Letter from America………
To all concerned readers,
The Greek Government since 1960 has not changed its desire to have all Turkish Cypriots leave the island. The TRNC response has always been the same.
Albert Einstein said “insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”
All of the negotiations, the latest being Crans-Montana, were doomed to failure before they began. President Anastasiades cannot agree to any progress with the TRNC. An agreement would be political suicide. The Greek Cypriots who voted against the Annan Plan would vote against President Anastasiades, if he agreed with the TRNC. If he took that risk, history shows the Greek Cypriot people would vote against the Turkish Cypriots at a referendum.
President Anastasiades is not the leader of the Greek Cypriot people. He is the leader of a splinter political party. The only unifying force among the Greek Cypriots is the Archbishop.
Greek people really do not like Turks. Since 1821 only one conflict between Greeks and Turks was settled amicably. That was in 1923 at the Treaty of Lausanne. The person responsible for that success was an American, Asa K. Jennings. He is the highest decorated person in modern Greek history, and was a confidant of the Gazi, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. The feat of Jennings is explained on the Raoul Wallenberg website click here
All Cypriots need a solution that stops this chain migration of hatred. Political leaders promote hatred as a way of promoting themselves as the leaders. That type of leadership must be cast aside.
The Turkish Cypriot Government must come to the realization that the sovereign power and authority of the Greek Cypriot side of the island rests with its people and not the so-called leaders. So, President Akinci, ignore President Anastasiades and his political cronies. There will be no future investing your time, resources and attention in them.
The Gazi, who was the greatest leader Turks ever had, preached peace and prosperity. Prosperity depends on peace, and peace depends on prosperity. That is the objective of the TRNC. If this objective is ever to be achieved, the TRNC Government must focus on the sovereign of south Cyprus.
How can Greek Cypriot attitudes be changed? Turkish Cypriot drilling for gas in opposition to the Greek Cypriots just extends the conflict. That is not the ”comprehensive settlement” the Turkish Cypriot Government claims it wants. Attitudes will change when opposing peoples work to achieve shared objectives. That is when they become friends. When you create friends, you create peace and prosperity. The message is simple, but has escaped the Turkish Cypriot Government.
One of the traits that made the Gazi so special was he listened. I know for fact that all during the crisis in Izmir after the Turkish Army arrived that the Gazi listened to person after person without regard to rank or station in life about what these people had witnessed. Some of those people were the lowest level soldiers in the Turkish Army reporting personally to the Gazi. After hearing all these reports the Gazi was the best informed person, and that allowed him to make the best decisions on behalf of the Turkish people.
Who is the Turkish Cypriot Government listening to? Are they listening to anyone other than themselves or political friends:? Have they learned anything from the Gazi?
The embargo has to be broken. The UN and EU are not the friends of the TRNC. What other organization could break the embargo? Why isn’t the TRNC visiting President Trump asking for the US to take that role? President Trump does not like the UN or EU, and marches to the sound of his own drum. If approached properly, he would be the greatest supporter of the TRNC.
Once the US breaks the embargo, other countries will follow that lead. Commercial trade will increase, and the Turkish Cypriot economy will get stronger.
Next, there are many ways for the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot people to work together. Natural gas is in the future of all Cypriots. The Greek proposal to sell your precious resource on the world market is crazy. Do you want to be forced to sell at the lowest world prices dictated by large producers like Russia, Azerbaijan and Iran?
The smart approach for all of Cyprus is to convert gas to higher value products like synthetics, fertilizer, paint and cosmetics. These are products used in Turkey, Greece and all over the world. Converting gas to these products would create jobs that pay higher wages than many Cypriots earn today. If the products are made in both north and south Cyprus with Turkish Cypriots working alongside Greek Cypriots, friendship will be created The leader of the Greek Cypriots, the Archbishop, will support any changes that create a better life for the Greek Cypriot people. He is not held hostage by votes or political parties. That is just the beginning.
There is so much more that could be done to unify all Cypriots, and the religious communities will support this progress.
It is time for the TRNC to take its lessons from the Gazi, and offer the Turkish Cypriots a new opportunity.
Yours sincerely
Roger L Jennings
Editors note:
Roger L Jennings is the grandson of Asa K Jennings.
To read more of ASA K Jenning click here.
