April 26, 2004 8:46 AM

Same as it ever was, Part II

Cyprus vote leaves island split: More than three-quarters of Greek Cypriots have voted against a UN plan to reunite the island in a referendum.

Well, just a few days after predicting that absolutely nothing would change in Cyprus, I must sadly report that it appears that I was correct. Since the Turkish invasion of 1974, intransigence has been the hallmark of of both Turkish and Greek Cypriots. Fear, distrust, and entrenched hatred have all combined to essentially leave matters as they were 30 years ago- and where the likely will be 30 years from now. While the island's reunification referendum was overwhelmingly approved by the Turkish north, it was also overwhelmingly rejected by the Greek south. Same as it ever was....

No matter whose point of view you happen to subscribe to- the Turkish government, the Greek Cypriot government, the Turkish Cypriot government, or the Greek government, it would be difficult not to argue that the logjam in Cyprus has continued for far too long. The problem now, though, is that the current situation is probably the safest and most certain option. Keeping the communities separate DOES cut down on the opportunities for age-old hatreds and feuds to burst into flames. The sad thing is that we will likely never have the opportunity to see if we might be able to resolve what is arguably the world's most intractable dispute this side of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Too many people simply have too much invested in maintaining the status quo.

Of course, now the Greek Cypriots will become a part of the European Union on May 1st, and Turkish Cyprus will continue to be a virtually forgotten corner of the Turkish sphere of influence. Though Turkey has little to gain by maintaining it's intransigence on Cyprus, it also cannot afford the domestic political fallout it would incur by abandoning Turkish Cypriots.

In the end, it appears that exactly nothing will change- just as I'd always suspected. I wish someone would have proved me wrong on this one....

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This page contains a single entry by Jack Cluth published on April 26, 2004 8:46 AM.

Yep, it was a rough weekend.... was the previous entry in this blog.

This week's sign that the Apocalypse is upon us is the next entry in this blog.

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