Η πεντηκονταετηρίδα της Κυπριακής Δημοκρατίας και οι ιδεολογικές προϋποθέσεις της συμφωνίας των δύο κοινοτήτων

Abstract

This study attempts a comprehensive evaluation of the fifty-year history of the Republic of Cyprus (1960-2010). It stresses the historical significance of the attainment of independence in 1960 and points to the two most important achievements of the period, i.e. first, the survival of the state and the economy and the preservation of the sovereignty of Cyprus as an independent state following the disaster of 1974; and second, accession to the European Union in 2004. It is also pointed out that the most serious failure took place in connection with the construction of a unitary political community in independent Cyprus, in which the Turkish Cypriot community would have been integrated. Concerning the preconditions of an agreement between the two main ethnic communities of Cyprus it is stressed that the critical factor is the exercise of responsibility by political leadership in both communities. It is also underlined that it is necessary to promote in the island large-scale ideological reconciliation through the mutual recognition and respect of the multiple identities that define present-day social reality in Cyprus. Ideological reconciliation will provide the means to transcend the dialectic of intolerance which has tormented and continues to torment the politics of the island.