Christofias' aides 'gulped' when he made Nazi analogy.Byline: Stefanos Evripidou COMPARING NAZI Germany to anything is a "huge insult" which raises five eyebrows in Europe, said one analyst yesterday after the European Commission European Commission, branch of the governing body of the European Union (EU) invested with executive and some legislative powers. Located in Brussels, Belgium, it was founded in 1967 when the three treaty organizations comprising what was then the European Community responded to President Demetris Christofias' comments on Hitler last week. Christofias was quoted in The Guardian last Friday comparing the EU's concessions to Turkey to the appeasement appeasement Foreign policy of pacifying an aggrieved nation through negotiation in order to prevent war. The prime example is Britain's policy toward Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany in the 1930s. of Adolf Hitler in the 1930s, after comments made during a press briefing in Brussels. "I don't compare Turkey with Nazi Germany," he said. "But it is not reasonable to say don't challenge Turkey because it will get angry. There are rules and unfortunately Turkey does not respect those rules ... This reminds me of the situation before the second world war, appeasing ap·pease tr.v. ap·peased, ap·peas·ing, ap·peas·es 1. To bring peace, quiet, or calm to; soothe. 2. To satisfy or relieve: appease one's thirst. 3. Hitler so he doesn't become more aggressive. The substance of fascism was the substance of fascism. Hitler was Hitler," he told the British newspaper. A blogger for the Economist who had posed the question which brought on the appeasement analogy said "his aides gulped" when Christofias made the comment. The president later played down the diplomatic faux pas This page has been divided into the following:
The comments were read as a slight against the European Commission for appeasing Turkey on the Cyprus issue, drawing a remarkably fast response from Brussels. At a press briefing last Friday, the same day as the publication, the Commission noted that the Cyprus talks have entered "a sensitive and decisive phase", and appealed to "all sides to exercise restraint in public rhetoric, so as not to put the talks at risk", in other words Adv. 1. in other words - otherwise stated; "in other words, we are broke" put differently , avoid the pre-emptive pre·emp·tive or pre-emp·tive adj. 1. Of, relating to, or characteristic of preemption. 2. Having or granted by the right of preemption. 3. a. blame game. More emphatically em·phat·ic adj. 1. Expressed or performed with emphasis: responded with an emphatic "no." 2. Forceful and definite in expression or action. 3. , the Commission said: "In our view inappropriate historical comparisons should be avoided." The Commission clarified that it has made it clear Turkey's obligation to implement the Ankara protocol was "now urgent", noting that eight chapters in Turkey's accession negotiations are suspended because of non-compliance. It has also made it clear that it expects Turkey to actively support the talks and contribute practically to finding a solution. A Cypriot diplomat who wished to remain anonymous yesterday acknowledged that there was no need for Christofias to make the Nazi comparison but that the comments had been taken out of context. The president had been talking of appeasement and made it perfectly clear in no way was he relating Turkey to Nazi Germany. "The Commission went too far in their response. We have heard statements of a worse nature by Turkish generals and officials and seen no response, especially not immediately," he said. Hubert Faustmann, an International Relations international relations, study of the relations among states and other political and economic units in the international system. Particular areas of study within the field of international relations include diplomacy and diplomatic history, international law, expert at the University of Nicosia The University of Lefkosia was formally known, until September 2007, as Intercollege. It is the largest private university in Cyprus with campuses based in the three largest cities in Cyprus: Lefkosia, Lemesos and Larnaca. , said the Commission was not alone in perceiving the historical comparison as "inappropriate". "It is an extremely clumsy historical analogy. Probably everybody perceived it as inappropriate, even in Cyprus, apart from a few domestic politicians who applauded the statement," he said. Even though Christofias made it clear he was not making a comparison, that's the impression given. "He was trying to put the message across that an aggressive country pursuing aggressive policies should not be appeased. He juxtaposed jux·ta·pose tr.v. jux·ta·posed, jux·ta·pos·ing, jux·ta·pos·es To place side by side, especially for comparison or contrast. Turkey not implementing the Ankara protocol with the aggressive pre-World War Two policies of Nazi Germany. You just don't do that. Implicitly, it's a huge insult, and in Europe, raises five eyebrows," said Faustmann. The analyst likened the gaffe to when the Polish President was seeking more votes in the Council, and said if Nazi Germany hadn't killed so many Poles, Poland would have a bigger population now and therefore more votes. "The EU reacted with extreme bewilderment be·wil·der·ment n. 1. The condition of being confused or disoriented. 2. A situation of perplexity or confusion; a tangle: a bewilderment of lies and half-truths. Noun 1. ". Nazi Germany is perceived as the most evil regime in the world and making any comparisons in the EU has extremely negative connotations, he noted. "The 'Hitler was Hitler' statement must have been a slip of the tongue, because it didn't make sense. What's worse, Christofias is a historian." The comments boiled down to preparations for the key December Summit where Cyprus hopes to push for additional sanctions against Turkey while the EU is keen to let it off the hook, said Faustmann. Government spokesman Stefanos Stefanou was yesterday unavailable for comment. Copyright Cyprus Mail Cyprus Mail is a Cypriot English-language newspaper. It is published daily (except Mondays) and a number of articles are available online. Its current chief editor is Kosta Pavlowitch. The managing director is Kyriakos Iacovides. 2009 Provided by Syndigate.info an Albawaba.com company |
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