By Antonis Elia Kasapi
Dear Friends,
Recently my article “I am a Cypriot”, on supporting a solution for Cyprus has been widely read.
It drew many comments of all kinds.
I admit that I did not expect such a large reading and such a widespread response.
I would like to clarify a few issues that became apparent from the comments it received.
First of all, I strongly emphasize that the article was meant to express some of my own personal views and opinions, as a Cypriot, and was not intended in any way to express the views and opinions of the specific community where I belong, i.e. the Maronite Community of Cyprus. I have no authority to represent this Community or anyone else.
Judging from some of the comments, I must say that, possibly because of the way I wrote it, it may have incorrectly conveyed the message that I am not a friend of Greece.
I would like to strongly emphasize that I am, and I have always been, a strong friend and supporter of Greece, its people and its civilization.
I have received Greek education and I am proud of it.
I speak Greek as my mother tongue and I work and associate with Greek speaking people in all my life.
I feel happy when Greece is doing well and sad when it is suffering.
I may not be a Greek by blood, if there is such a thing, but I am certainly a staunch Philhellene. A friend of Greece and of the Greeks.
A friend of my fellow Greek Cypriot compatriots.
But I don’t want to regard my love of Greece of the Greeks and of the Greek Cypriots to be considered in any way as a hostility towards my fellow Turkish Cypriot compatriots.
This is exactly what I think causes the problems that we have in Cyprus.
We should be proud of what we are, but without being hostile to our other compatriots.
The message I wanted to convey was addressed to all the people in Cyprus, Greek speaking orthodox, Turkish speaking Muslims, and others, who want to live on this island.
If we want some hope for our country we need to concentrate on the future and we need to do something different from what we did in the past. We need to avoid the mistakes of the past.
If we honestly mean it that we want to live together in one country, we need to accept some basic principles. We can continue to be what we are, and be proud of it, but we all need to add something to all that we are, we need to think also as loyal Cypriots and as compatriots between us.
We can support and show solidarity for each other, as Cypriot compatriots, instead of antagonising each other.
We can have Switzerland as our example. In this country, three different main languages are used, and at least two different main religions. But all the people of this country recognise themselves as Swiss compatriots, in addition to being German speaking or French speaking or Italian speaking, or Catholic or Protestant.
And their country is one of the happiest countries in the world.
We have all suffered in all our life because we have been emphasising our differences with fanaticism, ignoring our similarities and our common interests and characteristics.
Do we want our children to also spend their entire life in this uncertain, confused and dangerous way?
Just look at the countries around us and so close to us. Do we want to suffer in the same way?
Is it worth it?
Let us decide :
Either we accept that we are all Cypriots and compatriots (in addition to our respective origins and nationalities) and we honestly try to build a common country with pride, solidarity and love and we live together peacefully.
Or we continue to regard ourselves above all as different, as unable to live together, and we admit that we want to continue to live separately in a divided island.
Each side must first honestly decide what it itself wants, for this basic question, and then start asking the other side what it wants.
We owe it to the future generations of this island.