Will we live to see the Cyprus Occupation ended? Or The Skopje/FYRM issue resolved???

[Giorgo Ipermakou]

Cautious optimism on the Cyprus problem
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon sees Papandreou’s visit to Turkey as positive and expects a new round of talks on the FYROM name
By Xenia Kounalaki - Kathimerini

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon reveals to Kathimerini his special relationship with Greece, which he attributes to this country’s participation in the Korean War on the side of UN forces and to the crucial role Greece is invited to play in the sensitive region of the Eastern Mediterranean.

Ban estimates that the recent diplomatic opening between Turkey and Armenia constitutes a good omen for Greek-Turkish relations and stresses the need for initiation of the second phase of efforts to resolve the Cyprus problem, which will include making decisions based on mutual understanding.

As far the issue of the name of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia is concerned, the UN secretary-general argues that the election of a new government in Athens has paved the way for negotiations to restart under the auspices of UN mediator Matthew Nimetz

Is Papandreou the answer or was Antonis Samaras the right man for the job????

[Giorgo Ipermakou]

VEGASGREEKGOD, Feel free to join in, No hard feelings man!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Pavlo]

Its a nice dream Giorgio, but i dont think its going to happen...
The USA, UK & the EU keep coming up with federation solutions which give dispreportionate powers & land to the Turks...
The best they came up with was that the Turks give back the ghost town Famagusta which would cost billions to rebuild & to give back 10% of the land in an area thats not worth having...
Also they keep trying to impose a rotary presidency, 4 years a Greek, 4 years a Turk...
They are basicaly pro Turk...

[Pavlo]

How can they expect us to vote for any of these solutions...
We were invaded & occuppied & they expect us to negotiate with the Turks on solutions like that...
We want a free Cyprus, with freedom of movement & the right to live a normal life...
We except we have large Turkish, Armenian, Maronite communities & all the new immigrants too...
Do they want us to slit the island with all them too...
Then theres the British bases that cover 99 sq miles...
Its a wonder we have any room to live anywhere...

[Pavlo]

The other problem in Cyprus is the chance of conflict between the 2 communities again...
Theres to much bad blood...
There has already been several incidents...
Greeks who visit the north have had problems especially since an estimated 2,000 members of the right wing fanatical group Grey Wolves have set up in the rural areas of the occuppied north...
Turkish shoppers to the Greek side get abuse & cars with Turkish number plates get smashed...

[Marcos Christou]

Alright Giorgio & Pavlo.
I know what your saying Pavlo.
I saw an article in the paper that the Turkish fanatics the grey wolves had gone to the Turkish side to instigate anti Greek attacks. I also heard that there is active training of Greeks in the mountains like in the past when they fought the British in the 50's then the Turks in the 60's & 70's.
Might just be gossip though.
You know what us Greeks are like.

[Marcos Christou]

Your not wrong about those solutions the UN, EU, UK, USA keep trying to force on Cyprus.
Its like they are giving the Turks what they already have with a little less land. 
That shit they keep insisting on about taking turns as president & having 50 50 representatives in the parliament.

[Pavlo]

Its very worrying Marco...
There are lots of whispers about people training in the mountains...
Thats the wrong way forward...
The world has changed since the 1950/60/70's...
If we started something today, the west would portray ur how they did Serbia in the Balkan wars recently...
This would get public support when they backed the Turks...
The Islamic Jihadists would say we are attacking fellow muslims...
We'd probably lose the whole island...

[Pavlo]

Ive noticed that even though the Islamic world doesnt like the Turks or Turkey, especially the fundamentalists...
They have started adding the Cyprus situation to their usual list like Palestine, Bosnia, Kosovo, Kashmir etc...
They portray that between 1963-74 there was a Greek Christian programme to ethnic cleanse the Turkish Muslims...
They focus on the Greeks being Christian & Western & the Turks being Muslim & Eastern...
A situation in Cyprus would attract Jihadists which Cyprus isnt equiped to deal with...

[VEGASGREEKGOD]

I just hope and pray that the Greek Cypriots don't get screwed over and the island ends up in a permanent partition with 2 states. I have read that the Turks refuse to remove the 40,000 + troops from Northern Cyprus and will even sacrifice EU membership to keep Northern Cyprus in Turkish hands. This means they want the whole island and the oil that goes with it.

[Pavlo]

I really don't have to much hope for the future of Cyprus to be honest...
Hellenism is getting eroded by the continued Turkish occupation of the northern 33% of the island as we all know...
Then the alarming rate of both Greek men & women in the south marrying non Greeks...
Then the wave of immigrants flooding in each year...
The young generation have lost interest in tradition & the church...
Even Greek food has become unpopular, as can be seen by all the tavernas closing & being replaced by arab, indian & burger bars...
Greek music has become a sign of being old fashioned & now even modern Greek music is not that popular amongst the young...

Im not saying they haven't got the right to eat what they want or listen to what they want or marry who they like...
Im just pointing out a fact that the Hellenic culture, cuisine, music & church are becoming a thing of the past...

When i see Greeks of the older generation in the UK, its very hard to distinguish between the Greeks from any region or island except by their accent...
But the gap between Greeks from Greece & Cyprus is getting very big...

Its like they are going opposite ways...
This is due to the new trend amongst the young Cypriots to be anti Greece & blame Greece more than Turkey for 1974...
My parents generation saw themselves as Greeks from Cyprus just like some Greeks come from Crete, Epirus, Peloponissos etc...
But the young Greek Cypriots don't even say Greek Cypriot now, they say Cypriot...
They don't say they speak Greek, they say they speak Cypriot...
They don't say they are Greek Orthodox, they say Cypriot Orthodox...
They speak about Greece as a foreign country now, not as our mother land who has being seperated for centuries by foreign occupations & a failed enosis campaign...

Lots of the young Cypriots call people like me who are pro Greece & pro enosis TRAITORS to this new emerging Cypriot nationality made up of Greek Cypriots & Turkish Cypriots...

So i think all the problems we have mentioned like the Turkish occupation, immigrants & the number of people marrying foreigners is not as damaging as the new Cypriot generation's anti Hellenic identity...

(EXCEPT WHEN GREECE WON THE EURO FOOTBALL CUP OR THEY WANT TO TALK ABOUT HISTORY, THEN THEY ARE CONVENIENTLY GREEK AGAIN)

[Pavlo]

Like i mentioned in the other discussion, the immigration problem is very serious for a small island like Cyprus...

This a very worrying trend in Europe...
In Cyprus there is a real problem!!!
Total population of just over 1,000,000...
700,000 Greek Cypriots...
160,000 Turkish Cypriots...
180,000 Turks...
60,000 British...
50,000 Palestinians, Lebanese & Syrians...
30,000 Russians...
20,000 Eastern Europeans...
10,000 Pakistani, Indian & Bangladeshis...
10,000 Africans...
Estimated 15,000 to 25,000 ilegals...
10,000 other...
Cyprus government figures 2008...

[Pavlo]

We've also got to keep in mind the fact that Turkey & Israel have a military pact now...
The idea of the USA as usual...

I remember when all those border skirmishes were going on in Cyprus a few years ago & Solomos Solomou got shot dead for climbing a flag pole, the Israeli plans kept flying just off the coast of Cyprus...
Either they were monitoring any Greek movements for the Turks or they were ready to back them up...
This happens everytime theres an incident...
Israel makes its presence felt to us...
Also, the USA have two bases & several radar stations in the Turkish occupied north of Cyprus even though it's illegal to do so...
The British base of Dhekelia also borders the occupied north & has been caught out several times having contact with the Turkish occuppying troops even though they are not supose to...

If something happens in Cyprus, we will face a massive Turkish armed response that is covertly backed & helped by the USA, UK & Israel & probably have loads of crazy Jihadists running riot over the south in the name of helping fellow muslims as an excuse...

Negative view i know, but true!!!