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EUROPE: Annan struggles to salvage plan for reunifying
Cyprus |
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By Judy Dempsey in The
Hague |
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Kofi Annan, UN
secretary-general, was last night struggling to rescue his plan to reunify
Cyprus as the island's two leaders held back on a deal in last-ditch
negotiations in The Hague. Tassos
Papadopoulos, recently-elected Greek Cypriot president, and Rauf Denktash,
the veteran Turkish Cypriot leader, had failed to make any breakthrough in
separate talks with Mr Annan. The
secretary-general had moved the negotiations from Cyprus to the Peace Palace
in The Hague in an attempt to meet last night's deadline for a breakthrough
to end the 29-year dispute. Senior US and British envoys were also there as
part of a diplomatic offensive. A peace deal
is crucial for Turkey's hopes of joining the European Union as, whether
united or not, the Greek Cypriot part will be accepted into the EU in May
2004. The Greek Cypriots are due to sign the accession treaty on April 16. A divided
island inside the EU would also do little to promote stability in the eastern
Mediterranean, senior diplomats have warned. Mr Annan, who
with his special envoy Alvaro de Soto has spent more than three years trying
to forge a settlement, was yesterday considering getting both sides to hold
direct talks. He had spent
the day holding bilateral meetings with the two leaders, having twice
postponed a joint session with both of them. "That just shows the
mood," said a European diplomat involved in the talks. "You would
think they had all the time in the world to strike a deal," he added. Mr Denktash
recently hardened his stance against any deal partly because of the shifting
political circumstances in Ankara where pressure on him to reach a settlement
had eased. Mr Denktash
believes the plan would create refugees and throw many Turkish Cypriots out
of their homes on an island where two-thirds of the population are Greek
Cypriots. Mr
Papadopoulos, meanwhile, said he still wanted improvements to a plan based on
a complex power-sharing system in which both communities would have
considerable responsibilities devolved to them. Many Greek
Cypriots oppose the plan because it commits them to sharing power with a
minority and puts quotas on the numbers of their own refugees returning to
former homes. Turkish
diplomats yesterday said Racep Tayyip Erdogan, leader of Turkey's governing
Justice and Development party, was now reluctant to apply any more pressure
on Mr Denktash even though Turkish Cypriots have held demonstrations in
favour of the UN deal and of joining the EU. Turkish
officials also said Mr Erdogan and the military were completely focused on
the looming US-led war against Iraq, in addition to deciding whether or not
to call another parliamentary vote over allowing 62,000 US troops to use
Turkey as a launch-pad for an attack against Iraq. Cyprus has
been partitioned since Turkish troops invaded in 1974 in response to a coup
by Greek Cypriot militants seeking union with Greece. Turkey seized more than
a third of the island. |
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EUROPE & THE AMERICAS: EU to admit only Greek Cyprus
as UN talks fail |
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By Leyla Boulton, Judy
Dempsey and Kerin Hope |
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The European
Union will press ahead and admit only the Greek sector of divided Cyprus
after the breakdown of United Nations-led talks on reunification at The Hague
in the early hours of yesterday morning, the European Commission said
yesterday. At the same
time, it said Turkey's chances of starting EU accession talks had been
jeopardised by its refusal to sign up to the UN plan. Jean-Christophe Filori,
Commission spokesman, said: "It appears to us very difficult that
accession negotiations can start with Turkey in this situation." The
Commission's comments contradict previous positions held by senior EU
officials, who only last December at the Copenhagen summit insisted on giving
a date to Turkey to begin accession negotiations, saying these were not
linked to breaking the 29-year-old deadlock over the divided island of
Cyprus. Fifteen hours
of talks led by Kofi Annan, the UN secretary-general, broke down after Rauf
Denktash and Tassos Papadopoulos, the Turkish and Greek Cypriot leaders,
declined to approve a UN-drafted plan for a united Cyprus. "We have
reached the end of the road," Mr Annan said. Failure of the
initiative suggests Cyprus may have become the first casualty of the Iraq
crisis, as the Turkish government focused almost entirely on the probable
US-led war against Iraq. Turkish
diplomats said Recep Tayyip Erdogan, leader of the governing Justice and
Development Party, found it impossible to make a compromise over northern
Cyprus at this point, as he grappled with political reforms, negotiating an
International Monetary Fund loan and deciding what steps to take after
parliament blocked a US request to base over 62,000 troops in Turkey. Despite that
packed agenda, Abdullah Gul, who resigned as Turkish prime minister yesterday
to make way for Mr Erdogan, still held out hope for a settlement. He said Mr
Annan had "not closed the door completely". Diplomats said much would
depend on the outcome of any war against Iraq and how it affected Turkish
domestic politics. In northern
Cyprus Mr Denktash may have bought some time, but he faces parliamentary
elections next December against the background of growing calls by a pro-EU,
pro-settlement Turkish Cypriot opposition party that could form the next
government. "Mr
Denktash is now a leader without a people," said Mehmet Ali Talat, who
recently swept local elections on the pro-EU ticket. Turkish Cypriots may try
to call a referendum on the UN plan, despite Mr Denktash's rejection of it. Among Greek
Cypriots, opinion is divided over whether a deal is possible, if not before
April 16 when the accession treaties will be signed, then before Cyprus joins
the EU in May of next year. "It wasn't the last opportunity," said
a Greek official. "The momentum is still there because of Turkey's
European aspirations and there is still time for another UN initiative that
would have strong backing from the EU." Mr
Papadopoulos agreed at The Hague to make it easier for Turkish Cypriots to
work in the south, where wages are three times higher than in the north. But with Greek
Cypriots assured EU membership, attitudes may harden in the south. "It
could be that we are coming closer to a permanent partition," said
Philip Savvides from Eliamp, a Greek think-tank. "It is not certain the
international community will want to put so many resources again into trying
to get a settlement." Additional reporting by Kerin Hope in Athens
and Leyla Boulton in Ankara |
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LEADER: Cyprus split |
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The Greek part
of Cyprus is set to sign an accession treaty with the European Union next
month and to join the Union a year later. This sorry result is now more or
less inevitable, after yesterday's failure of United Nations sponsored
negotiations to unite the Greek and Turkish Cypriot parts of the island. What
Kofi Annan, the UN secretary-general, called "the end of the road"
for his peace efforts is a setback for both Cypriot communities, for relations
between their motherland countries, Greece and Turkey, and possibly for
Turkey's own bid to join the EU. Attempts at a
settlement need not end here; yesterday's collapse of talks may just bring
hardliners on both sides to their senses. But Greek and Turkish Cypriots have
missed a great chance, after 28 years of separation, to resume conjugal life
by joining the EU together. Indeed, the prospect of EU membership had seemed
the best catalyst to dissolve the partition since 1974. There were
incentives for all parties to do a deal. The internationally recognised Greek
Cypriot government was told it could join the EU by itself but would be far
more welcome if it could bring the Turkish Cypriots in with it. The Turkish
Cypriots, whose government is recognised only by Turkey, were offered a way
out of their diplomatic purdah and economic exclusion. And Turkey was offered
acceleration of its candidacy for EU membership. But such
leverage proved inadequate. The Annan plan for a loose, Swiss-style
federation foundered chiefly on the rock-like resistance of Rauf Denktash,
the Turkish Cypriot president, to ceding sufficient land back to the Greek
Cypriots and to accepting enough Greek Cypriot refugees back in the north.
The Greek Cypriots, under Tassos Papadopoulos,their new president, were not
blameless either. But their reluctance to give the Turkish minority an equal
share of power at the federal level with the Turkish minority was somewhat
obscured by the recalcitrance of Mr Denktash. The latter, who has always had
support from Turkey's generals, might have been overruled by Turkey's new
government, had it not been so distracted in recent weeks by Iraq. Yet there is
still pressure for a settlement. Recent big demonstrations in the north
showed Mr Denktash to be in a minority on the unification issue. This may
well cost the veteran president his parliamentary majority in December's
elections and lead to a new government prepared to take the negotiating role
away from him. By that time,
too, Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey's new prime minister, may have fewer distractions
and be able to focus more on Cyprus. The present course of events cannot suit
Turkey, which will soon be in the awkward position of applying to join the
EU, one of whose states - Cyprus - it does not recognise. Nor will the status
quo suit the Greek Cypriots as long as they want the return of land and
refugees. So, despite Mr Annan's bleak words yesterday, all have an interest
in resuming the road to a resolution. |
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OBSERVER: Knocking off |
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You'd think
they'd try a different ruse. But once again Alvaro de Soto, the UN special
envoy for Cyprus, and Lord Hannay, his British counterpart, kept the elderly
Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders talking late into the night in the hope of
wearing them down. It didn't work
back in December - when the pair were spotted hammering on the door of
83-year-old President Glafcos Clerides at 2am in a Copenhagen hotel, hoping
he would sign up to a deal. He just slept on. At The Hague
yesterday, Kofi Annan, the UN secretary general, ended the talks around
4.30am. Tassos Papadopoulos, 69, the new Greek Cypriot president, had
softened up slightly but Rauf Denktash, the 79-year-old Turkish Cypriot boss,
was still refusing to agree. Hardly
surprising, really. That's about the time a normal evening's carousing on
Cyprus is just starting to wind down. |
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COMMENT & ANALYSIS: Europe is the first casualty of
war |
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By Quentin Peel |
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Over the past
few days, as President George W. Bush and Tony Blair were working the
telephone lines to Africa and Latin America to beg, bribe or bully wavering
members of the United Nations Security Council to back them on invading Iraq,
they lost the plot on Cyprus. The chances
are that Mr Bush did not much care. He is far more concerned about whether
neighbouring Turkey will allow US troops to use its military bases. The past
18 months of Cyprus peace talks have never loomed large on his agenda. Nobody
says the Greek or Turkish communities possess weapons of mass destruction.
They do not threaten any other countries. They threaten only each other. But Mr Blair
should care very much indeed. The failure of the Cyprus talks on Monday night
marks a tragic end to the best chance there has been for decades to reunite
the warring communities on the island, separated since 1974. There was a
unique opportunity to solve one of the longest-running disputes on the
international agenda. It has been lost. Without a
Cyprus deal, only the Greek part of the island will be admitted to the
European Union next year. That in turn is likely to infuriate Turkey, whose
government fears it will now face a permanent Greek Cypriot veto. It means
that a disputed frontier becomes the de facto external border of the
EU. All the island's unresolved disputes will land on the EU agenda. They
will make old squabbles between Greece and Turkey seem like a picnic. The polls
suggest there is support for peace - a large Turkish majority, narrower in
the south. But Rauf Denktash, the veteran Turkish Cypriot leader, refused to
sign, while Tassos Papadopoulos, his Greek Cypriot counterpart, hid behind
his veto. The one real
hope of a deal was to get Ankara and Athens to put pressure on the respective
communities, backed by concerted efforts from Washington, London and
Brussels. But they have all - especially Turkey and the US - been hopelessly
distracted by Iraq. The collapse
of the Cyprus peace deal is the most concrete example of collateral damage to
date caused by the obsession of Mr Bush and Mr Blair with their military
intervention in Iraq. Less quantifiable is the political and economic
destabilisation of Turkey itself, under huge US pressure to back military
action, torn between its long-standing strategic loyalty to America and a
population overwhelmingly opposed to any war. The new
government, with Islamic roots but reformist credentials and a firm
commitment to join the EU, has proved indecisive. The secular military fears
that a US-led invasion of Iraq may revive Kurdish aspirations for
independence. But the generals are also determined that the politicians
should be the ones to take any decision to back US action. They would be
happy enough to see the government tear itself apart in the process. For Europe,
however, potentially the most damaging effect must be the dangerous divide
that has opened up between what Donald Rumsfeld, the US defence secretary,
calls so disparagingly "old" and "new" Europe: between
those who oppose the war and those who back Mr Bush. Its consequences are likely
to be much more dramatic than they appear on the surface. They threaten to
poison the most important political process under way in Europe: enlargement. That was
already clear in the intemperate response of Jacques Chirac, the French
president, when he denounced the "childish behaviour" of the
eastern European accession candidates for issuing a pledge of support for US
action. His bitterness is undoubtedly shared by others. There is open talk in
Brussels today of enlargement negotiations for Romania and Bulgaria, two of the
most pro-American, being indefinitely postponed. Enlargement is
seen as politically necessary; but it is not very popular with many of the
"older" EU members. In the Netherlands, officials speak of
"enlargement fatigue". There is a distinct unwillingness to pay the
very large cash transfers that the poorer new member states are expecting. More of the
same backlash can be expected. The UK Treasury wants to cap regional funds
and spend its own cash as it chooses. An ungenerous spirit is abroad. The
European convention, seeking to draft a new constitution, has lost much
momentum. The prospects of signing a new treaty of Rome in December look
increasingly faint. Add to that a divided Cyprus and the whispering against
enlargement seems certain to swell. The bitterness
caused by divisions over this profoundly unpopular war has brought normal
decision-making to a standstill - and not just in Europe. Not an item on the
international agenda is entirely immune. Bad deals are being done to win
allies. The costs may be counted for years to come. |
Is it really the end of the road?
By Jean Christou and Alexia Saoulli
TURKISH Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash bore the brunt of the fallout from the
dramatic early morning collapse of the Cyprus talks at The Hague yesterday which
ended years of intensive UN efforts, left the Turkish Cypriots in limbo, and
cast doubts on Ankara's EU prospects.
“Regrettably these (peace) efforts were not a success. We have reached the end
of the road,” a written statement by United Nations Secretary-general Kofi
Annan said following all-night talks at the City's Peace Palace.
The statement was read out at around 6am Cyprus time by Annan's special envoy,
a disappointed Alvaro de Soto. His Cyprus office, set up 18 months ago, will
now be shut down in the coming weeks, Annan's statement said.
The Secretary-general had invited President Tassos Papadopoulos and Turkish
Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash to The Hague on Monday to sign a commitment to
hold separate referendums on his peace plan on March 30, a proposal the Greek
Cypriot side agreed to early in the day.
But following around 20 hours of negotiations Denktash, steadfastly backed by
Turkey, refused even to sign an altered agreement extending the specified
deadlines -- a last desperate attempt by the UN to keep the process alive.
Setting aside the tangible bitterness felt by the international community,
Annan pledged to keep the door open saying his plan would remain on the table
but warned that he would only pick it up again if the two sides “summon the
will to do so”.
“I am not sure another opportunity like this one will present itself again any
time soon,” he said, making it clear that the Turkish side was to blame.
Predictably the Greek Cypriot side and Greece lambasted Turkey and the Turkish
Cypriot leader while the EU warned Ankara of the fragility of its own accession
prospects.
Even Britain's usually cautious envoy Lord Hannay expressed his disdain.
“I am sad about it but I do not think that Mr Denktash left him (Annan) any
alternative,” Hannay told Reuters.
In London a Foreign Office spokesman told the Cyprus News Agency that it was
“sad that the attitude of one of the parties forced that decision on the UN
Secretary-general, and we have to agree with Kofi Annan that the blame principally
lies with Mr Denktash''.
The Turkish Cypriot leader remained defiant to the last. In The Hague he told
reporters: “This was not a plan we could ask the people to vote on.”
Later he told the Anatolia News Agency that Annan's withdrawal from the settlement
talks would “positively influence negotiations” between both leaders, and said
he was prepared to meet Papadopoulos next week.
He said he would be informing Papadopoulos and Annan of what changes the
Turkish Cypriot side wanted made to the plan and advised Papadopoulos to do the
same.
“We'll see,” he said. “If there is a way out we'll find it.”
But, Denktash warned, if he could not accept the Greek Cypriot side's suggested
changes to the plan, all negotiations would end once and for all.
He also warned that if the Republic of Cyprus joined the EU, the Turkish
Cypriot side would seek its own direct contact with the bloc and that there
would be no point in continuing negotiations with the Greek Cypriots. “We will
establish direct contact with the EU, telling Europeans that we also exist and
to let us in on equal terms,” he said.
In Ankara Turkish Prime Minister Abdullah Gul told reporters: “The
Secretary-general said there was no agreement but he did not completely close
the door.”
Papadopoulos, who returned to the island last night with the members of the
National Council, expressed his “sadness and disappointment” that the talks had
ended in failure.
“Denktash said he wanted radical changes to the philosophy of the plan,” he
said earlier in The Hague, adding that the Greek Cypriot side was willing to
continue with the negotiations before and after EU accession and pledged he
would not let “this setback” prevent efforts to find a solution.
“Nothing that is placed at the negotiating table goes away permanently,” he
said.Addressing the Turkish Cypriots, he said: “I hope wiser thoughts prevail
so that we can create the conditions to get a solution.”
“On our side we gave our clear answer to the question he (Annan) posed...”
Greek Foreign Ministry Spokesman Panos Beglitis also said it was not the last
opportunity. “There has been, of course, disappointment at the stalemate. Mr
Denktash and Ankara have been intransigent,” he said.
Local political observers and analysts told the Cyprus Mail they were
not surprised at the outcome of the talks.
“It was what was expected eventually,” said one analyst. “I don't think anyone
was expecting that Denktash would sign up to this idea. Denktash has just
proved himself yet again... he was not as weakened as everybody thought. He
went to Ankara last weekend, got all the support he needed, and went to The
Hague knowing that he had Turkish support.”
Nor was there surprise at the outcome at UNFICYP headquarters in Nicosia
Airport, where the year-long intensive talks had taken place.
“There is sadness but little surprise,” said a source there. “Everyone feels
sorry for the (De Soto) team and the Turkish Cypriots are very disappointed.”
“We have seen the solution. No one ever said it would be palatable but it was
the most palatable that could be presented,” the source added.
“But this is not the end of it, nor of the Secretary-general's good offices
mission in Cyprus.”
CYPRUS MAIL 12/03/2003
Collapse of talks dashes Turkey's EU hopes
By Jean Christou
ALL EYES were on Turkey's EU prospects yesterday in the wake of the overnight
collapse of the Cyprus talks in The Hague.
The EU yesterday reconfirmed its intention to admit a divided Cyprus next year,
as the Commission warned Ankara that its obduracy on Cyprus could seriously
affect its own prospects.
A statement by Enlargement Commissioner Gunter Verheugen, read by his spokesman
Jean-Christophe Filori, said the Commission encouraged all parties concerned,
and, in particular Turkey, to strive to achieve a settlement.
But Filori warned that if there was no settlement when the EU executive
reported in December 2004 on Ankara's own bid to open membership talks, it
would be very difficult to recommend starting accession negotiations with
Turkey.
“If by the time of the report at the end of 2004 there is still no settlement
on Cyprus, we will be facing this rather weird situation where a candidate
country knocking at the door does not recognise one of our own member states,”
Filori said. “It appears difficult in this situation to envisage the start of
accession negotiations with Turkey,” Filori added.
Asked whether the EU would consider part of its territory under occupation by
Turkey after Cyprus' accession, Filori said: “Yes we can look at things in that
way. The occupation has always been considered illegal by the international
community, including the EU. Nothing changes there.”
One EU diplomat told Reuters that Turkey's sabotage of the Cyprus talks would
please opponents of Turkey's accession within the bloc. “There are plenty of
people here (in Brussels) who will be happy to use the failure of the Cyprus
talks to block Turkey's entry indefinitely,” one said.
It has also been suggested in Brussels that both Cyprus and Greece would almost
certainly block the opening of accession talks with Turkey in the absence of a
Cyprus settlement.
Another diplomat said the Iraqi crisis had got in the way of a successful
outcome in The Hague. He suggested that the US State Department had quietly
signalled to the Turkish military that Ankara would incur no punishment if it
failed to cut a deal on Cyprus.
“There were mixed signals from Washington which the hardliners in Turkey could
use to block a Cyprus settlement. The civilian leadership in Turkey clearly
wanted a deal but under the circumstances they could not prevail,” he said.
In Nicosia, a regional political analyst told the Cyprus Mail that the
debacle in The Hague had complicated everything for Turkey.
He echoed Filori's comments that Turkey would be occupying an EU member state.
“That is important but a more important element is the question of
recognition,” he said. “Turkey is going to be in a position where it's going to
be not recognising a member of the same European Union it wants to join, so
Turkey is caught in a difficult situation and I don't think it's really
realised what's just happened.”
He felt Turkey may be just playing a political trump card in holding out on
Cyprus for the moment, as retaliation for being snubbed in Copenhagen.
“If Ankara had agreed to solve Cyprus now, what's to stop the EU in December
2004 from snubbing Turkey again by delaying the start of accession
negotiations,” the analyst added.
“They've calculated 'let's keep the Cyprus card in hand'… but the trouble is
suddenly they will turn it over and find that what they thought was an Ace is
now only a Two.”
CYPRUS MAIL 12/03/2003
Disappointment among ordinary Greek and Turkish Cypriots
By Sofia Kannas
SADNESS was the prevailing sentiment among most Greek and Turkish Cypriots on
either side of the Green Line yesterday, after Monday's joint meeting in The
Hague between UN Secretary-general Kofi Annan and the leaders of the two
communities failed to bridge the gap between the two sides.
Following talks lasting almost 20 hours, the UN yesterday admitted defeat.
Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash refused to put Annan's proposals for a
solution to his people in a referendum, which would have been held on March 30,
dealing a death blow to efforts to reunite the island before it signs a treaty
to join the European Union on April 16.
Sitting outside his shoe shop in old Nicosia, Charalambos Mitsingas told the Cyprus
Mail he was saddened but not surprised by the outcome of The Hague meeting.
“What happened was expected because it seems Denktash cannot change his stance
- there is a lot against him. And if there was a solution then all this would
come out in the open, so he prefers to wait a bit longer. I think when all
these things against him are known he will eventually leave the north, take all
his money with him, giving his health as an excuse. I think this will happen
nearer 2004 when Turkey comes into the game -- until then nothing will happen.
We will stay as we are.
“With Denktash's stance as it is we are better off as we are,” he added.
Eighty-year-old Karpis Kasantjian has not given up on the prospect of future
negotiations for a solution yet.
“We want a solution to the Cyprus Problem, we want a workable government where
Turkish and Greek Cypriots can live all together.
“I had four shops in the occupied north, I lost everything and I still want a
solution 100 per cent, but I think there were still a lot of points in the
Annan Plan that needed work… But it's Turkey which is the real problem.
“Things will get worse now, the longer time goes on, but I hope the two sides
can come back to negotiations again.”
Christoforos Charalambous believes a solution is not far away despite the
failure of both sides to agree to referendums on Monday.
“I want a solution still, personally… the Annan Plan may not have been perfect
but I hope there will be a solution in future. I believe there will be a
solution in the next two years, in fact.”
Androulla Yerakiotou is not so optimistic.
“I don't think we can feel too optimistic right now -- I only hope I could be,
but it's hard especially given Denktash's obstinacy… Of course we want a
solution, I'm a refugee from the north, but things don't look as rosy now as
they did before (Monday). It really depends on the Turks I feel, not on us. I
think we are all trying. But we need a solution now, the longer the situation
goes on the worse things will become. But it's not looking good.”
Ioanna Antoniou cited Denktash's obstinacy as the stumbling block in the
failure to reach a solution.
“Whenever Denktash becomes obstinate, nothing happens, we have seen it on many
occasions… perhaps with someone more reasonable maybe a solution could be
found. Of course Mr Denktash doesn't work on his own, Turkey tells him what to
do even though Turkey appears to be more willing recently.”
And will the UN now abandon its efforts to unite the island?
“I believe that now all the attention will turn to Iraq and I don't think the
international community will attempt to find a solution again in the near
future.”
At Nicosia's Ledra Palace, where Greek and Turkish Cypriots were giving blood
in a donor drive to save a Turkish Cypriot girl, 26-year-old Turkish Cypriot
Serkan Hasturer was in sombre mood.
“I believe last night we had bad news and it was not an expectation of mine,
and I believe the majority of (Turkish Cypriots) were not expecting this
result. There is a lot of disappointment and anger -every one who thinks of his
own future must make long-term plans and if someone wants to commit suicide he
has no right to put a gun to my head too…”
And is he hopeful for a solution in future?
“That's a hard question - if one side has more strength than the other then the
balance will not be equal. I don't think a (future solution) will be under the
same conditions…. Looking at it from the (our) side, this was the best chance
for a solution we have been offered since 1974.”
Muammer Gayusoglu agreed.
“We want peace urgently. We are very disappointed with what happened on Monday.
We want a referendum still.
“But we want one now, not in the future,” he added.
Sevket Oznul was quick to blame Denktash.
“All Turkish people want peace but Mr Denktash didn't want peace - that's my
opinion.”
Sevda Cenkci said she was bitterly disappointed with the deadlock in The the
Hague, but did not believe Denktash did not want peace.
“What can I say? We were expecting something (on Monday), but… nothing.
“I believe that both Mr Denktash and the people want peace. But you know the
situation after 1974… (the two sides) have been separated for a long time, that's
the (difficulty). And the politics are also a problem in my opinion… (the
people) don't deserve this…The (government) don't want peace though, because
they want to have everything.”
But she hasn't completely given up hope yet.
“We are still hopeful -- we are waiting for April now…”
CYPRUS MAIL 12/03/2003
Silence in the north as the news sinks in
By George Psyllides
THERE was an air of eerie silence in the occupied areas yesterday, following
the collapse of the talks on the Cyprus problem in The Hague.
Depression was in the air in the occupied part of Nicosia and there was no sign
of the angry spontaneous demonstrations that followed the December European
Union summit in Copenhagen, where Cyprus received an invitation to join the
bloc irrespective of a solution.
One eyewitness said it was very quiet, with fewer cars on the streets than
usual.
There was no air of revolt, though many believe the first reaction from many
Turkish Cypriots would be to abandon the north in search of a better future
abroad.
They blamed Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash for the collapse, but also
felt betrayed by Turkey.
In the south, authorities have prepared contingency plans for a mass influx of
Turkish Cypriots, though no security measures were visible on the Green Line.
The Turkish Cypriot opposition are determined to go ahead with their own
referendum on a solution on March 30, though their request to the United
Nations and the European Union to send monitors have not yet been answered.
Opposition Republican Turkish Cypriot party leader Mehmet Ali Talat laid the
blame for the collapse of the talks squarely on Denktash.
“We have lost an opportunity, we have rejected the best plan to date that could
have solved the Cyprus problem, and we know Denktash is responsible for this,”
Talat said.
He said the opposition would push for early elections, anticipating that
support for Denktash in 'parliament' had dwindled.
Talat said the 'government' controlled around 35 seats in the 50-seat
'parliament' but early elections could be achieved.
“The Greek Cypriots have won the game; (now) they could easily join the EU
while the Turkish Cypriots would have to wait for political change,” Talat
said.
But his party does not believe that everything is over, even after ruling AK
party leader and soon-to-be prime minister Tayyip Erdogan's apparent about turn
on the Cyprus problem.
Erdogan, who appeared more conciliatory when he first came to power, has in the
past few days adopted a more hard line stance.
Yesterday, Erdogan predicted the recognition of the breakaway regime as a
“founding state having a sovereign and equal political status”.
But the opposition in the north believe Erdogan was playing the system, wanting
the people to realise for themselves the potential consequences that the Cyprus
issue might have on Turkey, especially after Cyprus becomes a full EU member,
which is now seems inevitable after the UN blamed the Turkish side for the
collapse of talks.
The EU has already warned Turkey that it would be difficult to consider its
membership if Cyprus remains divided, as candidate Turkey would be in military
occupation of an existing member state.
CYPRUS MAIL 12/03/2003
Politicians unite to blame Denktash
By a Staff Reporter
THERE was muffled disappointment over the impasse at The Hague, as the
political community put the blame squarely on Turkish intransigence.
Despite UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan's statement that a similar opportunity
would not present itself again “any time soon,” party leaders on the island
insisted there was still hope for a settlement; conventional wisdom yesterday
said that Cyprus' pending accession to the EU would provide new momentum to
peace efforts.
Greek Cypriot politicians were in complete agreement over who was responsible
for derailing the talks in The Hague. Communist AKEL boss Demetris Christofias
said Rauf Denktash alone was to blame for the impasse, for his insistence on
two separate sovereign states. “Unfortunately, once again Denktash has been
fully backed by Ankara, which seems to be hanging on to its expansionist policy
vis-à-vis Cyprus,” read an announcement by Christofias yesterday.
For his part, former Foreign Minister Yiannakis Cassoulides predicted that
Cyprus' upcoming accession to the EU would trigger a new round of intensified
diplomatic activity following failure of The Hague talks. According to
Cassoulides, Cyprus should work with the UN Security Council to encourage the
Secretary-general to continue his efforts.
“Clearly, it was Turkey's choice that Cyprus sign the accession treaty without
a settlement to the political problem,” said Cassoulides.
The former minister went on to add that the Turkish Cypriot community needed
support now more than ever, advising that a financial aid package be made
available.
DIKO's Andreas Angelides agreed that from now on the onus would be on Turkey.
“Look at it this way; once we get into the European Union, Turkey will be the
only country that maintains occupation forces in an EU-member state.”
Socialist KISOS honorary chairman Vassos Lyssarides -- no champion of the Anan
plan -- said the impasse in The Hague would not necessarily have negative
consequences. In Lyssarides' view, the deadlines of the UN plan were too tight
for an issue as complex as the Cyprus problem.
“A nation's fate cannot be decided over the space of a few weekends,” he
remarked.
Lyssarides reiterated his call for the drawing up of a “comprehensive national
strategy” making maximum use of Cyprus' EU prospects. The veteran politician
went on to criticise the UN's Secretary-general, saying, “unfortunately it
seems Kofi Annan represented the interests of major powers and not of the
entire international community.”
CYPRUS MAIL 12/03/2003
US raps Denktash over talks collapse
By a Staff Reporter
THE UNITED States appeared to blame Turkish Cypriot leader Raul Denktash
yesterday for the collapse in The Hague of the Cyprus peace talks.
"We find it very regrettable that Mr Denktash has denied Turkish Cypriots
the opportunity to determine their own future and to (vote) on such a
fundamental issue," US State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said in
Washington without voicing any similar criticism of President Tassos
Papadopoulos.
"We are deeply disappointed that the (UN) Secretary-general's discussions
with the two leaders in The Hague did not result in an agreement to put, as
planned, a referendum (to) both communities," Boucher said at his daily
briefing
CYPRUS MAIL 12/03/2003
Cyprus reunification talks end in failure
Staff
and agencies
Tuesday March 11, 2003 Guardian
Talks to reunify Cyprus have failed, the UN secretary-general, Kofi Annan,
announced today as he left all-night negotiations with Greek and Turkish
leaders.
"We have reached the
end of the road," Mr Annan said, signaling the end of months of intense
efforts to reunite the Mediterranean island split into Greek and Turkish sides
after being divided by war in 1974.
Mr Annan had used Cyprus's
impending entry into the European Union to pressure the Greek Cypriot
president, Tassos Papadopoulos, and the Turkish Cypriot leader, Rauf Denktash,
to agree on a federation plan that would bring the two sides together under a
single weak central government.
Mr Annan had called the
two leaders to the Hague, Netherlands, yesterday in a bid to get agreement on a
deal that has been on the table since last November. But today he said:
"The efforts to salvage the project of a united Cyprus ... regretfully
have not proved successful."
However, the Turkish prime
minister, Abdullah Gul, said he believed United Nations efforts to reunite
Cyprus had not completely ended and that Turkey still sought a solution on the
island. "The secretary-general said there was no agreement but he did not
completely close the doors," Mr Gul told reporters. "Efforts for a
lasting solution will continue."
If the UN plan had been
approved by the Greek and Turkish communities, Cyprus could have signed an
accession agreement with the European Union on April 16 as a united country.
Without agreement, the
whole of Cyprus will be accepted as a member, but with provisions for EU laws
to apply to the breakaway Turkish north only after the island is reunited.
The talks stumbled over
Turkish insistence that their breakaway Cypriot state win full recognition, and
demands by the Greeks for the right of refugees to return to homes in northern
Cyprus that they left 29 years ago.
Mr Annan cited other
issues that proved beyond reach. He said the Greek Cypriots wanted more clearly
defined powers for the central government and an agreement on "security
issues," a reference to the number of troops from the two motherlands -
Greece and Turkey - that could be stationed on the island.
The UN secretary-general
continued discussing the issue with special envoys from Greece, Turkey and
Britain for several hours after Mr Papadopoulos stormed out of the talks,
accusing Mr Denktash of rejecting Mr Annan's reunification proposals. But the
UN chief failed to come up with a package that would rescue the plan.
"The Annan plan is
not acceptable," Mr Denktash said, complaining that the proposal to allow
a limited return of Greek refugees would require 100,000 Turkish Cypriots to
leave their homes - a figure contested by the Greek community.
Mr Denktash suggested that
property rights could have been handled in a global exchange of population - an
idea not included in the plan that Mr Annan put forward after months of
preparation.
Mr Annan brought the two
leaders to the Hague yesterday to get their commitment to submit his
reunification plan to their communities in separate referendums.
Greek officials said their
side agreed in principle to hold a popular vote, but Mr Denktash told
reporters: "This was not a plan we could ask the people to vote on."
Details of the final
negotiations were not known, but Mr Annan had been expected to offer amendments
to his plan and an extension of the March 30 deadline for the approval by the
two Cypriot communities in separate referendums.
Mr Annan left open the
possibility of resuming the talks at a later stage. "My plan remains on
the table" for the two leaders to pick up whenever they are ready, he
said.
At the same time, he said
he was instructing his special envoy to Cyprus, Alvaro de Soto, to close his
office on the island and return to New York to prepare a full report.
Mr Annan said he shared
"a deep sense of sadness" with residents of the island. "I am
not sure another opportunity like this one will present itself again any time
soon."
But he added that he has
not given up on the two peoples of Cyprus. "I saw in their eyes their
longing for peace and reunification," he said.
Despairing at the leaders'
inability to reach agreement after decades of talks, Mr Annan came up with the
referendum idea after Turkish Cypriots staged mass demonstrations in favour of
the plan, and certain Greek Cypriot politicians and newspaper columnists
expressed support.
Cyprus has been split
since Turkey invaded in 1974 in the wake of an abortive coup by supporters of
union with Greece. The breakaway state in the north, about one-third of the
island, is only recognised by Turkey, which maintains 40,000 troops there.
EU tells Turkey to push Cypriot leader into line
Denktash stuns island by
holding out against deal
Ian
Black in Brussels and Helena Smith in Nicosia
Wednesday March 12, 2003
The Guardian
Turkey was told yesterday that it must cooperate in the search for peace in
Cyprus if it wants to begin its long-coveted talks on joining the EU.
A spokesman for Günter
Verheugen, the EU enlargement commissioner, said Ankara would be "well
advised" to consider the consequences for its membership application if no
agreement was reached in Cyprus.
Last-ditch talks in the
Hague between the Greek and Turkish communities in Cyprus ended early yesterday
with the Turkish Cypriot leader, Rauf Denktash, rejecting the settlement which
the EU had hoped could be agreed before the island joins the union.
The UN secretary general,
Kofi Annan, who has been trying to bring about an agreement on lines drafted by
the UN, said he was saddened by the failure of the negotiations, but he
insisted that the plan for a federal union remained valid.
Without an agreement,
there will be 30,000 Turkish soldiers occupying part of the territory of an EU
member state - the "Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus" - when
Cyprus joins in May next year.
The EU said Cypriot
membership remained on track. But there was deep disappointment and stunned
disbelief on both sides of the island's divide, although tempered by some
optimism that an agreement will be reached eventually.
When Cyprus is a member EU
laws will not apply in the northern part of the island, which is recognised as
a state only by Ankara.
Mr Verheugen's spokesman,
Jean-Christophe Filori, said: "If by the end of 2004 there is still no
settlement on Cyprus, we will be facing this rather weird situation where a
candidate country knocking at the door does not recognise one of our own member
states."
The Turkish government has
promised to continue to work for a settlement, but there are doubts whether the
influential military establishment will agree that it should do so.
EU leaders agreed at
Copenhagen in December to begin membership talks with Turkey after December
2004 if Ankara was judged to be meeting the union's standards on human rights
and democracy.
Diplomats say that there
are plenty of people who will be happy to exploit the Cyprus impasse to deny EU
membership to a country of nearly 70 million Muslims.
In the Turkish part of the
Cypriot capital Nicosia, Akile Gamze, a bookshop owner, said: "We never
thought this day would come; of course we're sad and angry.
"In the end
reunification, the UN plan, was about our future and how we're going to live in
five or 10 years time as we are now with no one recognising us we are not only
poor, we have no identity, which is not a way to live."
Many of the younger
generation were seriously considering emigrating, she added.
Opinion polls have shown
that more than 80% of Turkish Cypriots support EU membership, as a means of
ending the years of trade blockades and soaring unemployment.
On both sides of the
divide supporters of rapprochement said they were heartened by Mr Annan's
statement that his plan remained on the table, and yesterday's EU announcement
was greeted in Turkish Cyprus with almost palpable relief.
Opposition politicians
there said they did not think it was the end of attempts to solve the dispute.
"This is by no means
the end... it's just a temporary victory for Rauf Denktash and those forces in
Turkey who do not want to join the EU," the general secretary of the
Republican Turkish party, Ferdi Soyer, told the Guardian.
"The AKP [the
government party in Turkey] is very aware that Cyprus has to be solved if
Turkey wants to get into the EU... Let a few days pass and you will see that the
Turks will realise the error of their ways in not pushing Denktash for
asolution."
He was convinced that once
the incoming Turkish prime minister, Tayyip Erdogan, had settled in, Ankara
would change its tune, "just as it has begun to do over Iraq and the
deployment of US troops, which is going to happen".
"The Turkish Cypriot
opposition will boycott parliament to show its displeasure," he said.
"Then we will stage our own referendum on the UN plan, which will prove
that what Turkish Cypriots want is to live in harmony with Greek
Cypriots."
Turkey's EU bid in doubt after Cyprus talks collapse
By Stephen Castle in The Hague
12 March 2003
Turkey was warned yesterday that its bid for EU membership was in fresh doubt after Rauf Denktash, the Turkish Cypriot leader, was blamed for the failure of a United Nations push to reunite Cyprus.
Marathon talks on the future of the divided island broke up without agreement yesterday, guaranteeing only the Greek part of the island will enter the EU next May.
Despite widespread public support for the deal in northern Cyprus, Mr Denktash rejected the plan, claiming it would mean the uprooting of thousands of people. Some EU diplomats blamed Mr Denktash explicitly for the failure, and the European Commission said it would be very difficult for the EU to start membership negotiations with Turkey.
The Commission points out that Ankara does not recognise Greek-controlled Cyprus, which will be a full member of the EU next year. Under such circumstances, the EU will find it extremely hard to open membership talks with Turkey, something it will consider in December 2004.
A Commission spokesman said: "If, by the time of the report at the end of 2004, there is still no settlement on Cyprus, we will be facing this weird situation where a candidate country knocking at the door does not recognise one of our own member states. It appears difficult in this situation to envisage the start of accession negotiations with Turkey."
The UN secretary general, Kofi Annan, had been hoping to clinch an agreement to put his reconciliation plan to a referendum in both parts of the island on 30 March. That would have allowed Cyprus to sign up for EU membership as one entity when it signs an accession treaty on 16 April. Without an accord, Greek-controlled Cyprus will join the EU alone.
After 20 hours of talks, Mr Annan said the UN reconciliation process had "reached the end of the road". He said: "I'm not sure another opportunity like this will present itself again any time soon."
Lord Hannay of Chiswick, Britain's special envoy to Cyprus, said he was sad about the outcome. "I do not think Mr Denktash left [Mr Annan] any alternative," he said. A British official added: "It is clear the blame lies with Denktash."
Although Mr Annan said his ideas remained on the table, Alvaro de Soto, his special envoy to Cyprus, plans to close his office in Nicosia.
Diplomats believe their efforts, which relied on Mr Denktash coming under heavy pressure from Ankara, were dealt a fatal blow by the Iraq crisis. With the Turkish parliament in revolt over US requests to use the country as a launchpad for an invasion of Iraq, the Turkish prime minister in waiting, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, was unable to fight two battles at once.
After distancing himself from Mr Denktash, Mr Erdogan changed tack and backed him. Meanwhile the Greek Cypriot President, Tassos Papadopoulos, who also had concerns about the UN plan, was under little pressure to be flexible because he knew his part of the island would accede to the EU without a deal. With Mr Denktash refusing to budge, Mr Papadopoulos was never even put on the spot.
The next likely opportunity for movement will be in the run-up to a meeting of EU leaders in December 2004 when they consider whether to start talks with the Turks. But at that point, the Greek Cypriot side will have little incentive to make concessions. "We have just missed an opportunity which will be difficult to recreate," one official said.
Mr Denktash described the Annan plan as "not acceptable" saying it envisaged "the removal of 100,000 Turkish Cypriots from their place of habitation", a claim disputed by the Greek side. Mr Denktash said it was "not a plan we could ask the people to vote on".
THE INDEPENDENT 12/03/2003
UN talks to reunify Cyprus fail
AP
11 March 2003
Talks to reunify Cyprus have failed, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan announced today as he left all-night negotiations with Greek and Turkish leaders of the island.
"We have reached the end of the road," Mr Annan said, signalling the end of months of intense efforts to reunite the island split into Greek and Turkish sides since 1974.
Mr Annan had used the island's impending entry into the European Union to pressure Greek Cypriot President Tassos Papadopoulos and Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash to agree on a federation plan that would bring the two sides together under a single weak central government.
If the plan had been approved by the Greek and Turkish communities, Cyprus could have signed an accession agreement with the European Union on 16 April as a united country.
Without agreement, the whole of Cyprus will be accepted as a member, but with provisions for EU laws to apply to the breakaway Turkish north only after the island is reunited.
The talks stumbled over Turkish insistence that their Cypriot state won full recognition, and demands by the Greeks for the right of refugees to return to homes in northern Cyprus that they left 29 years ago.
Mr Annan cited other issues that proved beyond reach. He said the Greek Cypriots wanted more clearly defined powers for the central government and an agreement on "security issues," a reference to the number of troops from Greece and Turkey which could be stationed on the island.
Mr Annan met special envoys from Greece, Turkey and Britain for several hours after Mr Papadopoulos stormed out of the talks accusing Mr Denktash of rejecting Annan's reunification proposals. The UN chief failed to come up with a package that would rescue the plan.
"The Annan plan is not acceptable," Mr Denktash said, complaining that the proposal to allow a limited return of Greek refugees would require 100,000 Turkish Cypriots to leave their homes — a figure contested by the Greek community.
He suggested that property rights could have been handled in a global exchange of population — an idea not included in the plan that Mr Annan put forward after months of preparation.
He brought the two leaders to The Hague on Monday to get their commitment to submit his reunification plan to their communities in separate referendums.
Greek officials said their side agreed in principle to hold a popular vote, but Mr Denktash told reporters, "this was not a plan we could ask the people to vote on."
Details of the final negotiations were not known, but Mr Annan had been expected to offer amendments to his plan and an extension of the 30 March deadline for the approval by the two Cypriot communities in separate referendums.
He left open the possibility of resuming the talks at a later stage. "My plan remains on the table" for the two leaders to pick up whenever they are ready, he said.
At the same time, he said he was instructing his special envoy to Cyprus, Alvaro de Soto, to close his office on the island and return to New York to prepare a full report.
He said he shared "a deep sense of sadness" with residents of the island. "I am not sure another opportunity like this one will present itself again any time soon."
THE INDEPENDENT 12/03/2003
UN hands final choice on unity to Cypriots
By Stephen Castle in The Hague
11 March 2003
Kofi Annan, the UN secretary general, warned Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders yesterday that time to clinch a deal to reunite the Mediterranean island had almost run out, as the parties met for last-ditch talks in The Hague.
Rauf Denktash, the Turkish Cypriot leader, and his Greek Cypriot counterpart, Tassos Papadopoulous, had been asked to reply to a request for a UN reunification plan to go to a referendum in both parts of the island. But what was billed as a meeting in which the two sides would be asked bluntly to say "yes" or "no", turned into a full day of negotiations with little sign of movement.
Hopes of a meeting between Mr Denktash, who has taken a hardline stance, and Mr Papadopoulous, who was recently elected Greek Cypriot President, failed to materialise. "It slipped," said one UN official.
Earlier, Mr Annan and his envoy to Cyprus, Alvaro de Soto, had met Mr Papadopoulous and then Mr Denktash. Mr Annan used an newspaper article to warn that "decision time has arrived". A final meeting was planned last night as the talks continued in the marbled halls of the Peace Palace, an impressive Gothic building in the middle of The Hague.
Mr Annan conceded that the Iraq crisis had complicated the task, saying "our work has been overshadowed by the atmosphere of crisis and anxiety affecting the whole world".
European diplomats had hoped the new Turkish government would put pressure on Mr Denktash to settle, particularly as thousands of Turkish Cypriots have demonstrated in favour of the UN plan. But Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish leader, has toned down his support for the UN plan as his political difficulties at home have increased.
Mr Erdogan faces a crisis over American requests to use Turkey to launch an invasion of Iraq – calls already rejected by MPs. Analysts say the political row over Iraq has left him unwilling to take on another controversial issue simultaneously and yesterday Mr Erdogan was quoted in the newspaper Radikal as backing Mr Denktash, saying it would be "impossible to accept the Annan plan in its current form".
In the International Herald Tribune, Mr Annan confronted calls from both sides for more time. "The choice is not between my plan and a radically different one," he wrote. "The choice is between my plan and no solution at all."
Time is pressing because the UN plan is designed to allow the island, which has been divided since 1974, to agree on the reunification plan in time to join the EU as a single entity in May next year. If there is no deal, only the Greek-controlled part of Cyprus will become an EU member. Under Mr Annan's timescale, both Cypriot communities would vote on his plan in separate referendums on 30 March, ahead of the signing ceremony for Cypriot accession to the EU, which is due to take place on 16 April.
The UN proposals would see the construction of a federation with a rotating president and a large degree of autonomy for the two communities. While Mr Papadopoulous's election was seen as a complication for the UN process, Mr Denktash is seen as the major obstacle to a deal.
On Sunday, after extensive negotiations in Ankara, Mr Denktash declared that the Annan plan "does not yet have the qualities necessary to be submitted to a referendum".
The Turkish Cypriot government is highly reluctant to make concessions that will make the island part of the EU – a bloc which requires visas from Turkish citizens. Mr Denktash rejects the return of Greek Cypriot refugees and wants recognition of the breakaway Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus as a first step towards confederation.
Turkish Cypriot leaders are afraid that Greek Cypriots' greater wealth will allow them to take financial control of the island. However, the ruling elite has been rocked by huge demonstrations by Turkish Cypriots desperate to end their isolation and join the EU.
The Greek Cypriots, though more sympathetic, specifically object to the island's exclusion from the European Convention on Human Rights, which guarantees refugees' rights to reclaim land and property
THE INDEPENDENT 11/03/2003
UN presses for vote on the future of Cyprus
By Alex Efty in Nicosia
09 March 2003
The United Nations special envoy for Cyprus, Alvaro de Soto, warned yesterday that "a dark chasm of uncertainty" would open up if a UN plan for the reunification of the island was rejected by Greek and Turkish sides.
A crucial meeting will be held tomorrow at The Hague between the rival Cypriot leaders and the UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, who wants his controversial reunification plan to be voted on by the two communities on 30 March. President Tassos Papadopoulos, the Greek-Cypriot leader, and his Turkish-Cypriot counterpart, Rauf Denktash must decide whether they accept the referendum proposal, which in effect bypasses them.
The UN plan posits reunification as a single state consisting of Greek- and Turkish-Cypriot "constituent states", linked through a weak central government. But Mr Denktash insists on recognition of his breakaway state in northern Cyprus as a step to reunification as a confederation of two independent states, andrejects the return of Greek-Cypriot refugees.
The Greek-Cypriot side objects to provisions in the plan that exclude application of the European Convention on Human Rights, which guarantees that refugees can return and repossess property. (AP)
THE INDEPENDENT 09/03/2003
Turkish Cypriots protest against unity plan plan
By Donald Macintyre in Ankara
08 March 2003
Hopes of a lasting settlement to reunify Cyprus were dealt a possibly terminal blow last night when the Turkish Cypriot leader, Rauf Denktash, infuriated opponents by blocking a parliamentary decision on whether a UN peace plan should be put to a referendum.
Pro-Denktash members of the Turkish Cypriot assembly boycotted the session, depriving it of a quorum, after tens of thousands of demonstrators had earlier taken to the streets of Nicosia in a show of support for the Turkish Cypriot leader. Mr Denktash intends to block the proposed settlement, which Kofi Annan, the UN secretary general, has made clear he believes provides a unique opportunity to reunify the island.
But Mr Denktash will tell Mr Annan in The Hague on Monday that he rejects putting the proposals to a referendum. The Turkish government disappointed the UN and Western allies, including Britain, by failing to clearly and publicly urge the ageing North Cyprus leader to accept the deal.
Although police estimated that up to 40,000 Denktash supporters attended yesterday's demonstration, about 70,000 people demonstrated in favour of the UN plan in January.
Many senior diplomats and observers believe that Turkish Cypriots, as well as their Greek Cypriot counterparts, would vote for the UN terms if they had a chance. Pro-settlement Turkish Cypriot candidates won decisive victories in the last round of local elections, casting doubt on the long-term survival of Mr Denktash's supporters in the Northern Cyprus assembly if he vetoes a referendum. Some supporters of the plan claimed yesterday that the numbers marching yesterday had been bolstered by settlers from Turkey and even by officers in plain clothes from the large Turkish garrison in the town.
One estimate in Ankara had been that more than half the assembly members were inclined to back the referendum unless there was clear opposition from the Turkish government. Monday's meeting is crucial because a deal on the plan which envisages wide autonomy for the Turkish Cypriots within a loose federation would pave the way for a newly unified Cyprus to join the EU in May of next year. Although the new Greek Cypriot leader, Tassos Papadopoulos, has also raised objections to the plan, he will be under probably irresistible pressure to accept it, because even if the Turkish Cypriots oppose the plan, Greek-controlled Cyprus can still be admitted on its own.
The Turkish military and other elements of the state, including the President, Ahmet Necdet Sezer, have tended to back Mr Denktash. Some Turkish officials argued yesterday that the plan would have been more acceptable had the EU been prepared to set an earlier date than 2005 for the opening of Turkey's accession talks with the EU.
Turkish politicians in favour of a Cyprus deal, including Tayyip Erdogan, the leader of the ruling Justice and Development Party, are also reluctant to promote another controversial policy when they face the even more unpopular step of trying again to win parliamentary approval for US troops to invade Iraq from Turkey.
THE INDEPENDENT
Positive thinking
12 March 2003
In the global struggle between optimists and pessimists, the pessimists have won a victory. Cyprus, it turned out, could not be sorted. The Blairite doctrine that there is no difference so great that it cannot be reconciled by the application of long negotiation, sustained outside pressure, lawyerly drafting and democratic politics has been set back. Many observers thought the last-minute sticking point would come from the tough-talking Tassos Papadopoulos on the Greek Cypriot side. Instead, it came from Rauf Denktash, the nay-sayer of Turkish Cyprus for the past 25 years, who refused to put the deal to his people, presumably fearing that they would give the "wrong" answer. So, put Cyprus down on the negative side of the ledger, along with Israel-Palestine, rather than the cautiously positive side, along with Northern Ireland.
Some people might see yesterday's collapse as evidence that some of the world's problems are insoluble. We prefer, as a youthful and optimistic newspaper, to record it as one of those problems that has not been solved yet.
THE INDEPENDENT 12/03/2003
Turkey's
EU hope dashed as Cyprus talks falter
By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard in Brussels
(Filed: 12/03/2003) DAILY TELEGRAPH
The European Union vowed yesterday to press ahead with the admission of a divided Cyprus in 2004 despite a breakdown in peace talks that has virtually doomed Turkey's hopes of joining the EU in the foreseeable future.
The 13-month talks collapsed late on Monday after Rauf Denktash, the Turkish Cypriot leader, wrote off a United Nations-brokered deal as "unacceptable".
He feared that many Turkish Cypriots would lose their homes as Greeks reclaimed their expropriated properties in the north, which is under the occupation of 30,000 Turkish troops.
The EU will now inherit the intractable conflict. It does not recognise the breakaway Turkish republic created by Mr Denktash in defiance of the UN in 1974 after Athens orchestrated a coup aimed at uniting the entire island with Greece.
Brussels insists that the island be absorbed whole, so it could now find itself in direct confrontation with Turkish forces just yards across the heavily-armed "Atilla Line" that runs through Nicosia.
The European Commission issued a formal statement regretting the collapse of the talks, but insisted that "the accession process will go ahead as foreseen according to the existing timetable".
EU leaders approved Turkey's bid to join at a stormy summit in Copenhagen last December provided it cleaned up its human rights record.
But a Commission spokesman said yesterday that it would be "very difficult" to start entry talks before the festering conflict in Cyprus was resolved.
"If by the time of the report at the end of 2004 there is still no settlement on Cyprus, we will be facing this rather weird situation where a candidate country knocking at the door does not recognise one of our own member states," he said.
Kofi Annan, the UN secretary-general, who flew to The Hague for a final round of peace talks on Monday, had hoped for a deal creating a Swiss-style federation with power-sharing arrangements and safeguards for the Turkish minority.
It would have cleared the way for a referendum in both parts of the island at the end of March, just in time for the signing of the accession treaties by the EU's 10 new members on April 16.
EU and UN diplomats have long blamed 79-year-old Mr Denktash for failing to meet the Greek Cypriot side half-way in negotiations, and singled him out yesterday as being the real barrier to a settlement.
"I am sad about it, but I do not think that Mr Denktash left him [Mr Annan] any alternative," said Lord Hannay, Britain's special envoy to Cyprus.
But there was also strong suspicion that the Turkish government chose to let the talks break down rather than face internal strains with the Turkish armed forces, known for their strong sympathies for the Turkish Cypriot cause.
The Greek government described Mr Denktash and his backers on the Turkish mainland as "intransigent".
"It's not possible that Turkey can hope to advance on the European track if it maintains its intransigent attitude on a major question which determines its future at the heart of Europe," said Christos Protopapas, the government spokesman.
But Abdullah Gul, the outgoing Turkish prime minister, sought to calm the waters, promising to keep pushing for a settlement for Cyprus. "Efforts for a lasting solution will continue," he said.
• The head of Turkey's ruling party, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, was appointed prime minister yesterday, four months after his party came to power in general elections.
"The president has given me the task of forming the new government," said Mr Erdogan, who heads the Justice and Development Party (AKP), after a meeting with President Ahmet Necdet Sezer.
Mr Erdogan's appointment follows his election to a parliamentary seat in a by-election at the weekend. Earlier yesterday, he was sworn in as a member of parliament, and the outgoing prime minister, Abdullah Gul, from the same party, resigned.
Cyprus peace talks: is all now lost?
11/03/2003 THE TIMES
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'Cyprus could not be sorted'
Peace talks collapse
Thursday
March 13, 2003
The Guardian
Independent Editorial, March 12
"In the global
struggle between optimists and pessimists, the pessimists have won a victory.
Cyprus, it turned out, could not be sorted. Many observers thought the
last-minute sticking point would come from the tough-talking Tassos
Papadopoulos on the Greek Cypriot side. Instead, it came from Rauf Denktash,
the nay-sayer of Turkish Cyprus for the past 25 years, who refused to put the
[United Nations] deal to his people, presumably fearing that they would give
the 'wrong' answer. So, put Cyprus down on the negative side of the ledger,
along with Israel-Palestine, rather than the cautiously positive side, along
with Northern Ireland.
"Some people might
see yesterday's collapse as evidence that some of the world's problems are
insoluble. We prefer, as a youthful and optimistic newspaper, to record it as
one of those problems that has not been solved yet."
Cyprus Mail Editorial, Nicosia, March 12
"All diplomatic
salvage plans kept crashing against the reinforced concrete wall of Turkish
obduracy.
"With the collapse of
every major peace initiative (of which there is one about every 10 years)
Denktash moves a few steps closer to his long-term objective - the permanent
partition of the island. To him, scuppering any attempt aimed at the
reunification of the island is an achievement. With the negotiation process
having run its course and the UN washing its hands of the problem, brave new
thinking is required by the Greek Cypriot side if it remains committed to
reunifying the island."
Stamos Zoulas Kathimerini, Greece, March 12
"Denktash rejected
the plan despite the fact that the overwhelming majority of his fellow citizens
wanted the plan as well as EU membership. He even snubbed the calls of Tayyip
Erdogan, Turkey's ostensible power-wielder, who failed to keep his promise of
imposing a more flexible stance on Denktash. It is clear that our country
cannot trust any Turkish premier [to be] independent, for decisions actually
reside with the all-powerful military establishment.
"From now on, Greece
must wait for tangible proof of Turkey's goodwill before accepting any
initiative or proposal from Turkey."
Ilnur Cevik Turkish Daily Press, March 12
"The Greek Cypriots
have nothing to lose. Yes, their people will be restricted to live in the
narrow confines of southern Cyprus but they will enter the EU and will benefit
from this while the Turkish Cypriots will be left out of the equation. In the
end the Greek Cypriots would simply veto EU plans to start accession talks and
that would be the end of our EU adventure. Denktash may have used the
hardliners in Ankara to shoot down a solution that he sincerely believes is
against the interests of his people [but] in the process he has closed the
doors for Turkey's EU membership."
Editorial Arab News, Saudi Arabia, March 12
"Sometimes it is the
little things that shape history. Denktash has, at one fell swoop, handed not
just his own people's hopes of EU membership over to the Greek Cypriots but
Turkey's as well. Even if the rest of the Europeans agree that Turkey's bid can
go ahead, Cyprus is now the doorkeeper."
Quentin Peel Financial Times, March 12
"The collapse of the
Cyprus peace deal is the most concrete example of collateral damage to date
caused by the obsession of George Bush and Tony Blair with military
intervention in Iraq.
"A disputed frontier
becomes the de facto external border of the EU. All the island's unresolved
disputes will land on the EU agenda. The one real hope of a deal was to get
Ankara and Athens to put pressure on the respective communities, backed by
concerted efforts from Washington, London and Brussels. But they have all -
especially Turkey and the US - been hopelessly distracted by Iraq."
Look into the dark heart of Europe
Turkey is now a real Muslim democracy.
We cannot ignore it
Peter
Preston
Monday November 11, 2002
The Guardian
Consider this amazement. A nation of 68 million goes to the polls. Not a single
MP from the previous coalition survives. The party of the departing prime
minister, which received 22% last time round, nets 1% of the vote. Both the new
party of government and the new opposition are also new to parliament. Eat your
heart out, IDS. Swing off on your old swingometer, Peter Snow.
And consider a second
amazement. Last summer, while the rest of Europe slept, this same nation
(within a matter of weeks) abandoned the death penalty, lifted draconian curbs
on its press and reached out inclusively towards the separatist minority it had
repressed for decades. The biggest victory for human rights in two decades.
It is time to talk about
Turkey and Recep Tayyip Erdogan. It is time to think long and hard about a land
whose fate affects all our futures. Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, who is paid to
think about the constitutional future of Europe and its enlargement, has done
enough pondering already. No, he tells Le Monde, Turkey must "never"
be allowed to join the EU. It has "a different culture, a different
approach, a different way of life. It is a country close to Europe, an
important country: but it is not a European country."
There now ... somebody of
weight, somebody of influence, has said out loud what EU politicians and
diplomats have been muttering behind their hands for years. Turkey may be sweet-talked
and strung along, led to believe that what 70% of its population wants most
dearly - a seat in the Brussels sun - is possible, and attainable to a fixed
timetable. But, when push comes to shove, it can just shove off. Our fine words
are the dross of hypocrisy.
And that does matter in
crucial ways. It matters here and now, in Britain, just down the road from
where I live. Down that road, Greeks and Turks, Greek Cypriots and Turkish
Cypriots, live and work side by side. Here's a Greek Orthodox church. Here's a
mosque. Can Cyprus - a scar of a crisis waiting to re-open - be put back
together again? Can the "will of the UN" we hear so much about be
respected at last? Can ancient enemies find modern peace?
It could matter within a
few months if Turkey is spurned again at the Copenhagen enlargement summit and
decides to annex Northern Cyprus. It will matter, make no mistake, a dozen or
so years on, if Turkey does join the EU and millions of those (swiftly
proliferating) 68 million follow their brothers and sisters into Europe - into
Germany and France and the UK - chasing work and a chance of prosperity: but
this time with the rights of full EU citizens.
It matters immediately in
the squeeze on Saddam. Mr Erdogan and his AKP (Justice and Development Party)
are Islamists. Their military help is make or break for any successful strike
at Baghdad. Through their winning campaign, they sought to withhold such help.
Today, offering reassurance in victory, they promise to do anything the UN
wants. But it's a fault line in the planning.
This election result did
not come out the way those "western experts" we pay to read the runes
predicted. It brings the threat of yet another army coup closer. And it raises
fundamental questions of principle. We say - Bush says, Blair says - that we
have a mission to bring democracy to the Muslim world, beginning with Iraq.
Well, good on us. But do we start by conniving at the destruction of a
genuinely democratic Muslim government on our doorstep?
The thing that matters
most of all, though, is to look into the dark heart of the Europe we're
building. Is it fundamentally sort of white-ish and kind of Christian? Does Mr
Giscard d'Estaing ring bells when he talks about the impossibility of absorbing
"different ways of life"?
More visceral issues flood
in every which way, of course. There is the Washington-Ankara connection.
Washington can't understand why Europe doesn't just turn the key and sweep
Turkey in tomorrow (like Mexico into the North American Free Trade Agreement).
There is the Nato bind. Turkey is a vital member and (sotto voce) Nato
enlargement has been proceeding rather faster than the EU version. Get those
two enlargements tangled and you're in trouble. There is the dear old EU debate
about "wider and shallower" or "narrower and deeper"
integration, which sets the French hopping.
Don't underestimate the
likelihood of this stew boiling over. What happens to Turkey, and Turkey's
place in the world, is high on most diplomatic agendas. From wars against
terror to wars against poverty, it's the tops. But we still have to confront
and answer the central question. Is Turkey - inside the Council of Europe, the
Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development and Nato - nevertheless
not European? Is Mr Giscard d'Estaing dismally, finally right?
The tawdry truth is that,
yes ... racism and cultural bigotry and fear and economic failure still stalk
the Europe and Britain in which we live; that France can't cope with its
Algerians, Germany with its existing Turks - and perhaps we can't cope either.
So close the door quietly, muttering excuses.
And the hope, with great
expectations attached? That those summer human-rights reforms in Ankara, the
transforming magic of the EU we forget, is only the start of freedom's wonders.
That when Mr Erdogan offers a Cyprus solution at last, he means it. That our
Europe of declining birth rates will need the youth and dynamism Turkey brings.
That our bravest new world, inescapably, joyously, is multi-cultural and
multi-ethnic.
Travel with trepidation, I
think. But above all: travel hopefully.
Turkish Cypriots blast EU for 'wrecking talks'
By Jean Christou
THE TURKISH Cypriot side has declared a war of words against the European Union
after Brussels slammed Turkey for bringing down the Cyprus talks in The Hague,
blaming the EU for the failure to reach a settlement.
Compounding verbal attacks on the EU since Tuesday, the authorities in the
north on Wednesday prevented EU ambassador Adrian van der Meer from crossing to
address a medical conference.
After The Hague debacle, when Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash, backed by
Ankara, refused UN Secretary-general Kofi Annan's request to hold a referendum
on his solution plan, the EU warned the move had dealt a severe blow to
Turkey's own accession aspirations.
A statement by Enlargement Commissioner Gunter Verheugen, read by his spokesman
Jean-Christophe Filori on Tuesday, said that if there was no settlement on
Cyprus by the time it became a member in 2004, “we will be facing this rather
weird situation where a candidate country knocking at the door does not
recognise one of our own member states.” He also agreed that Cyprus' accession
as a divided island would mean that Turkey was in occupation of a member state,
a comment which has incensed the Turkish Cypriots and Turkey.
A statement issued yesterday by the 'TRNC Foreign and Defence Ministries' said
Filori's comments had been received with “astonishment” and that the collapse
of the talks was entirely due to the rigid stance of the Greek Cypriots. “Mr
Flori (sic) does not have the slightest idea about the historical and legal
realities in Cyprus,” the statement said.
“It is feared that the EU, which has already dealt the biggest blow on the
efforts for reconciliation in Cyprus by accepting the Greek Cypriot
administration as a member… by making irresponsible statements may prompt the
Greek Cypriot side into falsely believing that it could settle the question by
resorting to force - something which can not materialise.”
The first practical blow struck by the Turkish Cypriot authorities was stopping
the EU ambassador from crossing. According to Turkish Cypriot press, the
President of the Turkish Cypriot Medical Association, Dr Ahmet Gulle said that
he had invited Van der Meer to address a seminar to mark medical week, but that
the ambassador had been stopped from entering the north. The seminar had to be
cancelled, Gulle said.
"The EU perspective provides very important opportunities for increased
and faster economic development and for solutions and peace for the countries
related to the Cyprus problem. For this reason the approach to the issue with a
rejectionist and prohibitionist mentality does not fit with contemporary
thinking,” he told Yeni Duzen newspaper.
Denktash, who is still in Turkey and not due to return to the north until
tonight, also slammed Verheugen. “For years Mr Verheugen has been doing
everything in order to frighten us and Turkey. He has done all he can to
encourage the Greek Cypriots,” Denktash said.
Denktash on Tuesday warned that if the Republic of Cyprus joined the EU, the
Turkish Cypriot side would seek its own direct contact with the bloc and that
there would be no point in continuing negotiations with the Greek Cypriots. “We
will establish direct contact with the EU,” he said, adding he would approach
the EU unilaterally to ask it to accept.
But Van der Meer said yesterday this was not going to happen. Speaking after a
meeting with the Communications and Works Minister Kikis Kazamias, the EU
ambassador said: ''The regime in the north is not recognised by any state
except Turkey and therefore we cannot begin direct negotiations with them.”
Commenting on the UN plan in Istanbul, Denktash was quoted yesterday as saying
there was no ground for reconciliation with the Greek Cypriots. “I continuously
conveyed these facts to the UN Secretary-general,” he said. “In fact, lastly I
told him it was not the time for him to come to Cyprus -- 'you will go back
empty handed. This concerns your reputation because there are no grounds for
reconciliation'.”
On Tuesday, Annan said during a joint press conference in The Hague with Dutch
Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende that it had not been possible to reach a
settlement because ''one party had indicated he would not put the plan to
referendum and, of course, did not seem to seize the urgency of the work that
had to be done for us to meet that deadline and so we did not get the results
we wanted''.
He said he wished the two leaders well if they wanted to continue talking.
''And, of course, if it gets to a stage where they think we can be helpful, we
will always be prepared to help and they know where to find us,'' he said.
However, Government Spokesman Kypros Chrysostomides yesterday ruled out any
notion of talks with Denktash outside UN paramaters.
“We wish to continue negotiations within the UN framework and according to UN
Security Council resolutions. Under no circumstances will we divert from that
framework,” he said.
He also welcomed Annan's statement blaming the Turkish Cypriot leader for the
collapse of the talks. “This is the most coherent statement by the UN
Secretary-General as regards The Hague, and he blames Mr Denktash,” he added.
CYPRUS MAIL 14.03.2003