The Missing Generation(s)
Last week I took my refugee grandfather to Kyrenia, a possible last time for him to see his land. He was forced to leave this land in May 1976, a full 22 months after the 1974 invasion. We had coffee with a T/C friend and his grandfather. I talk with my T/C friend in English, but the two elders hit it off talking to each other in Greek. Surprisingly, there is no problem communicating in Greek between them. They refer to a “Traoullos” that was responsible for the troubles of both communities. I leave that without comment but they definitely agree.
44 years after what we call “Turkish Revolt” and what they call “Bloody Christmas”, 33 years after what we call “Bloody Invasion” and what they call “Peaceful Intervention”, there is very little real communication between the two main communities on the island. Even the mode of communication has changed. I speak in English to my T/C friend and there is no conceivable other way of achieving communication, now or in the future. Our grandparents, on the other hand, manage just fine in Greek while our parents probably have seen too much and are therefore probably unable to talk to each other, period.
44 or 33 years of separation, depending on who is counting, have generated a missing generation, a generation that tells its own view of events, unable to come to terms with the mistakes of the past. Unable to therefore prevent the mistakes of the future. It is not a shame to live side by side with a view of changing things in the future, what is a shame is to keep denying the events of the past, and more importantly, continue to intentionally create more missing generations by distorting the accuracy of historical events to create further converts to “The Cause”.
originally posted by Apodimos Kypreos
44 years after what we call “Turkish Revolt” and what they call “Bloody Christmas”, 33 years after what we call “Bloody Invasion” and what they call “Peaceful Intervention”, there is very little real communication between the two main communities on the island. Even the mode of communication has changed. I speak in English to my T/C friend and there is no conceivable other way of achieving communication, now or in the future. Our grandparents, on the other hand, manage just fine in Greek while our parents probably have seen too much and are therefore probably unable to talk to each other, period.
44 or 33 years of separation, depending on who is counting, have generated a missing generation, a generation that tells its own view of events, unable to come to terms with the mistakes of the past. Unable to therefore prevent the mistakes of the future. It is not a shame to live side by side with a view of changing things in the future, what is a shame is to keep denying the events of the past, and more importantly, continue to intentionally create more missing generations by distorting the accuracy of historical events to create further converts to “The Cause”.
originally posted by Apodimos Kypreos
posted by Noullis at 12:36
5 Comments:
This may be the most accurate analysis of the Cyprus problem i have ever read.
Excellent (even that word seems poor to describe this post).
Respect!
I bow for your highness.
I agree with the rest of the comments. This is truly a great analysis of the cyprob, and it gives us hope for the future...
...until you get up in the morning, tune in to 99.3 and listen to Lazaros "taliban" Mavros brainwash our grand parents, our parents, our friends, our children and our grand children...
...is all this in vain after all?
Well put , and no animosity.
After another decade, if there is no rapport in the meantime, the language of communication could well be English ('official' or not)
Unless of course we have to take Russian lessons
Next time you listen to The Taliban, remember what one of the most astute modern Greek reporters recently wrote
Alexis Papahellas on modern Greece:
Because the achievements of Greece have come from those who have looked forward, they are due to the Hellenes who dared to dream, not the Greeks who continuously whine. The modern “Macedonia-Fighters” and the numerous Mr No in Cyprus, have never won an inch of national space or national power. They are just fighting at some mythical Thermopyles, fighting against a mythical and non-existent Kissingerian ideology that simply wants to exterminate the “Hellenic Soul”. As if America or old Europe are threatened by our unique ... frappe culture, our amazing universities that threaten Oxford and Harvard, and our pop culture as epitomized by Peggy Zina….
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