By ΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΑ (GREEK) TÜRKÇE (TURKISH)
Status quo-loving Cypriots could not split a bale of hay in two again. This was our one opportunity to make a choice together; it would have shone some light on the period to come, but hopes could not be revived again. We understood, once again, that everyone is comfortable in their own corner.
However, despite all these bad results, there was one gain to this campaign period. Turkish Cypriot/Greek Cypriot candidates participating in the elections also campaigned in the north, and spoke to voters about a common future. They talked about ways of finding a solution, no matter what. Many Greek Cypriot politicians went to the north to reach out to people, shook their hands, and asked for their vote.
Although the low participation of Turkish Cypriots in the elections remains a shocking fact that needs to be examined, for the first time in a long time, contact between the two communities intensified significantly thanks to these elections. If CTP tried harder, if the AKEL base had supported it, the very good step taken would have been followed by even more, but it did not happen! Everyone must answer for this, and find a revolutionary way without further delay. This is too much of a defeat!
Now some people are very happy that we are back to square one. They did not delay in telling off those who participated in the ‘Greek Elections’. On social media, the ‘president’s men’ kept talking about how stupid the voters were and what a dangerous thing they were doing. With ingenious comments, ‘5676’ mindless traitors were put in their place. Columns were written and major analyses were made. As if that was not enough, Ersin Tatar in the presidential seat, who was informing the Parliament in a closed session, constantly reminded everyone that Niyazi Kızılyürek could not be elected while explaining how much the Greeks did not like, or want the Turks. He repeated this in a sarcastic way, with pleasure, as if to say, “Serves you right!”
Strange associations have been making statements and giving out advice for weeks, uttering such words as OSMOSIS and ENOSIS. There is no one to explain what OSMOSIS will be like, that is, how ‘the Greek Cypriots will swallow us’, when everyone is on their own side in a bizonal federation conforming to UN parameters. Some older fellows incite the fear of circumcision. These insecure people think – within the limits of their own brains, which shrink as they get older – that they will imprison the new generations in their own world. They want everything to stay the same.
They keep saying ‘homeland, nation, TRNC’ and that they are supposedly fighting for the existence of our society from the finest of comfort zones, but if the European Parliament elections were a tender in the buffer zone, they would have participated well before anyone else. This is their understanding of common interest. What motivates them is not rights, but rents. The rentier system here is so enjoyable that both Simon and Aykut are happy about it.
It seems that no one has any intention of disrupting the established order. We tried to make a dent in this ‘vicious cycle’… It didn’t work again! Fortunately, we managed to introduce a new Cypriot TikTok phenomenon and a gloriously racist ELAM to the populist right-wing political scene, which has now replaced show business. Then we can go back to our fish bowl in the north… Now, where were we?
IS THERE EVEN A HOMELAND LEFT TO BE SOLD?
As you know, the UBP-DP-YDP [National Unity Party-Democratic Party-Rebirth Party] Government amended the law regarding real estate purchases by foreigners. It extended one right [to purchase property] to foreigners and three rights to Turkish people (those who recognise the TRNC). It has also legislated that no one who is not a citizen of the TRNC can build to sell. In this way, the price of TRNC citizenship has ‘surged’. The Council of Ministers has already started to distribute citizenship to Turkish business people. In this way, they will be able to buy acres of land, and establish and grow the business they want in whatever field they desire. By allowing a country of 85 million people to buy three houses per person and opening the back door to business people, there is no homeland left anyway. At most, the name of this homeland would be ‘Turkey’s Republic of Northern Cyprus’, as they always say with a slip of the tongue.
Lands belonging to Greek Cypriots have been handed over to foreigners for the past 50 years without paying for them. More than 1 million acres were sold, and apparently they will sell the remaining 600,000 acres in this way. While the offer to find the owner and make an exchange still stands, it is obvious that rent seekers will keep exploiting the loot. Then they will say ‘we founded a state’ on stolen property, and the whole world will believe it, right? I don’t actually think they have such hope. Somehow, ‘we are fine as we are’; somehow, one day, the gods will decide and someone will pay the price for these thefts. Right?
