The one we have accepted through our way of thinking and behaving
Division will not ultimately come about through some “diabolical” plan for a solution brought to us by those who constantly oppose our small homeland. Nor even from Turkey’s systematic efforts to convince us that there are two states here. The division is being built within all of our minds. And as it appears, this process has progressed far too far.
A very serious health problem has arisen in the occupied territories. Foot-and-mouth disease in animals is perhaps the disease with the strictest management rules at the global and European levels. And what did we do? We acted as if it concerned another country. We responded to the Turkish Cypriots’ request to secure vaccines from the EU, and that was it. Nothing else! We also took some rudimentary disinfection measures at the checkpoints. Not a single alarm was raised, nor was any attempt made to establish close contact with the other side for joint management of the problem. As for the bicommunal committee, its mission was limited to identifying the disagreements and the different approaches to handling the problem. Here, the two leaders met and failed to issue a joint statement regarding the danger facing the whole of Cyprus.
It all seemed to concern other people, strangers. The smugglers kept coming and going, the veterinary services set up two or three sprayers at the checkpoints and called it a day, and the state whistled indifferently and played the high-and-mighty, supposedly offering European aid with vaccines and experts, to the Turkish Cypriots, who were unable to handle such matters.
Until the bomb went off, and in record time, the free areas were flooded with cases of foot-and-mouth disease. And this time, European officials and experts came here to tell us what has already taken root in our minds. That “look, the people across the way are different. You, over here, must follow the rules that apply strictly to all member states.” And so we realized that this division exists not only in our own minds but also in the minds of Europeans and the whole world.
So let’s set aside the empty, meaningless declarations along the lines of “our goal is to resume talks” and focus instead on our tacit acceptance of partition. A former President of ours once called it the “second-best solution.” This is where we are. In what, some call, the “second-best solution to the Cyprus problem.”
When, in a place that resembles a neighborhood of a large country, we fail to grasp the immediacy of any developments and act as if an ocean separates us, let us not constantly blame others (whoever they may be) for not helping to resolve our problem, which we—supposedly—desperately desire. When, in a country where the livestock farms on one side are practically touching those on the other, such complacency prevails, let us not look for political leaders who can manage even more serious problems. And when the President meets with the Turkish Cypriot leader in the midst of this crisis and they don’t even address the issue, as if they come from two different worlds, let’s not look for the blame for the impasse in some article by Ms. Holguín.
So long live the division! The one that wasn’t imposed on us by others. The one we accepted through our way of thinking and behaving. Because, in the final analysis, the only thing the two sides have managed to agree on is how to blame each other for who brought the foot-and-mouth disease to Cyprus. Well done!
This article was originally published on 22.03.2026
Source: LONG LIVE THE DIVISION!
