We must once again demonstrate our strong determination for a ‘solution’...
We must sit down at the negotiating table.
With courage...
With self-confidence...
Without drowning in a sea of victimhood...
“Will there be yet another disappointment?”
What kind of breakthrough could there possibly be beyond the uncertainty, insecurity and unknowns we are experiencing?
Disappointment is the very name of this system we live in!
***
The current status quo and lack of resolution offer no hope for the future.
There can be no salvation for us other than engaging with the world...
Integrating with the international community...
To become a subject!
Just look: the issue has become so provincialised that motions to ‘change the name’ are being tabled in the Turkish Grand National Assembly...
What saddens me even more are the messages circulating from sources close to the United Nations...
They point the finger at Ankara.
As if it were the sole decision-maker on our behalf...
As if there were a negotiating table between the Greek Cypriot leadership and Ankara...
We cannot accept this.
***
We must also confront that deep contradiction at the heart of the Cyprus issue.
We want a political solution that will open us up to the world, to the future and to equality.
What is rightfully ours...
Yet, for some reason, we refuse to accept this...
Others, too, have certain rights and certain demands...
Whilst we rightly seek to reclaim whatever has been taken from us... We hesitate to return what we have taken from others—not even all of it, but even just a part of it.
We reckon with our own fears, acknowledge our own pain, feel our own deprivations, yet we refuse to accept that others might have fears distinct from our own.
***
We are, as it were, ‘locked’ into half the island!
At its very core, this lock has two keys...
One is in the hands of the Greek Cypriots, the other in those of the Turkish Cypriots...
This lock cannot be opened with just one key.
It will never open!
Neither side can take a step towards that future where they will realise their own rights without the other side acknowledging the other’s rights.
Turkish Cypriots had recently lost their key to Turkey...
The community sent a strong message in the elections...
Yet there are still those who do not understand.
We must explain!
Formulas implying ‘no solution’ have not been accepted.
The community has rejected them!
We must make those who show no respect for our will respect us!
***
Remember when I said ‘two keys’ at the very heart of the matter…
Perhaps that is the core of it, but the keyring is full…
Of course, there is a second ‘lock’ on us…
The keys lie with Turkey, Greece, the UK and the European Union...
So, one lock upon another...
That is why the European Union’s role is so crucial in this process...
It appears the United Nations Secretary-General will present a new framework for negotiations to the leaders and ask, “are you ready to negotiate?”
In a sense, a new strategic plan!
A three-stage solution…
A model in which communities will experience the advantages of a federal solution at every stage, see the difference, and come to terms with the new Cyprus…
For example, as direct flights to Ercan commence, Varosha will be returned to its rightful owners... Alongside international funding, a compensation fund will be established to address the property issue; whilst some land returns take place, all citizens of the TRNC will, for instance, become European Union citizens...
To the question “Are you ready for talks?”, we must answer “yes” without hesitation.
This is also what the strong will that has emerged in the north of Cyprus following the election demands.
For this, we must make our voices heard everywhere...
We need a solution.
To connect with the world...
To a new Cyprus...
To a shared homeland, a shared future...
To the world...
