By ΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΑ (GREEK) TÜRKÇE (TURKISH)
Well done to Tatar (!)
Well done to Üstel, Sucuoğlu and Ertuğruloğlu (!)
And to Özersay who caused all of this…
To the ambassador, to the warden, to MİT [Turkey’s National Intelligence Service] and the like.
A big well done especially to the tens and hundreds who followed them and bought into this status quo!
We exist, but we are not truly existent now…
As in the famous novel of the great Aziz [Nesin], “Yaşar is neither alive nor dead…”
We ate our hearts out!
They consumed us, drained us…
From within…
From the outside!
Just as we are unable to govern the place we live in we are also unable to raise our voice.
While the individual who has symbolically assumed the role of “Prime Minister” holds press conferences, “making all sorts of promises” the “Ambassador” also known as the “Governor” who effectively and actively controls the administration roams around; the State Laboratory, the parliament premises, the Department of Water Works!
A voice rises from the “back yard [Bahçeli]” of the “state [Devlet]” which divides Cyprus by guaranteeing the unity of Cyprus: “What do you mean we shouldn’t interfere in the domestic politics of Turkish Cypriots…” [Translator’s note: author uses word play to refer to Turkey’s Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli after he criticized the Turkish opposition for saying it was important to keep out of Turkish Cypriot politics]
These words are like bullets!
They were spoken shamelessly, without hesitation, without the smallest remorse!
“Not interfering in the internal affairs of Turkish Cypriots means handing the island over to the Greek Cypriots.”
Did the “puppets” say anything in response to these words?
No!
If their position is secure…
If their family, their children, their kin, their supporters can have their loans, their privileges, land, jobs, promotions, incentives, and their benefits are all okay…
If the coastal areas are handed out, if citizenships are granted on an “exceptional” basis…
If new permits for quarries are to be given and mountains are to be carved…
If our cities are to turn into jungles of concrete…
If new washing machines at the money laundering hub will be supervised…
Then the rest is “The mountains are covered in smoke”… [Translator’s note: Author refers to the Turkish Youth Anthem, the Youth March]
And it’s not a problem if you need to find 27 Turkish Liras to buy one pound sterling…
Even if we shut our doors to the world, if we rot from within, even if we lose our young people to migration…
***
The man knows neither history nor humanity…
When the Ottomans led by Abdulhamid II sold off the island, he commanded the Turkish Cypriots to “Obey the English.”
No one obeyed the command.
If you were to ask the old folks today, they would tell you, “Oh, how we wish we had remained under British colonial rule.”
After having experienced “Turkish colonial rule”…
As if it was someone else who was completely prepared to sacrifice the island when signing the Treaty of Lausanne…
The statement “For us there is no problem called the Cyprus problem” was uttered more recently, in the 1950s, in the Turkish Grand National Assembly. [Translator’s note: Author refers to a statement by former Turkish foreign minister Fuat Köprülü made in the Turkish Parliament].
It’s clear who created and who destroyed the Republic of Cyprus…
If not for Cypriots, what business do you have here?
***
“If we fall into a state where we have been stripped of our identity and personality, and if we fail to show any reaction, then anything can happen to us. As long as we submit and surrender, we will inevitably disintegrate and disappear,” Kutlu Adalı once said.
By the way, what happened to the murderers, Devlet bey?
You probably know better than anyone else!
[Photo inserts: one of MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli making a salute of the Grey Wolves, and the other of murdered Turkish Cypriot journalist/writer Kutlu Adalı.]
Nomads in our homeland
Democracy has been taken hostage in this half of the island.
Willpower is lost!
The population has been changed and through bilateral protocols almost all institutions are now managed from across the sea.
All of this is not new, and it didn’t happen in a day.
We reached this through a political climate of “pleading and begging” so as to
“Try and please Turkey…”
“By keeping silent against Turkey…”
“Not to offend Turkey…”
As we turned a blind eye to acts of annexation, integration, and assimilation, the reality became clearer and the interference grew deeper and deeper.
As we adapted to the “TRNC” order, our capacity to be actors vanished.
A homeland was sacrificed to positions, salaries, power, greed, and shamelessness!
The majority of society and political elites succumbed to such “psychological pressure”.
A vision for a future with Greek Cypriots was associated with being “anti-Turkey.”
Getting “closer” to one side was considered “distancing” oneself from the other.
Showing “love” for one was recognised as placing “blame” on the other.
Love for the other half of Cyprus was forbidden!
Cooperation was condemned!
Roles were shared on who is “more Turkish and more Muslim”, belonging to Cyprus was forgotten, its culture and identity not preserved.
People became nomads in their own homeland!
Homeless in their own homeland!
Turkey “vote” for us as well!
You know Turkey will be electing its “President” right?
The northern part of Cyprus has never been so focused on its own elections.
Because those who run for the office are the ones who will “select” the Turkish Cypriot leader…
The “TRNC President” and “TRNC Prime Minister” have been appointed by Ankara for some time now….
The “TRNC government” is formed there as well.
And in fact…
The UBP [National Unity Party] congress is being managed from there as well.
According to some this has always been the case…
***
The election in Turkey will concern the politics of Cyprus closely.
The stones will shift here too!
The economy is the biggest concern, then comes democracy!
***
Who will be elected?
According to the latest three polls, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu will have a comfortable win…
In fact it won’t be a surprise if he wins in the first round.
Of course, the concept of “Opinion Polls” is directly related to democracy and freedoms…
The more there is democracy in a country, the more there are freedoms, the more reliable such polls become.
***
What will happen will happen and we will see.
I hope that we will one day learn to govern ourselves.
[Photo insert: A picture showing three opinion polls conducted by polling companies Konda, Yoneylem and Metropoll, all showing Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu in the lead]
