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| Picture from Ilkostur |
Who wants to return to North Cyprus?
Fevzi Hussein remembers his fond holidays as a young boy and the current
reality, as he weighs up the prospects of returning back to his parents roots.
I remember those holidays so fondly.
School would break up in mid to late July and within a few days we would be off
to beautiful Cyprus to spend the whole of the summer holidays there. What more
could any child want? The place was heavenly. The food fresh, lush and cheap.
The 'Bostan' beach was a short drive away with golden sands and you could walk
out far into the sea knowing the water would not go above your knees. There was
no sign of those themed hotels which now blight the landscape in Bafra. It was beautiful.
Fast forward 25 to 30 years and some
things have changed, many others haven't. The embargoes have had a crippling
effect on the economy. Most businesses struggle to make ends meet and I wonder
how many are having to throw the towel in and wind-up? Debt is serviced by more
debt and I suspect suicide rates are worryingly high. The failure to regulate almost
everything has seen record high cancer levels amongst the locals, which are
allegedly caused by toxins, which populate the air from certain outlets... Making matters worse is the unregulated produce which undoubtedly will impact negatively on people's health.
North Cyprus is a beautiful place to
go. There is no doubt about this. However, I have gone from wishing I could
move out there as soon as possible to now knowing this will never happen. As
someone who has been in the lobbying game for a decade or so, I have had to
close my eyes and ignore a lot of the incompetence that is common place. I have a theory which many people support and this is that circa 5% of
the population in the north control 80% of the wealth and it simply is not in
their interests to allow a solution to come to North Cyprus. They are doing
very well indeed from the status quo.
There is irony galore in North Cyprus.
In the midst of the embargoes, I was advised recently that a Porsche showroom has recently sprouted up in
Girne, which is interesting to see, but kinda smashes the lobby groups stance
that the embargoes are impacting on the economy. Of course we know this to
be untrue, as the embargoes on flying direct, trading directly with the EU, the ban
on academia and much more plays a huge part in the detriment to the lives of Turkish
Cypriots and others who have an interest in North Cyprus.
One thing that really worries me now
is the lack of stability in the region. The Islamic State (IS) continues to make
progress just a few miles across the water from Cyprus. As air strikes are now
being carried out against IS, and I suspect these are launched using bases in Cyprus, I am genuinely worried that an
escalation is not out of the question and I hope I am totally wrong with my
observations.
Most Cypriots live in hope that a
solution will come to this island. I am one of those. In the decades gone, proposal
after proposal has come before the leaders and regrettably, both sets of leaders have rejected these; If my memory is correct some 13 such proposals
have been turned down by Greek Cypriot leaders, with 1 proposal turned down by
the Turkish Cypriots (one proposal was rejected by both parties). The current hydrocarbon finds in the Mediterranean is an
interesting development which has caught the attention of President Obama and
this may be pivotal in forcing the two sides to finally put their differences
to one side. Then again pigs might fly.
So, my ramblings for now come to an
end until my next piece.... By all means go to our beautiful country for a
holiday but you would need your head examined if you want to move back there to
live (if this is not for retirement purposes). Job prospects are bleak - the
economy is vulnerable and has been for a long time. The youth continue to leave
the island in droves as there are no real job prospects. There is still
military service so anyone with a male son will have to go through the pain and
fear of seeing their son subjected to a potentially very difficult two years in
the army.
Cyprus has much to offer. Its beauty
knows no bounds but sadly the pull to live there on a permanent basis, for me
anyway, is a complete no-no. I love my family dearly and will always go
out to see them but I think this is where I draw the line. I am sure many
people will agree with me, many people equally will disagree. What is it you
love so much about Cyprus? What really winds you up about Cyprus?
Fevzi can be followed on Twitter @fevzihussein
