, most important to them, unresolved and untouched? How were Turkish Cypriots represented in a referendum where Turkish colonists represent a majority of voters? This, at the behest of Mr. Kofi.

I believe that the UN has the capacity to end the hostility in Cyprus, which it resolved to do at its own advent. I am afraid that if it fails, or is seen to be waning, it will be a signal to otherbelligerentss that anything can be ignored, that the UN will concede impotence when it is suitable, indifferencee to its goals and its own ideals. It should be in the first sentence, Cyprus from the first few words, of the same fateful speech every year. Until these Occidental partners accept their own need to show grace toward a lasting peace in Cyprus, the UN will not have the template it needs to resolve conflict elsewhere. Without the agreement of some seemingly civilised countries who have met in secret for close to forty years to resolve this "little" problem, it seems quite remarkable for the UN to have had any success anywhere, where people have become divided for the same reasons. The UN is a great institution which the world needs;it needs from us the will to fight in defence of Humanity, as Tolstoy said, against our enemies: Hunger, Ignorance, Disease.

The United Nations must continue to promote the dialogue which encourages understanding and the great patience it displays will hopefully promote goodwill. There is a need to confront terrorism around the world, which has its root in Modern History from the guerilla war fought against the British in Cyprus, toward its liberation in 1955. The Middle East and now the whole world has suffered from its evolution, the action and reaction which in modern warfare exploits emotion and uses forms of fear to implicate whole populations in individual acts of hostility. There was a moment, in Dubai just before the fateful day, 9/11, when the world was focused on resolving the pain caused by a history of plunder, leaving the Southern Hemisphere in disarray.This friction, endless cycles of poverty for millions of people, continues to be reinforced by the inability of Mankind to focus on the need to provide for its People the basic requirements which sustain us. If this challenge was the locus of our acts against terrorism, then terrorist would only prosper if thay could promote a better way of living. Leaders likeGandhii, and Makarios knew this, who would challenge their own beliefs in service to Truth.

Many Cypriots, Turkish and Greek, wish to return to the properties they care for. They wish to travel freely and to live in safety. They are a people who despite this tragedy befallen upon them, continue to wait patiently for the most modern interlopers to resolve the differences they have amongst themselves, with the hope that this intransigence does not explode, or end with there own demise. A simple form of government, like the one which I have proposed will guarantee equality and an opportunity for each community to promote reasoned legislation for its own distinctive needs. Cypriots will have to accommodate the needs of people who now occupy the homes of the displaced by allowing them to become citizens of the Cypriot state. the result likely being a change to the demographics of the island which would promote these cantonal states with communities, as minorities, to be protected. An opportunity must be given to all these people, by thebelligerentss, withdrawing their troops and weapons which have the potential to be used unwisely, as in the past, even if it means Cyprus must be Constitutionally reformed so that it does not have a military capable of an offense.