Speech #1090180421

Since 1974 the little nation of Cyprus has suffered immensely. All the more remarkable then that Cyprus has taught the world the lesson of how to endure difficult circumstances with uncommon grace. dignity. strength. and commitment to humane values. Notwithstanding the horrors 200.000 Greek Cypriot refugees suffered in 1974. Cyprus remained a democracy. and it rebuilt itself into the prosperous European Union state of today. Cyprus did not wallow in selfpity. as so many other nations have in similar circumstances. Cyprus did not flaunt its refugees or make them a spectacle for political propaganda purposes. Former Foreign Minister lacovou once told me a powerful anecdote in this regard. He said that. in the wake of the war. one Cypriot official wrote a memo to President Makarios urging that the refugees be kept in camps with only the most basic of amenities. this. he said. would create a weight on the conscience of the world and would boost the Greek Cypriot case in the court of international opinion. But President Makarios was too wise for that. He wrote back that the worst thing Cypriots could do is to compromise the wellbeing of our own people for the sake of propaganda. that. he said. would only heap indignity upon their suffering and would be a derogation of the governments obligation to its own. In almost no time. Cypriot resourcefulness had achieved the rehabilitation of the refugees. and refugee neighborhoods were virtually indistinguishable from others. at least to others. Cypriots long for the healing of their nation. but they lead creative and productive lives every single day. Thanks to Makarioss farsightedness. Cyprus is today a dynamic and thriving European state. instead of a benighted thirdworld backwater. Would that the Palestinians had had a Makarios of their own. instead of an Arafat. How different the Palestinian refugee situation might be today. I stand second to nobody in my desire to see a peaceful settlement of the Cyprus crisis and to see the breathtaking island of Cyprus fully reunited under one government. I also deeply respect the efforts my good friend Kofi Annan made toward that end.