Minorities conscripted for the first time

ARMENIANS, Maronites and Latins are for the first time being mandatorily conscripted into the army this week, under an amendment to the law adopted last year.

The reaction by the House Representatives of the communities, however, has been varied.

The Armenian Representative Vartkes Mahdessian was the most enthusiastic. He emphasised that his position on the issue was unequivocally in favour.

“My community is proud to serve the homeland, side-by-side with our Greek-Cypriot brothers.”

The Latin Representative Benito Mantovanis was the most stoical.

“The Latin community is a law-abiding community. The Cabinet made a decision and we respect it.”

The Maronite Representative Antonis Hadjiroussos was even less enthusiastic.

“The government decided on the law and there is no way out,” he said.

“We are embittered because of the attitude towards us from incumbent governments, which showed indecision as to whether they wanted to pass the law or not.

“Although we concur that it is one’s duty to serve the National Guard, the reasons our community was exempted are still very much valid: in its totality, the Maronites are a community of refugees and enclaved.”Hadjiroussos also pointed out that, “because of the conscription, the Turkish Army will make it harder for Maronites to visit their villages in the north. In addition, it hampers current efforts which aim to resettle Maronites in villages in the north that have dwindling populations and are on the verge of extinction.

“The villages must be kept in existence until a solution to the Cyprus problem has been found.”

Permanent Secretary of the Defence Department Petros Kareklas told the Mail that the conscription was coming along smoothly, although the vast majority of conscripts will arrive in the summer.

“The change in the regulation occurred because of Cyprus’ entry into the European Union. Although the members of these communities had always been called to conscript, the decision whether to do so was voluntary. According to European law, however, the state cannot discriminate between social groups based on religion.”

Along the same lines, Defence Ministry spokesman Yiannis Patsalides said:

“Equality in rights means equality in conscription. We are all citizens of the same Republic.”

Asked to comment as to whether this would have any repercussions regarding the status of Turkish Cypriots living in the south, Kareklas said that “this issue has never been raised, as it involves significant political considerations.”