Esra Aygin
The tensions that flared at the Maratha and Santalaris-Aloda
cemeteries last week should serve as a wake up call for both the Turkish
Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci and Greek Cypriot leader Nicos Anastasiades, for the
urgent need for preparing the people for solution at grassroots level.
Last week, Izzet Izcan, the leader of the Turkish Cypriot
United Cyprus Party BKP and Andros Kyprianou, the leader of Greek Cypriot AKEL,
accompanied by their delegations, visited the cemeteries of Turkish Cypriot
victims of mass murders by EOKA B paramilitary organization in the Famagusta
region in 1974. Their intention was to pay respect and place flowers on the
graves. They had also visited the Constantinou and Elenis cemeteries in Nicosia
earlier that day, where Greek Cypriot civilians killed in 1974 are buried.
The well-intentioned act however, was not received well by the
families of the victims of Maratha, Santalaris and Aloda. They furiously
protested Izcan and Kyprianou, shouting slogans and accusing the party leaders
for using their dead for scoring political points. One of their biggest
complaints was that the politicians, who had not set foot there for all these
years, had not informed them about this “out of the blue” visit.
“This is so disrespectful,” shouted one man. “My
one-month-old baby lies there. Where have you been for 41 years?”
Clearly frustrated by the criticism, Izcan called the
protesters “nationalist, bigoted, fanatic and aggressive.” They were no
different from “hooligans” he added. Kyprianou said the protesters were
“blinded by hatred and fanaticism.” Both BKP and AKEL, as well as the majority
of the Turkish Cypriot media, condemned the protest with similarly insensitive
language.
This incident is clear evidence that while the Turkish
Cypriot and Greek Cypriot leaders seek to devise a settlement plan on the
table, they also urgently need a plan for actual peace and reconciliation among
the people. And the families of the victims are of the most important groups
that need to be addressed with utmost care. Hundreds of Turkish Cypriot and
Greek Cypriot civilians were killed during the inter-communal clashes in the
50s, 60s and 70s. The families of both the Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot
victims need to be taken into account and listened to in this process. They
need to feel that their pain is recognized, validated and legitimate. Peace cannot
be achieved by ignoring them, looking down on them, calling them names or
marginalizing them. This would only incite more opposition and start a new
cycle of negativity.
Doctor Christalla Yakintou, an expert on transitional
justice, who works with the Institute for Conflict, Cooperation and Security at
the University of Birmingham, UK, said the families of the victims should not
only be listened to, but should also have actual presence on the negotiation
table, if the aim is sustainable solution.
“We need to make sure that victims have a real voice at the
table. A peace agreement that ignores the voices of victims and their families
is a very fragile peace agreement,” said Doctor Yakintou, “If they are included
in the process now, it will be easier to know and address their fears – both in
the plan and afterwards. In countries where victims have not been included
meaningfully from the beginning, the peace plan has suffered from a lack of
legitimacy. Reconciliation is a multi-faced process. It is not an outcome.”
Tamer Sadanoglu, who lost his father, mother and two sisters
in the inter-communal clashes, was among the protesters at the Maratha and
Santalaris-Aloda cemeteries last week. “We also have things to say. You cannot
organize such an event without telling us and say ‘we came here for peace,’” he
told Turkish Cypriot daily Yeniduzen after the incident. “We only want a little
respect. If you keep ignoring us like this, there is no way you can reach
peace… They should have taken us into consideration and visited us beforehand. They
should have told us: ‘We are sorry; we have never come here all these years or
brought flowers to the martyrs. But now, we want to contribute to peace and
therefore, we want to visit the cemetery. But if they plan to bring peace to
Cyprus by acting like this and ignoring us, they can forget about it.”
In fact, “The worst thing you can possibly do is push
reconciliation down the throats of victims and their families,” said Yakintou.
“They have already suffered. By putting them in a situation where they feel
pressure to forgive because we want reconciliation as a society, you traumatize
them twice, and you make them victims again. Some people will forgive, and
others will carry anger. What is important is that they feel they have a space
where their stories are heard, and we have a duty to hear those stories – if
they want to share them – even if we don’t like what we hear, even if they are
angry stories. Without hearing their pain, we have no right to ask for anything.”
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