The other day, Hasan Erçakıca, spokesperson for the Presidency, was my guest on Öğlen Ajansı. Part of this interview appeared in the Star Kıbrıs Newspaper.
But there were some issues in the details of our conversation that...
One thing I was curious about was how the remarks our President had made in recent weeks, and which had drawn serious criticism, were affecting the negotiating table.
“Were the words our President had spoken really weakening our hand?” and “Were the Greek Cypriots using these words at the table to serve their own interests?”
Mr Erçakıca had the answers to these questions!
And he answered them...
Mr Erçakıca interprets statements by the President such as “we do not have the luxury of withdrawing from the negotiations!” and “29+ had been accepted” as an assessment of the situation and a reflection of reality. He says that the Greek Cypriots are using these words at the table—not directly, perhaps, but indirectly.
Looking at the matter through straightforward logic, it is hard not to criticize the President!
We could criticize our President in a fit of anger, saying, “If that’s the case, Mr President, why are you giving the Greek Cypriots ammunition?”
But there is another question here—or, in fact, something strange!
Don’t you think our President knows that the Greek Cypriots could use his words in this way?
Then why does he say them?
There are two answers:
1) The President wants our hand to be weak.
2) He wants the Greek Cypriots to think they have leverage.
Since the irrationality of the first answer is plain as day, let’s try to work out the second.
Why would the President want the Greek Cypriots to think that?
What does this effect prompt the Greek Cypriots to do?
The answers to these questions are also hidden in Mr Erçakıca’s words!
In a press interview last week, Mr Erçakıca said that the Greek Cypriots were coming to the table with unbelievable proposals.
Yes, our President’s words are prompting the Greek Cypriots to make nonsensical and unbelievable offers, and this is actually putting them in a difficult position.
Indeed, Mr Erçakıca summed up the situation this way on my program: “The UN and EU officials we have discussed these Greek Cypriot demands with consider them nonsensical.”
Mr Erçakıca doesn’t say so outright, but it seems that a tactic is at play here...
With his words, the President is making the Greek Cypriots complacent, and that complacency is leading them to make mistakes.
By the way, you may describe this analysis as “very illogical”!
But if that’s how you see it, do you think the first possibility is any more logical?
If you say “yes,” then “May God grant you patience!”
Cyprus’s Solution Model: A “Marriage of Convenience” Throughout my interview with Mr Erçakıca, his words gave me the impression that the Greek Cypriots were doing just about everything to prevent a solution. (Given the Turkish side’s tactic, it could hardly be otherwise.)
I shared this impression with him at the end of the program.
He also said, “Even if that were the case, a solution is essential!”
The only thing that came to mind at that moment was a “marriage of convenience.”
After all, there are two communities here that do not love each other and do not want to unite, but have to unite for the sake of their interests...
I couldn’t help calling this union a “marriage of convenience”; naturally, I said it out loud...
Although Mr Erçakıca initially objected to this comparison, it didn’t take long to convince him.
In the end, he too came to the conclusion that Cyprus’s solution model could only be a “marriage of convenience”...
Do you think these young people can get married?
Until Tuesday, I hope...
Be mindful of your surroundings, keep them clean, and please be courteous in traffic!