A triple slap in the face for our government

‘SLAP IN THE FACE’ is one of the most loved phrases of our politicians and journalists. Whenever there is a critical reference to Turkey by a foreigner they talk about the ‘slap in the face for Turkey’ and celebrate. Even a run-of-the-mill statement by a lowly-ranked diplomat is celebrated with the level of intensity that Brazilians celebrate winning a World Cup.

Nearly all the news media resort to the phrase ‘new slap in the phase for Turkey’ every time something unfavourable is said about the country, even if it is not related to the Cyprus problem in any way. A day rarely goes by without Phileleftheros carrying a report about a one or more slaps in the face for Turkey. If Turkey had actually received all the ‘slaps in the face’ that Phileleftheros has written about over the years she would have no face left, and have been more internationally isolated than Iraq was under Saddam.

This is why I have decided today to use the same phraseology in pointing out three thunderous slaps in the face we have suffered in the space of four days from various parts of the EU.

First slap in the face: in its edition of Sunday, June 4, the authoritative French newspaper Le Monde – arguably the most highly-regarded newspaper in Europe – in a report by its special correspondent, strongly criticised the Greek Cypriot side for rejecting the Annan plan and for the isolation of the Turkish Cypriots. It described the result of the parliamentary elections as a victory for the nationalists and only just stopped short of concluding that the only option left to the Turkish Cypriots was the setting up of their own state, as had happened with Montenegro.

To comprehend the intensity of this ‘slap in the face’, it should be borne in mind that in the past Le Monde was probably the most supportive newspaper of our side’s positions in the world. In the past 40 years, it had never written anything critical about the Greek Cypriots and the Cyprus government.

Second slap in the face: On the same day, June 4, a delegation of the European Parliament met with officials of the pseudo-state. Straight after, MEP Mechtild Rothe gave us ‘slaps in the face’ with both hands. “We came here to express our solidarity to the Turkish Cypriot community. We want the re-unification of the island and the socialist group in the European Parliament supports the Annan plan,” she said.

To comprehend the intensity of this ‘slap in the face’, we should bear in mind that up until 2004 Ms Rothe was one of the strongest supporters of the Cyprus government in the European Parliament and played an important role in our efforts to join the EU. She is the person who was praised to high heaven by Dr Lyssarides and Yiannakis Omirou, who often cited her contribution as an example of the help Cyprus had received from the European socialists. I suspect that the cheeks of both men are still red from the slap in the face given by their great friend.
Third slap in the face: On Wednesday, June 7, it was announced that Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat had been invited to Berlin for a meeting with the foreign minister of Germany. The Papadopoulos government, obviously disturbed by the development, expressed its dissatisfaction.

Until now, it had been the evil British and Americans that had been trying to “upgrade the pseudo-state”. Now, the Germans have been added to the list of our enemies. But Christofias and Papadopoulos can carry on boasting about their great achievement in reversing the negative climate which had been created by the rejection of the settlement in 2004.

So while we are waiting for the European solution that our political wizards will bring us, the Europeans are taking turns to give us slaps in the face, strengthening their diplomatic relations with the pseudo-state, which is gradually becoming more real. This is the greatest achievement of the AKEL-backed government.

It is peculiar that Phileleftheros did not spot any of these three ‘slaps in the face’. While it has acquired an expertise in spotting these, for the first time since 1974, four days passed without the phrase ‘slap in the face’ making an appearance in the paper.

Cyprus Mail June 2006