In her attempt to impose order within her party, the president of DISY invoked the well-being of Cyprus: “…if we care about our Cyprus, less should be said, or whatever belongs to the past should stay there.”
Similarly, the Minister of Defence did the same when asked about the crisis in the National Guard as revealed through the letter of the Deputy Chief. He characterised the legitimate question posed to him as “sacrilege to the memory of our heroes.”
“Today is a day of honour, self-reflection, and silence, and any further words today are sacrilege to the memory of our heroes,” he said somewhat grandiosely.
And while that day—at the memorial service for former National Guard Chief Evangelos Florakis and the four officers who died when their helicopter crashed 22 years ago in the Paphos district—may have been an inappropriate time for such a reference, what about the following days?
Naturally, all these days in July are days of mourning and memorials, but life goes on, and in life, there are many other issues besides the unresolved Cyprus problem, which as long as it remains unsolved, can be invoked as an alibi for any uncomfortable issues that arise.
Indicative is the response of the then Minister of the Interior, Nikos Nouris, when asked about the revelations by Al Jazeera following the broadcast of the related report.
“At a time when Cyprus is threatened and fighting an important political battle against Turkey’s expansionist ambitions, when our country is threatened with targeted and organised demographic alteration through directed migratory flows, the state news network Al Jazeera, based in a country known for its pro-Turkish positions and which recently supported Turkey’s economy with 15 billion dollars, attempts to harm the Republic of Cyprus with distorted and misleading information.”
The facts mentioned by the former minister are true, but nonetheless, the passport issue was also a reality and could not be justified by the occupation and Turkey’s expansionist ambitions.
However, many times over the years, over the decades, the Cyprus issue has been used to cover up problems and divert attention elsewhere.
Whether consciously or unconsciously, the Cyprus issue has served and continues to serve, on the one hand, as an alibi for politicians and, on the other hand, as an excuse for the lack of modernisation of the state.
It is indeed a priority, but at the same time, many other issues require solutions. We cannot invoke it forever and for everything if we truly care about Cyprus.