Node Of Evil - Fair And Balanced Reporting

Friday, February 13, 2004

 
Happy day - it looks like the Cypress problem may be close to a resolution (from the New York Times). Who says Friday the 13th is bad?:



'The Turkish Cypriot leader, Rauf Denktash, and Mr. Papadopoulos committed themselves to final talks starting Feb. 19, leading to separate referendums in the north and south of the island on April 21.'

'The sides held two days of talks this week, breaking off on Wednesday, but Mr. Annan persuaded them to resume negotiations on Thursday, at 3 p.m. Twelve hours later, at 3 a.m. today, the talks ended without agreement.'

'Not to be deterred, Mr. Annan called Mr. Denktash and Mr. Papadopoulos back later this morning with the request that they either sign or reject his page-and-a-half plan for the conduct of final talks.'


I post this as an example of what patience, mediation, and a dogged pursuit of a peaceful resolution can achieve if given enough time. War tends to happen because people grow impatient. It might be for a good reason -- I wouldn't be very patient if someone stormed my country and started killing people. Nevertheless, when the two sides are seperated (as they have been in Cypress since 1974) and given time to resolve their issues (and political situations provide the right "weather" for a settlement, in this case Turkey's desire to join the E.U.) it's possible to work out the calculus and come to an agreement. It is true that this whole thing would have never happend if a quick war forced the Greeks off the island in 1974. Then again, war is much harder to recover from than a long division. So, the question for you the reader today is: as the price of all-out war declines (fiscally and in number of casualties), is it preferable to a longer period of low-intensity hostilities?


Andrew 11:48 AM : |

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