Turgut Durduran,6 Mart 2004

Hayvanlar Adası, 6 Mart 2004

Turgut Durduran

Ramblings About The ``Annan Plan''

Ramblings? Why?

"Annan plan" is, ofcourse, under the spotlight. Cypriots and others who have anything to do with Cyprus are voicing their opinions. A process that was wasted is now, supposedly, taking place in an accelarated manner. Many are optimists. Things look much more brighter than they did a year ago when one after another so-called "deadlines" were missed. It looks as if this document came about no a year and half ago but instead three months ago. Shameful isn't it?

So I am taking this opportunity to say a few more words about this process. I am a pessimist. I do not think the chances of a "pre-EU entry" solution is as high as it is portrayed. I never believed that the regime in north Cyprus represents me. I never believed that my interests are being discussed on the negotiations table.

So let me go ahead and ramble.

Dreams Being Crushed?

There is an obvious problem with this document; it proposes a very complex but at the same time backwards system. It is hard to image, ofcourse if we forget the realities on the ground, why anyone would want to create a "new Cyprus" based on a massive amount of limitations on civil and economic liberties and freedoms. Are we forgetting the basic, modern principles that we expect modern states to live up to? Specially states that are members of the European Union.

I do not dream of a Cyprus where divisions are entrenched all over the legislative. A Cyprus where ethnicity defines rights. A Cyprus that has not become independent of the grip of the "motherlands". But am I shocked that this document does exactly the opposite? No, I am not. It was obvious to me that with every opportunity missed, we were moving towards such a settlement. What I was trying to ignore, however, was that when this happens a good chunk of Cypriots will see this as a way out of the current stalmate and ignore these problems. I knew I would be sympathetic towards this. I knew this would be a giant step forward. But I did not know that once we break certain bariers, for example achieve the semi-porous state of the Green Line since April 2003, that we still would not be able to develop political organizations that cared for all Cypriots. I was being too optimistic.

So, yeah, my principles and my dreams are being crushed. At least for now, that is what "post-Annan-plan" Cyprus is supposed to be like.

Compromises?

Some say this has to be a solution of compromises. It is a fair and obvious thing to say. After all, that is what negotiations are supposed to be about. Many are quick to list what each side is compromising. Turkish Cypriots are giving up their state, their demands for separate sovereignty. Greek Cypriots are giving up their demand for complete freedom of settlement. And the list quickly grows.

This type of lists bug me a lot. First of all, they presuppose that these demands are an accurate picture of what an average Cypriot from either community desires for the future. They presuppose that what is said on the negotiation table and in the press is representative of our needs and demands. Not only that, by doing this they assume that those who make these statements are there because we have expressed our political will and elected them which also implies that these people are being held responsible for their actions by these populations.

However, this is nothing but the result of a series of self-contradictory policies. It is true that the democratic atmosphere in the Republic of Cyprus (RoC) is much better than that in the north. However, RoC included, Cyprus is in a very unique and tough situation. Our lives are dependent on some obscure "national cause" and no matter whether we are being "represented" by the "legally advantegous" (i.e RoC) or the "illegal" one (i.e TRNC), we did not have a full, independent control of these representatives. This have improved over several decades but still the general population was pretty detached from those "on the top".

As a Turkish Cypriot, my political will was particularly supressed by Republic of Turkey. She used her military-civilian bureocracy and power, its military control of north Cyprus and finally her economic dominance to manipulate our lives. It was an oppressive manipulation. Our efforts to gain control over our lives, our homeland was chrushed, at times, by use of violence.

So let us not pretend as if there are real negotiations carried out between real representatives of two communities and whatever is being achieved there is a representation of our demands and compromises. It simply is not. It is only a compromise of the positions of those in power and it has taken place of the real-politik.

Bloody pessimist, should I vote "no"?

I believe that despite of all these shortcomings, the Annan-plan sets out an opportunity to re-create a better Cyprus. It will not be an easy process and it may or may not succeed . I am definitely not suggesting that we should say "yes" because we can change it in the future. I am saying that Annan-plan is acceptable and we should move beyond it as rapidly as possible because the proposed state of affairs is less divisive than the present one and more stable. Our freedoms will increase -despite the fact that some violations will be "legalized". My vision of world is not limited by "legalization" or "illegalization" of rights and freedoms. It is precisely the fact that enough freedoms and rights are not part of the legislation that our struggle continues. I am a radical activist. I work for a very different world not only a very different Cyprus. From my perspective, simply overthrowing the regime in north Cyprus makes the Annan-plan worthwhile.

So if you are going to vote, in case we have the proposed referandums, consider this. The choice is yours. I personally will not be voting either way.

What? You will not be voting?

Yes, it is true, I would not vote even if I have the chance to do so. I have objected to running in the elections of December 2003 , for similar reasons, I object to this referandum. I view it as the last resort of the so-called "anti-Annanist" to reverse this process without an equal and fair chance for the "Annanist". Not forgetting that it does not represent our political will anyway.

If we reach the point where a referandum is to take place, it means that most of the obstacles have been arm-twisted to get out of the way. It means that decades long insistance for continuation of the status quo was broken. Why should I rely on a referandum to give them the chance to get back on their feet? Why should I forget decades long anti-democratic practices and pretend we have democracy and necessary freedoms to voice our decision regarding the Annan-plan?

Wake Up

Whatever the outcome of these negotiations would be, we have to create conditions that lead to the formation of a "pan-Cypriot" -in its true sense - political movements. It is very sad to see excited Turkish Cypriots of the "Annanist" sort get shocked upon hearing that their Greek Cypriot compatriots do not share the same excitement. The vice versa, Greek Cypriots seeing Turkish Cypriot's shock is also very sad. Do we have to continue living in a fake-democracy? Do we have to pretend working for a united island while being in an inherently divisive political atmosphere? I do not think so. We are in this soup precisely because no matter which side of the political spectrum we were situated at, no matter how progressive our ideas were, they are still lacking a solid, "pan-Cypriot" foundation.

We should wake up. Let's not limit our vision to Annan-plan. Let's view it as one of the many things that happened in course of independence - which we still did not get -. If we can not do this, if we can not take advantage of the developments to shape them according to our desires, then we might as well accept defeat.

Am I willing to do so? No.

Post-Script

I reject the accusation of lacking pragmatism. It is not being pragmatic to accept to pick sides in a forced, oppressive reality. It is not democratic to accept having limited choices and choosing the "lesser of the evils". That is conformism, that is being defeated. It is precisely one of the reasons why modern totalitarians do not need to rule with an iron-fist. As long as - borrowing from Chomsky - they can "manufacture our consent", the wheels of fake-democracies can keep rotating.

File translated from T_EX by T_TH, version 3.49.
On 6 Mar 2004, 17:57.