Peter Droussiotis, as President of the National Federation of Cypriot Organisations in the UK,www.cypriotfederation.org.uk introduces Rudi Vis Member of Parliament.
Thank you Peter - I am going to Cyprus at the end of August and at the end of August we will be meeting the new President and we will be hearing whatever he has to tell us and of course I look forward to that, and I have always believed ... (interruption)
The first point has been mentioned and its been stressed - and that is that there is a beter relation now between your President and the Prime Minister here, and that's good and the Memorandum of Understanding has been mentioned several times. And I was listening to your President here [of the National Federation of Cypriot Organisations in the UK], Peter, and congratulations on becoming the President, and you have outlined the issues.
Now if we want, as the previous speaker was so positive - if we want to be positive we can be positive. But lets just be a bit honest with ourselves about our positivism - because I go back, and I listen to Peter, and I hear the issues. How much have we actually gained on any of these issues?
That is the question we ought to ask ourselves. And if we then say there is such a very good relationship between President Christofias and Mr Talat - what have these study groups and working groups actually delivered so far - very very little.
And I go back, and you go back far further than I, you sort of think, well there was Mr Clerides at one stage and there was Mr Denktash at one stage and of course Mr Clerides gave in and in and in to find a solution. Did he ever get anything back? Never, never.
And one of the things, and I'll come back to that in a moment, which worries me if a solution IS found, that worries me really if a solution is found, Now, we know the issues, but the issue is not between Mr Christofias and Mr Talat. The issue is Turkey, and lets not bury our heads in the sand, its Turkey, and I don't trust Turkey.
Alan and I have been for eleven years - not Turkish Cypriots, no no, no problem with Turkish Cypriots - Alan and I have been for eleven years on the Council of Europe and the Western European Union and we meet there roughly speaking three months of the year, to various meetings. I have never in those eleven years seen any Turk from any Turkish government, any spokesperson from Turkey give in one inch on any issue whatsoever.
And I don't think that Mr Talat is necessarily as influential with Turkey as Mr Denktash was because Mr Denktash actually was at one stage one of the most popular persons in Turkey and he wasn't even a Turkish person himself, he was a Turkish Cypriot.
Now I mentioned to you that the issue that worries me, when a solution is found, is the issue of money, the issue of resources - you will have a House of Representatives, in that House of Representatives you have 50% Greek Cypriots, and as it is alleged 50% Turkish Cypriots and they are going to sort it out between themselves. Of course, many of these 'Turkish Cypriots' may well be Turks because you can walk from Turkey into Cyprus and you can become a Turkish Cypriot in next to no time. Who guarantees what. Who guarantees that actually we have a system when that House of Representatives were to exist properly, that we have Cypriot people fighting for Cypriot issues as Cypriots see it? And I don't trust that. I don't trust that system at all, and that was of course one of the things that Mr Clerides gave in to Mr Denktash so many years ago, I think it was 1975 or 1976. It was very much in the early part of it.
And then of course we have these discussions, and when we had number 5, of the 5 stages that we went through with these discussions [Of the Annan Plan process], and 5 was wholly and totally unacceptable - I say where have all the UN resolutions gone? They were good, where have they gone? I don't see them, they are not being discussed any longer and I think that is a major error in the negotiations that are taking place.
And let me finish by saying - I can see only one solution and that is a solution ny which all the parties in Cyprus - not in the UK, because of course our relations weren't all that good until about a year ago- not in the UK, not in the United States, not in the UN, not in Turkey certainly not in Turkey that's the last thing we need - that the solutions must be found by Cypriots themselves. No outside interference and if they are happy with the solution, although what has to be put into a solution has to be fine for all sides, I know that - if they can find a solution, if they can live with it, if they can see a future in that, then I give that a chance. But at the moment Turkey is very much in the equation and I'm therefore not as optimistic as previous speakers may have been.
Thank you.
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Actually who cares where he's from,i liked his speech! Well done my man! =D Totally agree with you!
we hate the stupid turks!
GreekDestination 2 years ago
Where on Earth is that man from?
GreekDestination 2 years ago
Rudy Vis is the best, dunno who he is but I like him!
22poopoo 2 years ago