Redux
Every journey circles home
The remark by Tufan Erhürman that “we do not need to ask anyone to visit a school in Karpasia” reminded me of a family trip years ago, when an uncle came over from England and we all piled into cars to drive to Yialousa to visit the houses we lost in 1974.
A Turkish officer was living in my aunt’s house. She, tiny but very dynamic, did not pause at the doorway, she strode straight in. “I’m going inside to show them the rooms. It is me, I have come here before. It is my house,” she told the woman now living there with calm, cold certainty. The woman could have slammed the door in our faces or called to have us arrested. Instead, after a brief pause, she said, “Go on, no one is sleeping.” In other words, I am letting you. In that moment, she handed my aunt something more than permission. She handed her the key to reality.
Nor does Erhürman need to ask anyone to do something in the occupied areas because he occupies them. He was not provocative, he did not say, for example, “we do as we please on our estate.” Although he could have. He stated a reality.
We are still angry about the Turkish occupation, and we are angry about how it is worded. No one likes bitter truths. And it is precisely these truths that those who want to divide rather than unite our small country exploit.
Current developments around the Cyprus issue show clearly the systematic attempts to undermine the prospect of a solution under the guise of patriotism. Far-right ELAM calls for closing the crossing points to prevent us from being “wiped out” by the supposed foot and mouth threat. But true patriotism is not about clinging to fear or maintaining a narrative against all logic. It is about protecting your country, caring for its people, and being ready to cooperate even when it is uncomfortable.
Refusing to cross even one checkpoint while imagining that the Republic of Cyprus stops at Kyrenia is not resistance. It is a denial of reality. It is also a denial of reality to claim that the solution, for the Cyprus problem or foot and mouth disease, can be found at a checkpoint rather than across all farms or castles throughout Cyprus on both sides.
Reality is what we live. It requires cooperation, not slogans. Help when you need it, ten thousand doses of vaccine against foot and mouth disease from north to south, through the bicommunal technical committee is a correct step, regardless of whether we requested it or it was offered to us. Neither fires nor diseases recognise borders. Nor do animals. Nor everyday life.
The meetings between Nikos Christodoulides and Tufan Erhürman can produce tangible results that convince people of their intentions. Intentions will indeed be seen at the checkpoints, small steps of enormous importance, real ones.
That is why, Mr President, stay here. At this stage, the UN Secretary General, António Guterres, is not needed. Even if you write to reassure him of your good intentions what is truly needed is work. The difficult part is to remain where there is ground, roll up your sleeves, and focus on the practical measures that improve people’s lives. Both leaders should insist on "here", in the here and now. Only then, perhaps, they will be ready to sit at the negotiating table.