What will you do for a settlement?
February 14, 2010

WAVERING between opinions and action, it has become common to hear Cypriots make demands for a settlement to their national question from their government and outside powers, but it is rare to witness one ask what one can do for Cyprus to help achieve a solution to the national question….

This approach has haunted every peace process since they began. But this week a senior politician and DISY MEP Ioannis Kasoulides set a lustrous example for others to follow when he offered to give up his European Parliament seat to a Turkish Cypriot if we reach a Cyprus settlement.

“As soon as there is a settlement, I am ready to resign and offer my seat to a Turkish Cypriot to take it if we are in a period between elections,” announced Kasoulides in an interview this week with Turkey’s Zaman newspaper.

Politically, Kasoulides’ move can be interpreted in many ways. Could it be that he knows there is no chance of a solution, hence an offer that is politically risky but not going to happen? Or perhaps in the event of a solution being reached, Kasoulides is aiming to secure his candidacy for President of the United Federal Republic of Cyprus? All politicians have to be opportunistic to some degree to advance in their career.

But whatever the case may be, cynicism will not serve anybody.

First, it cannot be overlooked that his act is completely voluntary and that he is the only Cypriot MEP to offer his seat to a Turkish Cypriot to date. Turkish Cypriots have been demanding that the two MEP seats which belong to Turkish Cypriots are given to the community to represent itself in the EU – now that demand may be met.

Other MEPs have remained irresolute over the issue. Second, Kasoulides’ timing is crucial. As if aimed at supporting the talks, by sending a message to Turkish Cypriot community, his gesture is a small one in the context of the unity talks but immense in goodwill terms. It is immense because it a gesture by a right-wing politician, which is rare in Cyprus. In Cyprus, there has long been a wide gap between left and right politics, both unable to work together, while smaller parties and people are pushed to negative positions.

Despite being a stalwart supporter of the talks, Kasoulides is from DISY, a political party which was at one time identified with hard line nationalists who would rather break skulls than break bread with their fellow citizens.

The party, however, has transformed into something of a respectable European Christian Democrat Party that is now pro-solution and conciliatory towards Turkish Cypriots. DISY’s Katie Clerides has done great work across the divide for years and DISY leader Nicos Anastassiades took the first step to reach out to the Turkish Cypriot National Unity Party (UBP), whose modernisation still has a way to go.

Finally, Kasoulides is in opposition, where all too often it is easier to sit back do nothing or attack the AKEL-led government; complain loudly about everything including the peace talks. Although both part of the administrations south and north, DIKO, EDEK and UBP to date have not been as actively supportive of resolving our national question as all these parties could be.

We await the progressives and moderates in these parties to lead the way… But DISY has been supportive of the unity talks led by left-wing Cypriot leaders from AKEL and CTP and arguably AKEL could not have gone as far as it has without DISY’s support in the National Council.

However, perhaps the most crucial point of Kasoulides’ offer was neither the offer itself nor its political meaning but the mere invitation to shift the paradigm way of thinking it is proposing. On a wider, non-political scale, we are used to making demands as Cypriots.

It is after all an aspect of the unity talks between Demetris Christofias and Mehmet Ali Talat and one which Cypriot politicians, lawyers and experts refer to as a point of reference all the time. But the offer by Kasoulides of his seat, whether a political stunt or not, puts the JF Kennedy call out to everybody: ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country.

It is a way of thinking most are unaccustomed to and one Cypriots ought to consider seriously. In the search for a shared solution to a shared problem, the peace process requires such an approach and mode of thinking, and the good will it will generate to bless the process.

We’ll close down all the clubs in Cyprus
January 8, 2010

CLUB OWNERS yesterday threatened to close down all establishments and lay off staff over the smoking ban. At a meeting in Limassol, the Cyprus Club Owners Association said they were prepared to take drastic measures, including challenging the smoking ban, which came into effect on January 1, in court.

 “Both on an individual basis and as an association we will definitely be going to the Courts for justice. We have decided to suggest an amendment to the law allowing for exceptions to the smoking ban to small clubs, so that owners themselves can decide what rules their establishment will follow and obtain a relevant licence,” said Fanos Leventis, the association’s president following the ad hoc meeting in Limassol.

Yesterday’s meeting was initially organised as a gathering of the district branch of the association, but club owners from all over Cyprus flocked to Limassol to discuss the problems they face following the implementation of the smoking ban. Approximately 80 individuals attended the meeting that took place in a volatile atmosphere, with club owners expressing their desperation at the state of affairs. “We have enough power in our hands to convince those people who have not yet comprehended the serious problems created by the law and I am certain that they will hear what we have to say,” said Leventis. Leventis did not rule out the possibility of a general close-down of clubs throughout the island, while announcing that club owners will have to lay off staff.

 “Even if we don’t implement a general close-down measure, clubs are in danger of closing as customers are frustrated and complaining. As for firing staff, this is not a threat but a necessity for the survival of our businesses,” he said. The next meeting of the association has been set for