It's easy for us to judge politicians quickly and say they are corrupted, greedy etc. Without saying they are not, the Cyprus problem due to its idiomorphous nature is impossible to solve without taking into account the foreign interests and other factors that influence the decision of our "leaders". Unfortunately personal interests are also taken into account. I find that the president's approach for solution "by Cypriots for Cypriots" may sound good but let's be honest here..it's not realistic.
I also think that the rotating presidency is wrong as i strongly believe that the president should not be dependent on its ethnicity but nationality(Cypriot). Do we always want the president to be elected based on his ethnicity? I understand that this is an effort to gain the trust of the T/c but don't we see that this in the long term is wrong? I would support this only if it had an expiry date, say in 25 years from now. This way we would all work towards a better united Cyprus rather than distinguishing its people to Turks or Greeks in every layer of the society.
I also don't agree with the large number of turkish settlers to remain on the island. It may sound harsh but yes the illegal settlement is considered a war crime and should be treated like one. How is the settlement that Turkey imposed all of a sudden became our problem? They put those people there(maybe not their option) and they(Turkey)knew the risks. Why should the Cypriot refugee pay the price again of not being able to use his land or property to his own will due to the Turkish plans of colonising the occupied areas? Turkey should take full responsibility of their actions on this issue.
Again, i understand that trying to establish a federal solution would require a set of measures to ensure that this is maintained fair and just for both, Greek and Turkish Cypriots. Maybe i'm thinking ahead of my time but if we want to ensure the unity maybe we should also be considering measures on how this federation could evolve in 20 or 30 years time. Times change, situations change...the cyprus issue has remained unchanged for half a century now. Compromises are to be made from both but this is not to sacrifice the human rights. A solution should be built on these human rights.

Thank you.

Kyriacos, bravo!
but it gives me no pleasure to say your comment was spot on. Those on either side that have the power and perks and their nose in the trough are only concerned that they want to hold onto them come hell or high water, whatever the cost, even partition, which of course would be a victory for the fat cats on both sides, not the refugees from Famagusta or crumbling Varosha.

Antifon
Your last sentence regarding an alternative is no alternative.
The crucial question all Cypriots must ask is "what the hell are our politicians doing for the PEOPLE of our country"?
If you were to go to the cease fire line and watch the traffic of greek speakers and turkish speakers going in either direction without animosity you would ask yourself why is it so hard to move forward together?
Or are the previously mentioned words of Harold MacMillan uttered in another age over fifty years ago about to haunt you?

think about this....if you told me you wanted to be my friend, and we could be buddies, but kept kicking my dog - would i trust you?

I would like to know what business interests some of these politicians have, what parts of Cyprus their interests are in, and whether it would effect their pockets if a solution is found?

I would not be surprised if some of the GC politicians,their families and friends have too much to loose with a solution to the Cyprus problem! The biggest problem we have is greed and corruption and if these issues amongst other are not addressed first we can never move forward.

I have always said that what ever party comes into power they are the same here in Cyprus. They look after their own first and if there are any crumbs left over they might give them out, but most of the time they also keep the crumbs for themselves, family and friends.

Why don't our politicians stop blaming each other and unite for if our politicians can not unite over such a common cause as solving the Cyprus problem how can the Cypriots become united over a common cause as the solution and a United Cyprus when they are putting borders between their own people? Come on which other country will distinguish what political party you belong to only by seeing what make of beer and coffee one drinks or which football team one supports, very sorrowful state of affairs we have here in Cyprus.

SADLY GREED AND CORRUPTION IS THE ORDER OF THE DAILY LIFE IN CYPRUS AND OUR POLITICIANS BLAMING EACH OTHER FOR WHAT GOES WRONG IN DAILY LIFE OR TRYING TO SOLVE THE CYPRUS PROBLEM!

It looks like once again Cyprus will never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity!
There needs to be a wake up call to all the nationalists of EDEK/DIKO/UBP/DP - the status quo of non-solution will have to come to an end. Turkey wants in to the EU, and Greece wants a thaw in relations with Turkey.

We will either have a united Cyprus based on a bi-communal federation, or we will have permanent partition. DIKO and the hardliners are attacking the talks, Downer et al because they really want permanaent partition of our island. They can't say so of course, but making impossible demands makes it more likely.

This week wealmost saw the collapse of the Northern Ireland settlement, but Sinn Fein and the DUP compromised to keep it on track. I want to go back home to a united Cyprus, but I feel our small-minded politicians will prevent me from doing so.