There is a strange steaming concoction being brewed deep inside the political cauldrons of conspiracy. The offer on the menu today is a little island nestled at the far end of the Eastern Mediterranean. While the masterminds are vying for a good table seat, the “food tasters” are nibbling away to make sure servings are generous, evenly shared and safe for the feast to begin. Food tasters or “praegustators” have been used for centuries. Adolf Hitler had a group of slave girls as food tasters (Margot Woelk, the last remaining survivor, died last year at 96); a number of US Presidents also used them as well as Vladimir Putin, Khrushchev, including dictators and others. Lurking in the shadows, modern-day political praegustators are always in readiness to execute and test their master’s dish before the feast; today’s serving on the table is the Republic of Cyprus. The feast has been surreptitiously organized and was decided that 2015 is the year for the implementation of a new apartheid-style system: Bi-zonal, Bi-communal Federation (BBF). It took years to cultivate it to perfection but the praegustators meticulously did a splendid job; the country has finally been brought down to its knees for the final carving. In fact, everyone around the table has agreed that the Republic would become a guinea pig for the second time in two years; from the introduction of Troika’s bail-in robbery in 2013 to its fragmentation as a unitary state. Recognizing the public has finally been quashed and no longer have the inclination to resist, the timing for the feast has been decided; all the protagonists have to do is to get on with it. His Beatitude Archbishop Makarios III (1913–1977) faced a similar pressure immediately after Turkey’s invasion of Cyprus. The plot by western powers was to coerce a divide and rule pseudo-federation to partition the island. He refused, and in an interview with journalist Oriana Fallaci in 1974 revealed his inner feelings: “I cannot legalize with my own signature a situation created by the use of force. So-called realists advise me to negotiate a ‘geographical federation’ with the Turks; they say I should be less rigid. Instead of holding on to forty percent of the island, they repeat, the Turks might be content with thirty percent. So be flexible. I don’t want to be flexible.” Those two words “geographical federation” have been misconstrued ever since. Makarios recognized rewarding brute force was nothing less than criminal and simply said “No” to those who conspired to break up the 14-year-old young Republic. Just like Greece said “No” to Nazi Germany’s demand for unconditional surrender; and Churchill’s famous “we will never surrender”; like Olafur Ragnar Grimsson, the Icelandic President who also said “No” and refused to sign a Troika bailout for his country’s banks at the expense of the taxpayer; and just like the new Tsipras government who said ”No” to continuing with Troika’s austerity measures that ruined Greece. In politics, however, saying “No” demands courage and the foresight to do the right thing that very few politicians possess – especially those in Cyprus. In reality, everyone has the choice to resist, yet, the newly elected Anastasiades government did exactly the opposite; the President signed on the dotted line a few days after being elected into office. It was as if he had planned it beforehand with the praegustators to break up the Republic for political expediency. Contrary to his election promises, his pathetic excuse was – Troika put a gun to his head. Meanwhile, political conspirators have created the perfect conditions to put their plan into action; reducing the country to a pauper state was the grandest ploy of them all. Weak and vulnerable, the nation has become reliant on Troika loans and susceptible to persuasion. With a submissive government in power, the partitioning plan is now considered infallible and will not fail this time around. UN Special Advisor Espen Barth Eide has been quite positive that a deal is “more sure this year than unsure” but nobody talks about it – the public is the last to know. Restarting the bi-communal negotiations will see to it that the island will be lost forever and also lose its Hellenic identity. Instead of promoting the reunification of the Republic as one nation; one citizenship on the basis of a democratically elected government; one-man-one–vote irrespective of ethnicity, the UN and others, insist on a two self-governing cantons that bear the hallmarks of social schism and isolation. Unless Turkey removes its troops out of Cyprus, no solution is possible. Irrespective of what politicians or the EU say or do, a solution that rewards Turkey’s invasion will never work but bring about additional hardship for the little island. The media party-moguls will play a crucial role in convincing citizens that a BBF is the only viable solution; a solution based on the UN-Annan Plan rejected in a referendum in 2004 by 76% of the electorate. Evidently, the Anastasiades government will reintroduce the Annan Plan through the back door. The proposed BBF has all the elements of the old Annan Plan that the President and his party-faithful have so vigorously fought to implement but failed. Cypriots on the other hand have been quite passive in the manner of the allegory of the frogs; where they exist in a pond, ignorant of the fact that the water is gradually being heated to the point they become lethargic and no longer have the will or the strength to escape until boiled to death. Today, people find themselves in scorching deep waters without the resolve to jump out to save themselves. What is worse; a submissive nation has lost the will to resist. It is not by coincidence that western powers are now actively involved and consider it a matter of urgency to “resolve” the Cyprus problem this year. It is thought that the BBF proposal has already been agreed between the participating parties except for the fine details; that’s what the new negotiations are all about. The UN and the US, the EU, the UK, Turkey, Greece and the Cypriot government, including the Turkish Community leadership, are working hard to establish this non-existent BBF – a fancy name for partition. Citizens on the other hand are the last to know. When the time is ripe, people will be presented with a fait-accompli solution. In fact, the idea of another referendum may never happen in fear the new BBF agreement meets the same result as the ill-fated Annan Plan. Nobody wants that scenario. Actually, the referendum issue has been sidelined – or blacked out – for public debate. This indicates there is a backup plan lurking in the shadows. Under the Constitution, a President can overturn a parliamentary decision by exercising his Presidential privilege. Mr. Anastasiades has used his privileged position on numerous occasions and would do so again if required. If his BBF pet project is threatened, he could declare a parliamentary decision unconstitutional and also refuse a public referendum on the matter. Such political cunningness cannot be discounted; after all, he has broken every promise made so far. As hosts, the President and his Europhile associates have been courteous and most accommodating, leaving nothing to chance. The feast has already begun and depending on how well the “praegustators” have prepared the table settings, the guests will be well fed and will also depart with a doggy bag. Cypriots will soon be presented with a Bi-zonal, Bi-communal Federation and a new flag. One can then say “goodbye” to the Cyprus people have come to love.
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