The majority of Turkish Cypriots approved of the agreement, which took place following 30 years of separation and 40 years following the creation of the UN force to thwart inter-community violence growing out of disagreement regarding the distribution of power following the creation of the republic in 1960.
In a direct reference to Yes or No voters, Anastasiades drew a painful distinction between what happened 12 years ago and what’s to come within the next 12 years.
A Greek-Cypriot priest takes part during the referendum for reunification of Cyprus on April 24 2004. John Kolesidis/ Reuters
Negotiations are expected to be wrapping up soon, and the possibility of a next referendum is planned in 2017. Although the dates of the proposed referendum have been proved to be incorrect in the past, the main indicator of a change is the growing political divide between Greekand Turkish Cypriot communities.
The future of the referendum
In a group review on the Brexit referendum, with other Anthropologists Madeleine Reeves and Jane Cowan, I weighed in on the ambiguous nature of democracy with regard to referendums and the ambiguous nature of the political system we’ve come to associate with referendums.
However, regardless of the complexities of a referendum in itself the referendum itself, everyone agrees that the outcome much more important.
A referendum isn’t simply an option that is a dichotomous one with significant stakes. The two-party system of elections is as well. And if we take the current presidential election in the US, for instance, it is also possible to be brutally divisive. However, elections have an arbitrary time frame at the very least. The option could be reversed within four, five or six years’ time theoretically, at a minimum can be reversed. But, our experience shows that conflicts are easier to begin than ended, rights revoked rather than reclaimed, and wealth is distributed more upwards instead of downwards.
When it comes to referendums, the majority timeof , there isn’t any Plan B; a position that is supposed “normality” takes over after results. However, there is not a returning to “ordinary” life. The result is typically similar to the one Veena Das demonstrated to occur after violent events.
When Greece was in Greece during 2015, the austerity era returned “as normal” even in the context of a referendum that was overwhelmingly against it.
Following the Brexit referendum in the UK and the subsequent search to ensure the possibility of a seamless exit is becoming more like a desire to stay “normal.” The expectation or concern, according to your position, is that Brexit will not be a complete process or delayed or abandoned. Or is deemed impossible, or at least, it will be negotiated in a manner that isn’t radically different from the existing relationship of the UK in the EU.
The anti-democratic votes recorded during both Greek and British referendums indicated an intention to destroy the entire system along with the system’s members.
Following the events, “normality” becomes messier, but the system is solid – austerity has not gone away in either of the countries, and sovereignty hasn’t been restored. The real change is more complicated in relation to economics and growing discrimination against minorities in the UK and the US. The extent to which rhetoric about solidarity within Greece is preventing the extremists from taking over can’t be taken for granted.
The tough task of living “normally.”
A peace referendum is distinct and offers the possibility of a new governing system and new justice mechanisms or a brand new sovereignty (rather than a greater or lesser of it, as is the case in Greece as well as in the UK). A vote that is reactionary would be a conservative vote – an attempt to preserve the current system, not an adolescent result of racist or populist political movements.
The most important thing to remember is that this ongoing maintenance does not mean a return to “normality.” Instead, it is a constant effort to reconcile complex arguments that are either winning or losing, and uncertainties about their accuracy and the political aspect that we’ve learned to ignore in daily life but have now been defining the person we are in relation to our other people and friends in the very short time prior to the vote.