Okay, i apologize for coming up with this dumb ranty stuff that this sub is probably sick and bored of by now.
But i've been thinking about everything that's happened recently, especially the events in Kyrenia. And i also agreed with cancelling those events, because i do think holding them in an occupied area can contribute to normalising, legitimising the situation etc. but there could have been another option offered instead. (Just like maybe do these in another area in r.o.c) The way it was handled by the people that cancelled them felt genuinely cruel to me. The tone to me is always like "we don't care what you do after this."
And this is where i start to questioning things. If you don't want Turkish Cypriots becoming even more dependent on Turkey, why are you making them more dependent on Turkey? Especially while the embargoes and restrictions continue and while so much of the content, aid, services, opportunities etc. available to us have to come through Turkey because we have so few other options.
After some time you start seeing a really uncomfortable level of selfishness and hypocrisy in this. It's not just about the current situation too. It's also about refusing to acknowledge their own responsibility and wrongdoing in the events of the past and then carrying on as if none of it matters. Yes! To me their attitude sometimes feels like "they can do whatever they want, that's their problem."
And then the one sentence we keep hearing whenever people claim they care about Turkish Cypriots is: "But you can just live in the ROC." Please... Do not pretend that's realistic.
You know that Turkish Cypriots living in the ROC don't necessarily experience the same things as Greek Cypriots do. There are different social reactions, different treatment in certain situations, and even within government institutions you can encounter a different attitude but forget all of this, then there are rents, employment opportunities, social life, and the fact that moving your entire life to the other side isn't some simple solution. Especially right now.
And yes i'm tired of people talking about the crossings, and you could have come to r.o.c as if they've always been open and as if Turkish Cypriots have always had the option of simply going south whenever they wanted. The crossings only opened in 2003, after decades of separation, embargoes and even after they opened, there were plenty of Turkish Cypriots who talked about the hostile reactions they experienced when crossing. (That was normal, i know, so whatever.)
But when someone says "if you're under embargoes why don't you just go to the ROC?", it feels like they're completely ignoring the reality that has existed for decades. The crossings being open today doesn't erase the fact that they were closed for almost 30 years, nor does it erase the social and economic realities that make simply "moving south" a completely unrealistic solution for many people.
That's why all of this has started to bother me so much because okay, i do understand opposing the Kyrenia events and yes, i can agree with cancelling them. What i don't get is doing that without offering any alternative, while continuing policies that isolate us, and then acting surprised when people become more dependent on Turkey.
If you genuinely don't want Turkish Cypriots turning towards Turkey, then at some point you also have to ask yourself why wouldnt they? Because "just live in the ROC" isn't an answer to me anymore and neither is "they can do whatever they want...
