Talks of Tranquility - CLOSED RP - CoDN

[The Land of the Ephyral]

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2nd of October, 2007
London, the Federal Republic of Britannia

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Premise
Tensions across the border between the Freehold of Ephyra and the Islamic Monarchy of Persia have ascended at unprecedented levels in the past year. Both sides seeing the rise of highly militant and anti-other politicians to the forefront of their politics, with what started as mere hostile discourse erupting swiftly into mobilisation of troops by either side towards the border.

The acts quickly drew the attention of international powers including the Federal Republic of Britannia, a state recently emerged from civil-war, knowing all too well the perils of conflict. An invitation was made to the governments of Ephyra and Persia both: "Talk."

Persia accepted, and then Ephyra, and the delegations of both departed from their homelands to London itself, where talks shall be held in the land of a third-party, mediated by officials from the Britannian state, to ensure both sides reach an acceptable accord that stabilises the region as best as it can, in a final effort to avoid war.

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Peacockia
The Persian State
The Land of the Ephyral

The above three nations are the only accepted participants of this roleplay exercise. The exercise is contained solely within the self-designated CoDN-verse, the internal roleplay universe of The Coalition of Democratic Nations. If you are outside of this region, this roleplay has no impact on the affairs of your nation.

To all nations both outside and inside the CoDN, please respect the roleplay exercise and refrain from attempting to interfere or otherwise hamper the roleplay through making posts.

This is a closed roleplay and only Peacockia, The Persian State, and The Land of the Ephyral are involved.

Thank you.

[Peacockia]

The until recently bustling Hall of Justice was quiet, having been cleared out for the meeting about to take place. Under the bright fluorescent lights was a single podium, which stood in front of an elevated judicial bench. The five seats of the bench were empty today, though, and the podium stood alone, as they were not the focus. Today, the business of the Hall of Justice was not matters before the Supreme Court, but rather international diplomacy.

There were three tables set up in the room behind the podium, arranged in a U shape. On one arm of the U sat Saddam Hussein, Supreme Marshal of Persia. On the other arm sat Archon of the Freehold Lykos Anikidios Valinarys, and Archon of the Exterior, Lykos Sytherios Velitheos, representatives of Ephyra. In the connection sat Chief Justice John Shannon, ready to mediate. The clicks of cameras and comments of reporters could be faintly heard from outside, but no one else was in the room with the negotiators. National Guardsmen, armed with assault rifles and clad in body armor, could be seen patrolling the halls through the slits in the windows of the exit doors.

John Shannon was the first to speak. "Good morning, thank you all for coming. We all know why we are here. We've had a number of disputes between your two countries, and for the sake of international peace and friendly relations, these disputes have landed you here. For the most part, I will remain a silent arbiter, making sure we stay on topic and bringing us from one topic to the other. You lot will have to negotiate it out. I have every confidence that we will come to some sort of understanding today, and walk away here with the hatchet buried. There's too much at stake to allow for any alternative. So, before we begin negotiating, lets have a quick opening statement from both parties, explaining your own positions, your grievances with the other side, and potentially a solution to them."

(OOC: Ephyra will go first, then Persia, and we will go from there)

[The Land of the Ephyral]

Lykos Anikidios Valinarys was the first to rise. He and his compatriot, Lykos Sytherios Velitheos, had decorated themselves in the traditional attire of their homeland. A long, deep purple desar tunic, belted at his waist, and embroidered with gold stripes marked him out as an Archon of the Freehold itself, elected to govern and direct the state with his co-Archon. Across his shoulder and around his body hung his white togar, almost identical to the pre-Ephyral Roman toga from which its name derived. Such a garment denoted strong citizen status, and he had come here today as both citizen and Archon of his homeland.

As a propraetor, Velitheos was far less resplendant in his white tunic with black stripes, along with white togar, though he was no less distinguished. The Archon of the Exterior currently remained seated as one of the twin voices of the Freehold began to speak.

"I thank you, Mr. Chief Justice, personally for conducting this mediation and on behalf of my people for your nation's agreement to host this discourse. The position of the Freehold is a simple one. When one nation's internal affairs see the potential and alarming rise of a man whose outer interests are hostile, that nations' internal affairs become of interest to its neighbours. A candidate for the elections in Persia, a man by the name of Yaha Zaidan, was prominent enough to make news headlines in Persia for his outspoken intent to pursue what he claims is rightful Persian land currently incorporated into provinces of the Freehold, in particular, the provinces of Armenia and the Caucasus, Assyria, and Babylonia, all three of which lie on the border of the current Persian country.

"Under the terms of office of their Honours, Archon Lysaron Kessathios Velareon, and Archon Aethon Dekios Arnaris, the Senate of the Freehold proclaimed a united response to the Persian people and Yaha Zaidan. With Arnaris' words, we promised that the election of a man whose open interest is that of theft and conflict would demonstrate the Persian willingness to become our enemies, and that we would naturally respond to such acts. We believe the Persian 'claim' to these lands is derived from their occupation under the pre-Islamic Achaemenid Empire, which was itself largely conquered and defeated by a Selian from Arconia and his army. These regions became Selian for the first time but not for the last, as we occupy them now and have lost many men and shed much blood to retain what we won through honourable conflict.

"This is the nature of war and the intent of Yaha Zaidan appears to be to re-ignite this centuries old conflict to reclaim what he sees as Persian land, and if elected, the Persians would show themselves to believe this also. We were met with hostility from the Persian Ministry of War who warned of disastrous consequences for our region were such a conflict to emerge.

"Our position, Mr. Chief Justice, is that the land is ours. They are established provinces of the Freehold and have been for many years. It is our law that governs these lands, it is our governors that preside over them. It is to us that their free states pay tribute, and it is our citizenship that the men and women of these lands have the opportunity to obtain. Our grievance, Mr. Chief Justice, is the outspoken intent of a popular electoral candidate to seize from us what is ours by right and by strength.

"A solution is what we are here to find, and I would propose a treaty of border-respect. Persia shall formally and publicly acknowledge that the definitive border between our states lies at its current positions, at the edges of our provinces and the edges of theirs. We shall make no claim on Persia itself and they shall forfeit their claim on our land. We can begin the demilitarising of our border, establish proper border check points for when travel occurs, and ensure non-aggression, that we both might continue in our affairs in the knowledge that the other will not attack."

The Archon sat back down, and placed his hands in his lap. His statement had been strong, but now it was concluded, and he would hear the Persian statement with clear ears.

[The Persian State]

LONDON- The official Persian plane has arrived to London. The Supreme Marshal of the Persian Empire Saddam Hussein and other deputies and assistants arrived at the Heathrow Airport for de-escalation talks with the Freehold on Thursday, the evening of Saddam Hussein's first visit to the United Kingdom as supreme marshal. He quickly got down from the plane wearing Persian military uniform and khaki beret. Surrounded by the Imperial guards , he quickly made his way to the limo and the escort has driven away to the conference.

AT THE CONFERENCE-

Having changed his outfit, Saddam hussein got out of the limo and still being surrounded by the Guards, he walked inside the Hall of Justice. The Persian delegation arrived a little bit after the Lykos. Wearing a black tie, suit, and a white shirt, Saddam has taken the seat in front of the Freehold delegation while looking over the papers and talking to his aides who wore sports coats too.

" On behalf of Persia, I would like to thank the British government for agreeing to be the mediator and host our summit in your beautiful city. His Majesty Hassan Abdul Jawaad could not be present here because he is in Ascoobis discussing other important topics of the Empire's interests." he finished speaking to the Brits.

"Now let us officially start the talks, shall we?" he addressed to the party on the opposite side. " You have your internal affairs while we have ours. We understand that we are neighbors and it is justifiable for both of us to worry about each others' internal affairs. For instance, our government is worried about the situation of Muslims in your lands. But our Empire doesnt agree that your Senate has thought to be appropriate to threaten us and take the situation to the next level by trying to scare us with a military invasion because one candidate said something you did not like when he did not even win. We all have our opinions and deep in our hearts, we do believe that those areas, which you've just mentioned, belong to Persia. But we cannot change each others' perceptions. Our candidate for the prime minister Yahya Zaidan is an exemplary son of Persia. He has achieved a lot and done a lot for our people and we do respect him. But the candidate has his objectives for the race and does not represent the whole Empire because he hasn't won yet. For you to severe ties with us over this was not a very wise move. Of course our Ministry of War has warned you of disastrous consequences because of unacceptable things said inside your Senate. Persia has a right to respond to any threats, be they foreign or domestic."

[The Land of the Ephyral]

Valinarys frowned as he listened to the Persian delegate speak his words. His mood only became less pleasant as Hussein continued, and by the end of the man's speech, the Archon felt most irritated. He returned to his standing position, with a little more force but with no less composure than he had begun. To his left, Velitheos remained seated. He would speak soon, he was sure, but for now this was a battle he was going to fight.

"Your choice of words is most curious, 'Supreme Marshal'. I am baffled to say the least at your suggestion that it is we who severed diplomatic ties. That we issued the first threat. Our noble Senators took a stance against a threat to the Freehold and its rightful territories, but we did not sever communications or ties. It was the Persians who reduced trade. It was the Persians who militarised the border. It was the Persians who took to threats of destruction and military wroth.

"At best you demonstrated yourself in direct support of the candidate we opposed. At worst you displayed yourself as looking for the first opportunity to seize our land and inflict harm upon our people. And here today in this hall where we are compelled to speak truth and reason you insinuate that Muslims living in the Freehold are at risk because of their religious identity. I tell you now I care not what desert spirit or entity they hold in reverence, I care not one bit. The same goes for Christians and Jews. Their superstitions are tolerable so long as they do not impact the affairs of our nation, impact the lives of our citizens, or are self-evidently abhorrent in practise. if a Christian wishes to mark the days of the birth of his saviour, he may do so. If a Jew desires to avoid the meats of the pig, or mark a ceremony of a boy reaching the age of thirteen, he may do so. If a Muslim is compelled to dress the woman of his house in black, he may do so. These are the liberties afforded by the free states in our provinces. Those of the Lykosian Rights and citizenship observe our laws, honour their obligations, and enjoy the benefits of such rank. The Muslim population is overwhelmingly outside of these classes and elect to honour tributary obligations to us in exchange for their autonomy.

"The days of war with the Caliphate are long behind us unless you would proclaim yourself as such. We no longer fear the raiding armies of the Caliph or his generals, plundering our villages and towns or enslaving our women and children. We do not fear them because we defeated them, and the descendants of those we vanquished live under our authority in the manner they have chosen. We impose no conversion upon them. We do not prohibit their observance of dates or rites.

"The superstitions of Muslims are their own just as much as the Christians, the Jews, the Zoroastrians and more. We have no care for such things."

Valinarys paused for a moment, looking at the Persian delegation. He had hoped for better discussion, but the rules of the game had been set and he would play better.

"The land is ours. The flag of the Freehold flies above it, our eagle of Ishax. It was won with blood and sacrifice by the men of Arconia over two millennia ago, and won again by the men of Ephyra in these last one and a half thousand years. It is our laws that the residents of these lands live under, and have prospered from. It is our generous offerings of the path to citizenship, or tribute for autonomy, that has pacified these lands.

If your government does not reject your claims to it, and instead threatens its destruction over our concerns for a candidate, and your false allegations of Muslim mistreatment, then what peace can be obtained with your current regime that I can take home to my people and say will be honoured by the Persians? Why would they believe me? Why would they believe you?"

[The Persian State]

The Persian delegation was calmly listening to the Freehold counterparts

"We are not a rootless state and will not tolerate any accusations and attempts to undermine our sovereignty. We stand for peace and we do desire demilitarization of the borders and improvement of our bilateral relations. But you cannot dictate what we believe in. You are the one getting mad here while we are trying to promote peace and de-escalate the situation. Yes, our candidate has said some things which upset you. It is his nature to be bold and proactive when trying to promote Persia's interests. But you have no right to demand that we suppress his speech when the Persian Empire hasn't even attacked you. If you want to de-escalate the conflict, then we are ready to listen; if not, blame no one but yourselves. We are ready to pull our troops from your borders if you are willing to do the same." said Saddam hussein in a firm voice.

[Peacockia]

Chief Justice John Shannon jumped in at that moment.

"Look," he said, "we can't engage in he said/she said all day long. Let's start to come to some sort of resolution. Now, both sides contributed to the rising tensions, either through speeches, tariffs, or troop positioning. The key to preventing warfare is promoting stability. To that end, I suggest that you two start negotiating a treaty. Troop deescalation, tariff removal, border assurances, apologies shoudl all be on the table to give you an idea."

[The Land of the Ephyral]

Velitheos stood now in place of the Archon, holding his left hand to his body to keep his toga in place.

"The Chief Justice is quite right." He began. "To that end, we have prepared prior to this meeting, a list of concessions we both request and are willing to make." The foreign minister examined the relevant paper on the table and began the points.

"For our requests; the Persians will withdraw from the border of the Freehold within seven days of ratification. The Persians will cease to recognise claims to land rightfully held by the Freehold. The Persians will subsequently recognise the Freehold, that being the state of the Ephyral people, as the rightful arbiters and administration of aforementioned land. The Persians will remove tariffs placed on Ephyral trade goods. The Persians will give formal assurance that no airspace, water, or land violation will occur by personnel identifiable as military or paramilitary in organisation or training. There will also be a cease in propaganda alleging a supposed mistreatment of the Muslim population where no such mistreatment exists." Velitheos let a moment pass before continuing onto the next step.

"For our offer; the Ephyral will recognise the right of Yaha Zaidan to stand for office in the Persian country. We will in turn withdraw military personnel from the border, however, with regards to the terrorist insurrections currently being waged in the eastern provinces, a substantial military presence will remain in order to combat and defeat the rebels. The Ephyral will give formal assurance that no personnel identifiable as military or paramilitary in organisation or training will violate airspace, water, or land deemed sovereign to the Persians."

Velitheos gave another moment's pause, to indicate that his next speech was not part of the list. "This is our proposal. We are open to negotiation on the matter, within reason."