GC side is not willing to cooperate with TC side
THERE are those who seek mitigating reasons why our offer to help put out the fire in South Cyprus, one of the greatest tragedies in the history of Cyprus, was ignored by the Greek Cypriot side.
While the Greek Cypriot Administration is trying to be excused for this negative and offensive attitude, the TRNC’s refusal of the Greek Cypriot side’s offer of assistance in the 1995 Five Fingers fire is used as a reference!
Well my friends, even the Greek Cypriots were clamouring when the 1995 fire surrounded the Turkish military zones.
I will say that in 1995, the Turkish side had legitimate objections. Even if it was to “help put out the fire”, it was unthinkable for Greek Cypriot intelligence to be brought into forbidden military zones, especially in the tense and critical environment of those days.
Well, what is the justified objection of the Greek Cypriot administration that does not allow Turkish aid and contribution to the tragic fire in Limassol?
There’s more . . . Not only with the tragic fire but also the global tragedy of the deadly pandemic, the Greek Cypriot side is not willing to seriously cooperate with the Turkish side, even during these days when international efforts are made to give a new impetus to find a solution to the Cyprus problem.
If the ethnic sides of Cyprus fail to show the spirit of cooperation and solidarity even in solving the island’s most tragic humanitarian problems, how will they resolve the political issue? This is the question that minds will grapple with.
Let’s get into the details of the incident. After the fire caused by carelessness in Malatya village on June 27, 1995, that spread rapidly to the Girne Five Finger Mountains due to the wind, the biggest fire disaster of our island has now hit the Limassol region in South Cyprus. And what a hit! A terrible human-made disaster that has come to the attention of the world! The heartbreaking toll of the Limassol disaster, in which four deaths were recorded and houses and nature were destroyed, has not been determined yet. Investigations continue in the fire area, in the middle of the ashes. More deaths may come from among the ashes.
The Five Finger Mountains’ fire lasted for four days and all living things on 8,069 hectares were destroyed. The fire area
was 25km long and six km wide. 5,803 hectares were forest and 2,266 hectares were agricultural land. Since then, the ecosystem’s severe wounds have still not healed. Nature is in a sad struggle to renew itself. It can never be said that we have enough sensitivity and are fullyequipped for forest fires.
Now the area on fire in South Cyprus is even bigger, 55 km2! A black square on the map of the island that can even be seen from space! An astonishingly large area considering the size of Cyprus.
An ironic similarity between that day’s disaster and today’s disaster: as the 1995 fire also included a military zone, aid was
not requested from the Greek Cypriot side. We see the Greek Cypriot Administration did not respond positively to the offer of assistance from the Turkish side with the Limassol fire. Respond? They didn’t even take it into consideration! While the TRNC and Turkey are right beside him, our next door neighbour asked for help from the EU, Greece and Israel. But the first offer of aid came from the Turkish side. And while the offer was being made, well-equipped aid teams were immediately prepared to respond. Israel was late in sending aid. One of the two fire planes from Greece turned out to be defective and was sent back through the black smoke.
Greek Cypriot Leader Nicos Anastasiades’s first assessment of the giant fire was that it was “the biggest disaster we have experienced since the 1974 invasion”.
Look at how he manipulates perception: even if it was on the occasion of a fire, he still managed to harshly refer to 1974.
The incident of 1974 was the result of their adventurous, ambitious and expansionist policies. However, today’s incident is the result of negligence. They have been explaining the extraordinary measures taken against possible fires and the amazing means they have for several days.
So where are those measures and means now? A rebel pops up and turns the world into hell. Because the “insensitive human” factor is very important. These insensitive people are roaming our island like “loose cannons”, ready to detonate a disaster at any moment – both in the South and in the North.
It should never be forgotten that every attack on the island’s nature is a mutual disaster for Cypriots.
The area we live in is a common ecosystem. Just as the 1995 Five Finger fire negatively affected the entire island’s climate and nature, the 2021 Limassol fire will have the same effect. Despite everything, this plain fact requires an inevitable cooperation between Turks and Greeks on natural and humanitarian issues. What happened is of course very tragic! A very serious warning and lesson for what could be, but . . . Get well soon Cyprus.