‘Ungrateful’ Cypriots
Bypassing the fact that the Annan plan would not have guaranteed a workable and viable united Republic of Cyprus but an insecure client state, fierce supporters of the UN blueprint in Athens continue to assail the 76 percent of Greek Cypriots who voted against the plan. Their attacks come thick and fast: «What do Greek Cypriots eventually want? If they don’t want a settlement they should say so. The ‘no’ vote will get us into trouble. What else do they expect from Greece? Perhaps, we should say ‘enough’ to the Greek Cypriots…» Those most indignant at the rejection of the Annan plan – politicians, commentators, journalists and celebrated TV personalities – are trying to penalize Greek Cypriots for their rejection of the plan and tarnish the image of Cyprus President Tassos Papadopoulos. Their argument is that since Greece, their motherland, helped the island to join the EU, it has done its duty to Greek Cypriots, compensating them for the tragic blunders that led to the 1974 disaster. As a result, they say, the Greek Cypriots should stop bugging Greece. But unfortunately, critics say, that’s exactly what they have done by rejecting the settlement. Those who attack the «ungrateful» Greek Cypriots do not seem worried by the perilous, cautious ambiguity (if not incoherence) of the Annan plan, which envisages a non-state, hostage to Turkey – all in the service of Ankara’s EU aspirations. They are not worried at the prospect of a fresh Cyprus tragedy sparked by the latent deadlocks in the proposed solution. All they want, it seems, is a patchwork solution that would rid Greece of a big headache, regardless of whether this threatens to plunge Cyprus into new tragedy. At least those who thought it hard to sell the Cyprus issue to the public have been proved wrong.
