It hurts me to be accused of being anti-Hellenic. In fact I am neither
anti-Hellenic nor anti any other people. How could I be anti-Hellenic if a
chap that warms the cockles of my heart when I meet him at the supermarket
where he works and which I visit several times a week happens to be a
Greek
Cypriot? When we meet we exchange greetings and smiles, we exchange jokes.
In him I see another fellow Cypriot with whom I know I share the same joys
in life. I am sure we both enjoy the same dishes, with who I share the
same
sense of humor etc etc. So how can I be an anti-Hellenic if I feel such
joy
at meeting a fellow Greek Cypriot?
You know several years ago I met another Greek Cypriot who realizing I was
from Cyprus asked me where I came from. And when I told him my place of
birth and gave him my name, he said that he knew my father. "Eitane kalos
anthropos o pateras sou," he told me. "Mas evoithisen polla". (He was a
good
man, your father. He helped us a lot") And I asked him his name and we had
a
good chat together.
You see this is what happens when ordinary Greek and Turkish Cypriots
meet.
Unfortunately this definitely does not apply to inter-communal relations
and I can also tell you that not all Cypriots are like that. A few
extremists spoil it for everybody. It only takes a few bad apples to spoil
a
whole basket of perfectly good apples.
Take gogu for example. I feel that at heart he is not such a bad fellow
but
unfortunately he has got this psychological condition and is moreover of
the
opinion that he can improve his image as a Greek by adopting an
anti-Turkish
stance especially in view of the fact that he has got Romanian
connections.
He claims to come from a wealthy family and brags about his wife owning a
business, which to me sounds more like a sweatshop, in Rumania. I am
beginning to feel that he is just a social misfit who is trying to 'prove'
himself by adopting a nationalistic anti-Turkish stance. Who is he trying
to
prove himself to? His poor suffering wife who he has admitted to cheating,
bragging about his girl-friend on the Usenet? Now, tell me what sane man
would brag about having a an affair outside his marriage on the Usenet of
all places? What man who claims he has no less that two, yes two Ph.Ds in
architecture would waste his time on the Usenet posting scores of messages
each and every day? You can of course ask the same thing about me and I
will
tell you that I have served my "term" and that I have a lot of free time
on
my hands and the Usenet is an absolute gem of a place to kill time.
Then take Panta-Rhei for example but then she is not Greek at all and has
absolutely no connections with either Greece or Cyprus. So we will forget
about her who one Greek poster referred to as the "Poutana (The Whore) of
Cairo) a few years back. Her job for which she is paid is to create a
hostile atmosphere for Greek-Turkish relations. In effect she is just a
hack, a whore.
Take Agamemnon who appears to be a real ass. OK, he is just somebody who
most of the time is acting merely as the postman for an extremist Greek
Cypriot group who refuse any compromise for the settlement of the Cyprus
question. They have regularly accused Greek and Greek Cypriot members of
government of being TRAITORS (yes, TRAITORS in caps) who should be
EXTERMINATED (again in caps).
Is it any wonder that Greek-Turkish relations seem forever to be stuck in
the same rut that they find themselves in? How can Greek-Turkish relations
ever be put on the right tracks with such people undermining all the good
efforts of others?
Maybe as a moderate Turk I am far more dangerous to THEM than I realized.
After all an anti-Greek Turk would be useless well for them. But a
moderate
Turk could present a real threat to them. May be as far as they are
concerned, I am a real time-bomb that could expose their true dark nature.
Yes, I suppose I could lift the curtain behind which they are hiding.
Another Greek Cypriot chap I saw a couple of weeks ago bitterly complained
to me that they (and he was talking about the Greek Cypriot side) do not
really want a solution because they are not only benefiting from all the
corruption that is going on behind the scenes but that they are secretly
buying up Turkish Cypriot property in the South on the cheap and that what
they are buying for £10 K now will soon be worth £500K. Is it any wonder
that the Cyprus issue drags on?
And oh, don't get me wrong. I am not for a moment suggesting that the
Turkish Cypriot side are angels but they pale into insignificance beside
what the Greek Cypriot side are up to.
But then such is life...
--
choro-nik
*******
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