Cyprus Mail, Cyprus
June 14 2009
God help every one of our naïve crusaders
By Loucas Charalambous
`GOD HELP Christofias,’ was the response of Mehmet Ali Talat to the
president’s declaration that `Turkey will continuously find us in her
way, in every step taken.’
Talat added: `What I mean is that if Christofias has decided to take
on Turkey, he will also need the help of God. And I hope he will have
it.’
The president had invited this put-down ` but he was not the only one
engaging in grandstanding. We heard a lot of similarly idiotic
statements by our newly elected MEPs, who immediately started
competing in the demagoguery stakes over who would cause the biggest
damage to Turkey at the European Parliament.
Christofias seems to confirm on a daily basis what this column wrote a
few weeks ago ` he is not much different from the late Tassos
Papadopoulos. He is leading things to the same result through a
different route. He pretends to be working, day and night for a
settlement, but in reality he refuses to take any meaningful step in
this direction. He is taking us for a ride.
Now he wants to persuade us that he will solve the Cyprus problem by
placing obstacles in Turkey’s way. Yet, not so long ago, he was
telling us that using a veto against Turkey at the EU was pointless.
His latest statement is just another demonstration of the abject lack
of self-awareness that blights our politics: we behave like giants,
while the rest of the world can see that we are, as Glafcos Clerides
used to say, `a small mosquito on the international political stage’.
Turkey is a state 100 times bigger than the Cyprus state and has no
enemy in the world ` it is currently in the process of normalising
relations with Armenia. Turkey is currently chairing the UN Security
Council, to which she was elected with an overwhelming number of
votes. The US considers the country one of its closest allies. She has
the third biggest army in the world and is currently involved in
accession talks with the EU, after a unanimous decision of the leaders
of all the Union’s member-states.
All the above are in danger of being shattered by the modest village
boy from Dikomo, who is president of 700,000 Cypriots and it is
questionable whether more than 200 people outside the island had ever
heard of him. This is how serious our politicians are.
Of course, Christofias is not the only one involved in the efforts to
bring about the demise of Turkey. He will be assisted by our six
MEPs. I nearly passed out when I heard them talking on television last
weekend ` it was a competition over who would cause the most damage to
Turkey at the European Parliament.
The one who came up with the most ideas was former presidential
candidate Ioannis Kasoulides, who belongs to DISY, a party set up in
order to promote rationality. As he stared at the studio ceiling,
Kasoulides listed several measures he would take, but the last one
took the biscuit.
`I will see whether we can secure a majority so we can cut the EU
funds given to Turkey.’
I was left speechless. Turkey must be terrified at the prospect of
Kasoulides cutting her EU funds.
When I a write about the political lunatic asylum, I am not
exaggerating. These people are not just naïve, they are
dangerous, which is why I am inclined to copy Talat. I pray that God
will help all of them ` Christofias, Kasoulides, Antigone and
Theocharous. As they are determined to destroy Turkey, they will need
His help.