LAST
WEEK
(Publication
Date: March 14, 2007)
I will give you some words and
names:
TRNC, Lokmacı, France, GCASC,
Soyer, Talat, Avcı…
You might say, “Well, what do they mean?”
You’re right; for now, nothing!
***
Date: March 9, 2007
Event: The demolition of the Lokmacı
barricade.
Reactions:
President Mehmet Ali Talat and Prime Minister Ferdi Sabit Soyer welcomed it. Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Turgay Avcı said that the demolition by the Greek side of the wall in the section of Lokmacı Gate located in South Nicosia was a positive development.
Result:
The TRNC authorities welcomed this event
positively. In other words, the Greeks “finally caught a mouse after all this time” and earned our appreciation.
Bravo,
Greeks…
I wonder:
did they really catch a “mouse,” or did they make us believe they had caught one?
Let’s
talk about that later.
First, I want to draw your attention to a strange situation that unfolded as these events were taking place.
The agency reported the news on the subject under these exact headlines: --DEMOLITION OF THE LOKMACI WALL…
--PRIME MINISTER
SOYER HELD PHONE CONVERSATIONS ABOUT DEVELOPMENTS AT LOKMACI WITH PRESIDENT TALAT, WHO IS IN AZERBAIJAN, AND OFFICIALS IN THE TRNC, AND RECEIVED UPDATES CONSTANTLY…
Strange,
isn’t it?
No,
not at all! What’s strange isn’t the agency’s typo! It’s the prime minister’s information traffic…
The country’s
prime minister learns about a development in the country over the phone, and the president also learns about developments in his own country over the phone.
So
why?
Because
neither of them is in the country!
Well,
the president is in Azerbaijan for an important meeting on behalf of our country—but where is the prime minister?
In London, for a ridiculous event called the “Cyprus Festival,” which presents our country’s culture through Greek songs.
Well,
if you had to go, why are neither of you here?
At
least one of you could have been here.
Where is the foreign minister?
Honestly,
I was surprised too, but I think purely by chance, he was here.
I still
don’t understand how that happened!
*
Now
let’s get to the “mouse” business.
Before this event
(the Lokmacı barricade) took place—that is, before the Greeks demolished the wall—the military agreement they had made with France had become a major topic of discussion.
Look at how our president’s reaction to this event was reported in the news: “He said that the Greek Cypriot Administration of Southern Cyprus’s defense agreement with France was contrary to international law, and that the Greek side had done this by taking advantage of its EU membership.”
Now
I can’t help wondering, “Was the wall at the Lokmacı barricade demolished to cast a shadow over the military agreement with France?”
It
is impossible to say that the issue has not been overshadowed today.
Because
even those at the highest levels of the state, along with the rest of us, are still discussing the demolition of the wall at the Lokmacı barricade.
The military agreement made between France and the Greeks has been forgotten.
On the
other hand, how important is it to open the Lokmacı barricade?
On February 26,
2007, in this same column, I said that Greek guides were showing around the tourists coming to our country from the Greek side, and pointed out that Greek guides not only prevented the tourists from shopping in our country, but also kept speaking badly of us.
Now
Greek Cypriot Foreign Minister Yorgo Lillikas has said, “We’ll open eight more crossings.” Well, given the situation, of course they’ll open them.
Anyway…
I’d better
have a coffee…
See you
Friday… Be respectful in traffic!
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