MY PROPOSAL: LET'S DISMANTLE IT AND REUNITE...
(Publication Date: January 10, 2007)
The bridge at the
Lokmacı barricade was being dismantled around the time this article was written.
The arguments swinging back and forth
over whether the bridge should be removed or not had, like everyone else, worn me out too...
As these arguments
were taking place, the essence of the issue, the history of the barricade, what would happen if the bridge were removed, and so on were constantly being discussed.
While these arguments, which I
tried to stay as far away from as possible, were going on—and they are still being debated— I always tried to follow the issue from the sidelines.
I have made some observations
over the course of events so far...
In these observations, when I
approached the issue specifically in terms of the bridge, I divided the arguments into three parts in my own way.
Introduction...Development...Conclusion...
***
I see no point in
rewriting the Introduction and Development here. So I will start with the conclusion.
Conclusion:
The other day, Presidential Spokesperson Hasan Erçakıca announced that practical work to remove the overpass built to allow crossings between the two sides in the Lokmacı area would begin. And the work is continuing as I write.
A news report that has just reached me
sums up what I had been planning to write about the conclusion.
The report
again quotes Presidential Spokesperson Hasan Erçakıca, and the spokesperson says the purpose of all these efforts is to create new opportunities for the Turkish Cypriot people and the Greek Cypriot people to meet, and to improve the situation in Cyprus. Erçakıca says, “This is the main effort of President (Mehmet Ali) Talat and of the Turkish side as a whole, and it seems this effort will go unanswered.”
There is a point that Erçakıca, who
is now saying the effort will go unanswered (as the bridge is being removed), has missed.
First of all, Mr. Erçakıca, whose spokesperson are you?
Our President's.
Yet
when our President said the bridge should be removed, he had already said that removing it would not achieve anything, and that the Greek Cypriots would put forward other conditions.
In that
case, either Mr. Erçakıca missed this statement, or Mr. President forgot what he had said earlier; of course, he did not forget!
With the outcome
so obvious, I think the reason the Presidency insisted on this matter is the issue of “who has the authority” that emerged while the bridge debate was developing.
In a way, it
has become a show of strength.
But
what would the outcome have been if the issue had not been made so complicated—that is, if it had not become such a major subject of debate?
The outcome
would have been the same.
Because
it seems that our President, whom we trust to be very well-intentioned, still thinks that the world will put pressure on the Greek side thanks to our well-intentioned initiatives.
The question we
constantly ask ourselves—Why can't we come together? Why don't we consult someone who knows?—as I think about it now, I believe the answers lie in political identities, put forward from the very top, taking precedence.
That is,
the reason we as a community cannot come together is that our politicians cannot “unite” on national issues either.
Yet
couldn't our President have consulted First President Rauf Denktaş, who has far more experience with matters of this kind, including this one?
Could this
coming together not have brought the community together?
The First
President today makes a statement that puts the sensitivities of the community and the interests of the country first, saying, “The bridge issue has been resolved without anyone being hurt.
Therefore, we should not make it any bigger.”
Now,
for those eager to label me a Denktaş supporter, a no-voter, one of this faction or that, and so on, let me say this: This is exactly what I mean. We must stop immediately labeling people as yes-voters, no-voters, one of this faction or that. We have seen that these divisions, left over from the debates over the Annan Plan, benefited no one.
For this
reason, we should put an end to the time when political parties profit from reviving these divisions.
This can
only be possible through the goodwill shown by the President, who stands above politicians, or by our civil society organizations, as I mentioned just now.
I would like to state in advance that I will support any initiative formed on this issue.
See you
Friday… Be respectful in traffic!
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