To forget is an art that must be practiced in advance. To be able to forget always depends upon how one remembers.
Søren Kierkegaard, Rotation of the Crops (1843)
The Glossary:
A few days ago, the OSCE (Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe) issued a document entitled ‘Words that Matter: A Glossary for Journalism in Cyprus.’ This was written by four journalists, two Greek Cypriots and two Turkish Cypriots and was supervised by an international expert, the President of the Ethical Journalism Network. It was financed by Germany and the Netherlands through the OSCE FOM (Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe Freedom of the Media) project entitled the ‘Cyprus Dialogue.’ In the publication’s foreword, the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Harlem Désir, noted that it is a ‘glossary of alternatives to negative words and phrases’ which aims to ‘promote the sharing of stories and experiences and, eventually, to help ease tensions.’ Both the Representative and the international expert of the project underlined that this glossary is not about political correctness and that journalists should remain free.
The glossary contains just over 50 words which are used by the Greek Cypriot or Turkish Cypriot media and are considered by the drafters to be potentially problematic. The glossary contains an explanation of the alleged problematic nature and suggests an alternative word or words in approximately three-quarters of cases.
As an example, let us take the words Pseudo-Government/So-called Government/ "Government":
Explanation of problematic nature: ‘There is a Turkish Cypriot view that these phrases or the use of inverted commas demonstrates political bias. They are used to delegitimize Turkish Cypriots, their administration, representatives and leaders. They believe they were obliged to establish their own administrative structures to organize the life of Turkish Cypriots after the suspension of power-sharing provisions of the Republic of Cyprus constitution and that until a political solution is achieved they have no other alternative but to live in this state.’
Alternative: Turkish Cypriot administration
In the majority of words, such as the one above, the explanation of problematic or sensitive usage resulted from the offence caused to the ‘other’ community (in most cases offence caused to Turkish Cypriots). In only a handful of the words (such as the use of the word ‘hero’) did the issues of negative stereotyping and incitement to discrimination or hatred constitute the motivation for amending language and, subsequently, rhetoric. On a practical level, this is quite bizarre given that predominantly, due to linguistic differences, the two communities considered in the glossary do not actually have much contact with each others’ media forums.
As examples of words for which alternatives were not found, let us take the words ‘Invasion’ and ‘Occupation’:
Invasion:
Many Turkish Cypriots view this term as offensive and controversial when used to describe the Turkish military operation in 1974. They believe that this term takes no account of Turkey’s right to intervene under the Treaty of Guarantee and, further, diminishes the fact that the operation happened in response to a Greek-backed military coup that overthrew the elected president of the Republic of Cyprus and had the intention of uniting Cyprus with Greece.
Occupation:
There is a Turkish Cypriot view that this term is offensive and controversial when used to describe the Turkish military operation in 1974. They believe that this term takes no account of Turkey’s right to intervene under the Treaty of Guarantee and diminishes the fact that the operation was in response to a Greek-backed military coup that overthrew the President of the Republic of Cyprus with the intention of uniting Cyprus with Greece.’
However, the writers did not agree on an alternative. Alas, finding another word would also mean disregarding UN Security Council Resolutions condemning the unilateral military actions by Turkey against Cyprus and the occupation of the North part of the island by Turkey. In fact, 13 out of the 14 words in which an alternative was not found involved the status quo following the island’s de facto division.
Perpetuation of Segregation?
Although this short blog post cannot be a history lesson, a couple of words must be said about the island’s communal segregation which resulted from several factors and, in particular, British rule. As with many other colonies, the ‘divide and conquer’ principle adopted by the colonizers led to communal animosity, segregation and polarization. In the Cypriot case, this reality permeated into the Cypriot constitution which in 1960 established the country’s administration on the separation of two communities – the Greek Cypriot and the Turkish Cypriot. The rest of the island’s recognized groups, namely the Armenians, Latins and Maronites, are described by the constitution as religious groups. As set out in the constitution, the religious groups were later asked which ‘community’ they wished to belong to, with all three voting in favour of the Greek Cypriot community. On a socio-political level, the three religious groups are absent from the peace-talks and reunification efforts. In light of the above, it is unfortunate that the glossary did not recognize the problematic and unsustainable nature of the communal separation of Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots but rather founded the entire publication on this separation. In continuation of Kierkegaard’s above-mentioned quote, how one remembers depends on their actuality of things, with stark differences evidently present in the conceptualization of historical facts by Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots. In fact, the words proposed and the problems identified with given expressions (with the majority of these expressions surmounting from the use of words and phrases by the Greek Cypriot press) appeared to alter the actuality of remembrance. This is not a tangible or feasible task that can be achieved through a catalogue of alternative linguistics. Further, the glossary did not acknowledge the three religious groups which have been invisible in the process to date. On the contrary, the glossary states that:
‘the two main communities in Cyprus-Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots- have suffered equally.’
The plight of, for example, the Maronites who were displaced from the village of Kormakitis is, thereby, not integrated in the drafter’s theoretical conceptualization of the glossary, eliminating, once again, the religious groups from being part of or benefiting from any initiative taken for peace.
The Right to Remember?
In 2005, the UN published the Updated Set of Principles for the Protection and Promotion of Human Rights through action to Combat Impunity. Principle 3, therein, reads as follows:
A people’s knowledge of the history of its oppression is part of its heritage and, as such, must be ensured by appropriate measures in fulfillment of the State’s duty to preserve archives and other evidence concerning violations of human rights and humanitarian law and to facilitate knowledge of those violations. Such measures shall be aimed at preserving the collective memory from extinction and, in particular, at guarding against the development of revisionist and negationist arguments.
One of the journalists who drafted the glossary tweeted the following:
‘This glossary is not an attempt to deny or erase the past, but a conscious effort to promote a culture of understanding between communities’
However, despite this comment, I would beg to differ and instead argue that neutralizing atrocities through the recommendation of words which are perceived by the glossary’s drafters to be less offensive to the ‘other community’ such as ‘Turkey/Turkish army/Turkish government’ rather than ‘Turkish Invader’ or the ‘Southern part of the Island’ rather than the ‘Free Areas’ appears to disregard the right of either side of the conflict to know and acknowledge its history of oppression. There is no need to develop negationist or revisionist arguments for purposes of narrative alteration and, subsequently, reconciliation.
Conclusion
In sum, regardless of good intentions on the part of drafters and supporters, this document is problematic for the reasons stated above, namely, the drastic reconceptualization of historical events and their interpretation through mere word changing, the continuation of the peace path on the dogma of segregation and the disregard of the country’s religious groups from this initiative. Furthermore, it is also of concern due to its free speech implications. Although this is an optional document, supported by an international organization and dismissed by the Union of Cypriot Journalists on free speech grounds, the image of a journalist writing a piece with a 56 page handbook at his or her side to double check what and how something is being phrased makes me shudder slightly. Let us not forget the role Mnemosyne, the Titan goddess of memory and remembrance and the inventress of language and words, played for the Ancient Greeks. For them, memory was a significant gift from the Gods which allowed them not only to remember but also to reason and foresee the future. Initiative should, thereby, focus on reconciling and making sense of each other’s remembrance for people’s collective future, rather than proposing Jean Calvin’s Christian oblivion.
Written by: Dr. Natalie Alkiviadou (University of Central Lancashire, Cyprus)