Greeks vote down Cyprus unity plan
Despite appeals from President Bush, Tony Blair, Kofi Annan and the European Union, three-quarters of the Greek community voted to reject the accord.
Diplomats said the scale of the rejection left little room for a second referendum, confirming their worst fears - that Cyprus would enter the EU on 1 May as a partitioned nation. The EU's eastern borders will now end in the infamous 'dead zone.'
In stark contrast to the Greek vote, 69.1 per cent of Turkish Cypriots endorsed the complex deal, opening the way for the international community to lift crippling trade blockades.
Last night, in what will be a blow to 30 years of Greek efforts to block international recognition of Turkish Cyprus, the EU Enlargement Commissioner Gunter Verheugen announced he would immediately look at ways of easing the embargoes.
The prospect of the EU's borders ending at a heavily- fortified frontier will cast a shadow over forthcoming celebrations to mark its eastward expansion.
'It seems as if the Cyprus problem is going to continue and that makes us very sad,' Feder Soyer, the deputy leader of the breakaway Turkish Republic's ruling Socialist Party, told The Observer from his office in northern Nicosia.
'We Turkish Cypriots want reunification. A "no" from the Greek Cypriots will be very bad news. It will lead to all kinds of frightening scenarios being played out, here and in Turkey.'
In what appeared to be the first signs of a political crisis in the self-declared state Rauf Denktash, its veteran leader and opponent of the UN blueprint, angrily insisted he would retain his position despite the result.
Furious UN officials and diplomats, who had worked around the clock to devise the 9,000-page peace plan, had desperately hoped both sides would endorse it in time for Cyprus's EU accession.
Reacting to the international disappointment over the result, the leader of the largest party in the Greek Cypriot coalition government, Dimitris Christofias, said: 'The result does not mean we don't want a settlement... What is needed is to resume negotiations to clear up points [in the plan] that need clarification in order to make it acceptable and with the guarantees on security that we feel are so vital.'
Although European law will technically extend across the whole island under its treaty of accession, EU laws and benefits will be suspended in the northern enclave until a solution is found.
The UN plan envisaged the creation of a loose federation of two largely autonomous, and politically equal, states on the island under a weak central government. But Greek Cypriots felt the plan was impractical and unjust.
'It breaks my heart to have to vote no. We want a solution but not this one,' said Panayiota Panayidou, a baker's wife, after she cast her ballot.
'We are the majority on this island, the Turks are a minority. Under this UN scheme we'll have to share everything 50-50 with them and I don't think that's fair.'
EU officials and politicians backing the plan had hoped to win a big enough percentage of the vote to hold a second referendum in the autumn, ahead of a crucial decision to allow Turkey to start EU membership talks. Ankara had been told in no uncertain terms that it had to show willing over Cyprus if it wanted to win a start date for the talks. Although implicit, the threat partly accounted for Ankara's extraordinary volte-face in the hardline policy it has traditionally pursued over Cyprus.
'It is true that the Greeks have had to confront the reality of a solution for the first time and that the whole process has been very quick, but frankly there's also been a lot of misinformation about the plan, too,' said one EU diplomat based in Nicosia.
'This is a huge, huge disappointment. The EU, after all, is meant to be the biggest peace project on earth. Sandbags and barbed wire are not what it is about.'
Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said he was 'saddened' by the Greek Cypriot vote, while the European Commission issued a statement saying that it 'deeply regrets that the Greek Cypriot community' had rejected the plan.
25 April 2004
Cyprus will enter the European Union as a divided country after Greek Cypriots overwhelmingly rejected the United Nations peace plan yesterday.
Turkish Cypriots strongly endorsed the settlement, with 61 per cent voting in favour but a crushing 78.5 per cent of Greek Cypriots said "no" to the power-sharing deal, according to late exit polls.
The result means only the Greek Cypriots will enjoy the benefits of EU membership as of 1 May. Cypriots were voting in separate referendums on UN Secretary General Kofi Annan's blueprint to reunify the island after three decades of division.
The defeat of the plan marks another lowpoint in Europe's longest-running conflict and threatens to derail Turkey's longstanding ambition of eventual entry into the 25-nation bloc. For diplomats who have worked for years to deliver a viable solution it was a frustrating turnaround in which the Turkish-Cypriot naysayers finally relented, only for Greek-Cypriot intransigents to take their place.
The EU Enlargement Commissioner, Guenther Verheugen, accused the Greek Cypriot President, Tassos Papadopoulos, of betrayal after he accepted the principles of the UN settlement but campaigned against the latest revision. "Papadopoulos will be the pariah of Europe," warned one diplomat.
Mr Papadopoulos assured voters future plans would be forthcoming, but diplomatic sources said the UN would remove its envoy, Alvaro de Soto, immediately.
The rejection leaves the EU with an eastern border that is a heavily guarded no-man's land, littered with landmines and patrolled by the UN.
Cyprus has been divided since 1974 when an Athens-engineered coup aimed at declaring union with Greece prompted Turkey to invade
26 April 2004
Europe's imminent enlargement hit its first major crisis yesterday as the EU prepared to admit the Greek half of Cyprus as a fully fledged member state, despite its rejection of a unification plan for the island.
Diplomats and officials are furious with the behaviour of the Greek Cypriots, and their controversial leader, Tassos Papadopoulos, who has been accused of suppressing free speech in his successful campaign to scupper a deal to reunite Cyprus. In Brussels, there was dismay because the fortified Green Line dividing the two parts of Cyprus will now become an EU external border.
On Saturday, 65 per cent of Turkish Cypriots backed a UN reunification plan in a referendum, but the Greek south rejected it with 76 per cent against. They knew that, without agreement in both parts of Cyprus, the Greek Cypriots alone would enter the EU on Saturday. At a meeting in Luxembourg today, the Greek Cypriots will face massive pressure to relax restrictions on trade with, and flights to, the Turkish self-styled Republic of Northern Cyprus, which is recognised only by Turkey. The EU's commissioner for enlargement, Günter Verheugen, who was prevented from appearing on Greek Cypriot TV during the referendum campaign to argue for a yes vote, said: "There is a shadow now over the accession of Cyprus. What we will seriously consider now is finding a way to end the economic isolation of the Turkish Cypriots."
MEPs have called for the north of the island to proceed with elections to the European Parliament in June, despite its exclusion from the EU. And diplomats were threatening an "icy" reception for Mr Papadopoulos, who is to join Tony Blair and leaders from 23 other countries to celebrate the EU's expansion in Dublin on Saturday.
Mr Papadopoulos is renowned as a hardline nationalist and began his career as a prominent member of EOKA, the guerrilla group that campaigned in the 1950s against British rule and for union with Greece. In the 1990s, his law firm was alleged to have set up companies through which the regime of Slobodan Milosevic is believed to have circumvented a UN embargo.
There was anger at the ruthless tactics used by the Greek Cypriot government to ensure a "no'' vote. "They have used censorship and propaganda," said one EU diplomat. "The manner in which they have campaigned has done huge damage to the Greek Cypriots."
In Luxembourg today the EU foreign ministers will try to agree a regulation laying down the relationship between the two parts of the island. Britain and Denmark are pressing for economic concessions to the Turkish north.
A British official said: "We are disappointed that the Greek Cypriots have voted "no" and we must send a clear signal to the Turkish Cypriots that we want a close relationship with them in the future. We do not want to drive them away; we want them closer to the EU."
That underlines the reverse from the position 12 months ago, when Turkish Cypriots were seen as the obstacle to a solution, with the Greek side regarded as being in favour of unity.
But whether the EU will be able to put enough pressure on the Greek Cypriots is unclear. Even before their accession to the EU on 1 May, they enjoy the support of the Greek government in Athens. Failure to agree on the regulation would create legal uncertainty but would not necessarily damage the interests of Greek Cypriots.
And there is little prospect of the EU pushing for the full recognition of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus; its policy is to have the island united in one country, not permanently divided.
The EU wants to put pressure on the Greek side to return to the UN plan which envisages a Swiss-style federation, with most powers devolved to separate Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot administrations. "Ultimately, we need another referendum," one senior diplomat said.
The Turkish Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, yesterday appealed to the EU to reward Turkey and Turkish Cypriots for their positive stance in the referendum. Oguz Demiralp, Turkey's ambassador to the EU, said: "Turkish Cypriots will be punished for having said "yes", by facing continued economic and political isolation from the rest of Europe. Is this fair? We trust that EU member states and EU institutions will assume their responsibilities in the face of this unacceptable situation."
Richard, Howitt, Labour foreign affairs spokesman in the European Parliament, called for immediate EU aid to northern Cyprus, the lifting of economic curbs and for Turkish Cypriot MEPs to be elected to the European Parliament.
Cyprus has been split into a Greek Cypriot-controlled south and a Turkish-occupied north since Turkey launched an invasion in 1974 after a coup by supporters of union with Greece.
THE INDEPENDENT
26 April 2004
Hanging on the rusty wire fence is a red notice that reads: "Forbidden zone. No entry."
Welcome to the resort of Varosha, once the thriving heartland of Cyprus's nascent tourism boom, now a ghost town that provides an eerie reminder of the cost of ethnic division. Behind the barbed wire and army checkpoints hundreds of deserted hotels and holiday homes are falling apart. Rotting wooden shutters swing in the wind and rain pours through the soaked timbers of collapsed roofs.
This sprawling resort would have been the first to benefit from an internationally brokered solution to the Cyprus problem. But after the failure of Saturday's referendum on the UN peace plan it remains as a symbol of a missed opportunity; an unwillingness to compromise that has made this Mediterranean paradise the centre of Europe's longest-running conflict.
Varosha has been assailed by more than natural forces and the smashed concrete and twisted iron bars are testament to the violence 30 years ago that forced its Greek Cypriot residents to flee approaching Turkish tanks after a failed coup intended to secure union with Greece.
Five days after the Greek nationalists toppled the government of Archbishop Makarios in Nicosia the Turkish army invaded and occupied a third of the island. The Turkish authorities decided against resettling the area and fenced it off to be used as a bargaining chip in negotiations with its former owners.
Evidence of their panicked departure is everywhere. Two abandoned leather suitcases lie side by side behind the nine-foot fence, preserving their unknown contents behind rusted locks. Through derelict walls you can catch a glimpse of broken picture frames scattered on the floor. "We left with just a shirt on," says Akis Savilis, a 62-year-old Greek Cypriot who owns one of the houses collapsing inside the forbidden zone. "I want to go back." Since the Turkish-controlled north was opened up to day trippers last year, Mr Savilis has been able to visit Famagusta and by pressing his nose up against the wire he can see his former home.
Giant cactuses have overrun the elaborate porches of art nouveau houses and tall trees have grown through the ruptured floorboards of once-grand reception rooms. Some of the island's most beautiful beaches can be found in Varosha, on the outskirts of Famagusta. It was the first development to hint at the tourist riches that would later make the Greek-Cypriots the wealthy European Union entrants they are today.
Among the Turkish Cypriots in Famagusta, there is a clear desire to bring back the Greek residents and the money that comes with them. At the Yildiz family restaurant the signs are in Greek as well as Turkish as they look to attract the day trippers who cross the green dividing line to visit their former homes. Sherer Sever, a Turkish Cypriot who flew back from his PhD studies in London to vote for a peace deal, said the time had come to reunite the island. "I voted for a solution, things have got to change," he said. "The ghost town is crazy and needs to have something done about it." His sentiment was echoed by Yiannis Skordis, Famagusta's Greek Cypriot mayor-in-exile. "We want a solution as soon as possible ... We have monuments and a town that needs saving. It has remained untouched for 30 years, if we leave it for another 10 to 20 years it might not be able to be saved," he warned.
Those who rejected the United Nations plan, led by the Greek Cypriot President, Tassos Papadopoulos, preyed on fears of the Turkish military and suspicion of the international community. The settlement was rejected by 76 per cent of the Greek community.
The vote leaves the plan in tatters, said James Ker-Lindsay, a regional analyst. "The position taken by all outside observers is that the Annan plan was it, there is no other plan. This was a very balanced document. There were very solid guarantees written into this plan."
Rejectionist politicians played up fears that the Turkish military would not stick to the terms of the agreement and that the EU and UN would be powerless to prevent it, said Mr Ker-Lindsay. Diplomats feel they have been double-crossed and talk on the Greek side of a second referendum is dismissed as wishful thinking.
Mr Ker-Lindsay backed the view of the EU commissioner for expansion, Günther Verheugen, who criticised tourist interests in the south for pushing for a "no" vote from fear of competition from a redeveloped north. "There are vested interests at play in all of this. The north is relatively unspoilt and could learn from the mistakes in the south," he said.
THE INDEPENDENT
Cyprus stays divided
The rejection by Greek Cypriots of the UN reunification plan was disappointing, mean-minded and wholly predictable. The moment the EU decided it would accept a unilateral application from Southern Cyprus, rather than insisting on an internal solution as a precondition for admission, it took away any incentive from the Greek side to compromise.
We do not say this with the gift of hindsight: we pointed it out at the time. Periodically throughout the 1990s, this newspaper warned that, once it accepted that the Greek Cypriot regime had the right to apply on behalf of the whole island, the EU would kill off any chance of a settlement; and so it has proved.
The accord that Greek Cypriots rejected so overwhelmingly is, in essence, that which they have been officially demanding for the past 30 years. It was a land-for-peace deal: Turkish Cypriots were to hand over a portion of the territory they have occupied since 1974 in return for recognition as equal partners in a bi-zonal federation.
There were, of course, disagreements around the margins over precisely which villages would be transferred, what powers the federal government would have and the terms on which refugees could return. But all sides were agreed on the outline, because all stood to gain: Turkish Cypriots saw the opportunity to end their isolation, Greek Cypriots to return to their old homes.
By the early 1990s, the two communities were on the point of accepting a UN plan remarkably similar to this one. Then, crashing through the delicate web of trade-offs, came the EU’s blundering - and arguably illegal - decision to admit Southern Cyprus with or without an agreement. From that day, the Greek Cypriot administration has lost all interest in reaching terms.
In the circumstances, it is odd that the EU should complain of betrayal. Greek Cypriots made the entirely rational calculation that they had nothing to lose by voting No. Logically, the EU should react to the vote by bringing Northern Cyprus back into the comity of nations, ending the trade embargo, restoring air links and offering de facto recognition.
At the very least, Turkish Cyprus should be offered a customs union with the EU on the same terms as Turkey. In practice, though, none of this is likely to happen as long as Greece can wield its veto. That, of course, has been the problem all along.
DAILY TELEGRAPH
UN brokers quit Cyprus as Greeks reject peace plan
Furious United Nations negotiators in Cyprus packed their bags yesterday and began to pull out, a day after Greek Cypriots overwhelmingly rejected a UN-backed plan to reunify the island.
The 20-strong team of mediators that had brokered the failed deal is said to be incensed after the No vote in the Greek south.
"Right now they're despondent and exhausted after the huge effort they've made," said Brian Kelly, a UN spokesman. "Some have already left. Others are packing their bags."
The world body's lawyers, financial experts and diplomats thought they had hammered out a deal suitable to both the Greek south and Turkish north. But in what they considered a betrayal, the Greek Cypriot government actively campaigned against the plan - resulting in a huge No vote in the south in Saturday's referendum.
Despite the Turkish north's support for the plan in a parallel plebiscite, the Greek Cypriots' rejection leaves the diplomatic effort in tatters.
"It was made clear that this was the last opportunity - there was no Plan B," said Mr Kelly.
Instead, attention will now turn to improving the lot of Turkish Cypriots, who have lived in international isolation since the invasion by the Turkish army in response to a Greek coup attempt in 1974.
As a result of the vote, the Turkish north will be excluded when Greek Cyprus enters the European Union on Saturday - to a frosty welcome - as one of the 10 new member states.
EU foreign ministers are to meet today. Sources hinted they will discuss all measures bar official recognition of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. That could mean a partial lifting of the 30-year-old trade embargo on the statelet, which is recognised only by Ankara.
The UN team was based at an airfield in Nicosia that lies in the no man's land between the north and south. About 25 miles away, a small village offers a rare glimpse of what might have been had the peace plan been passed.
Pyla also lies in the UN buffer zone, but there are no checkpoints, razor wire or minefields on the road to it. The 1,300 Greek and Turkish inhabitants live side by side, lounging around together in the heat of the day, monitored by a few UN peacekeepers.
Harmony is not total. There are two town councils, two places of worship - a mosque and a church - and even two cafes on the main square.
At the Macedonia Cafe, the Greek Cypriots play backgammon. At the Pile Turk, 15 yards away, they prefer cards. The coffee is much the same in both, but the dusty brew is called Greek coffee at one establishment and Turkish coffee at the other.
"Greek people don't come here, it's true," said Ayse Sakalli, a Turkish Cypriot who owns a sports shop. "And we don't go to their cafe. But we live together."
Pyla, where 75 per cent of Greek Cypriots rejected the UN plan - just as their community did elsewhere - is a testament to the ability of the two sides to live cheek by jowl without problems.
"There has never been any division here, even during the 1974 war," said Simon Mytides, deputy mayor to Pyla's Greeks. "We have never had any trouble between the two peoples in town."
Mr Mytides said he voted Yes in Saturday's referendum, and urged others to the same - but largely in vain.
"We voted No because we had no guarantee the Turkish army would leave," said Andreas Stavrou, sitting at the Macedonia. "They said they would, but what if they did not keep their promise? Who would make them leave?"
Many Greek Cypriots say they would have voted differently if a UN Security Council resolution offering such security guarantees had not been vetoed by Russia last week.
"For now," said Mr Mytides, "Pyla will just have to remain an example."
EU accuses Greek Cypriots of betrayal over island's peace plan
The European Union accused the Greek Cypriot government of betrayal yesterday for campaigning against a deal to unite the island with only days to go to a referendum.
The tortuously negotiated 9,000-page plan would see the Greek south and Turkish north of Cyprus join the European bloc together on May 1. But in a tearful televised address, Tassos Papadopoulos, the Greek Cypriot president, has advised his people to reject it.
"I feel cheated by the Greek Cypriot government," the EU enlargement commissioner, Guenter Verheugen, told the European Parliament. "For months on end I have done everything I could in good faith to make it possible for the Greek Cypriot side to accept this plan on the understanding that this is what they intended to do. Now things look very different."
He added to allegations that the Greek Cypriot government has used its power to undermine the "yes" campaign, with EU officials banned from appearing on television and pro-solution adverts rejected by local newspapers. "The very least we can expect is a fair and balanced information campaign about the objectives and contents of this plan," he said.
The slanging match is a rare loss of temper by the EU and marks the extent to which frustration at the apparent disintegration of the latest peace effort has boiled over.
The EU has uncompromisingly thrown its weight behind the plan, which was brokered by the United Nations, in the hope that a united Cyprus would be ready for membership next month along with nine other countries.
The deal is to be put to the people in simultaneous referendums on both sides of the island on Saturday. If either side rejects it, the plan will fail, and only southern Greek Cyprus will join the EU.
But while Turkish Cypriots desperate for economic benefits of EU accession are widely expected to rally behind the deal, Greek Cypriots appear to be preparing an overwhelming "no" vote.
The war of words marks a remarkable reversal of fortune, since the intransigent Turk Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash was long considered the principal barrier to a peace deal. But he has seen his power wane in recent months as the military on mainland Turkey withdrew its support for his stance and tentatively backed the peace plan.
Now Mr Papadopoulos has become the villain of the piece, infuriating the huge teams of diplomats from the UN, the US and the EU who have invested long hours and huge effort in finding a plan they considered suitable to all. All that effort appears to be heading down the drain.
More pressure was applied last night when Russia vetoed a Security Council resolution, drafted by Britain, to back a plan to unify the island. Delegates said that any course of action could be viewed as an attempt to interfere in the internal affairs of Cyprus.
DAILY TELEGRAPH
'We'll get you British out of our homes'
With house names such as Plum Garden Cottage, it could be a rural village in the Cotswolds or Home Counties. Yet on a clear day, the view that residents see is of Turkey more than 30 miles away rather than an English spire.
This is Karmi, a rural idyll of the eastern Mediterranean that is under threat because Greek Cypriots are determined to reclaim the homes that they were forced to abandon 30 years ago after the Turkish invasion of Cyprus.
Yesterday, as the people of Northern and Southern Cyprus voted in a referendum on whether their ethnically divided island should be united as a single, federal country, the residents were preparing for battle irrespective of the result.
Karmi, which has only 160 houses, is an isolated mountain village of "Britishness" in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. Half of the houses are owned by Britons.
Its future is threatened because the Greek Cypriots want to regain the homes that they left when they fled to Southern Cyprus in 1974. Only Turkey has recognised the north and European courts may rule that title deeds issued after the division of the island have no validity.
Last Sunday, in a foretaste of disputes to come, about 50 Greek Cypriots descended on Karmi from the south of the island. According to British residents, they were aggressive, ruining flowerbeds and even removing decorative stones from garden walls.
They also warned the residents that they will be back on May 1 to reclaim their homes regardless of the referendum's outcome. This is the date that the south of the island joins the European Union. If the north and the south both vote for federal unity, then both halves of the island will join the EU.
"There is an atmosphere in the village of 'we must get the boiling oil ready to repel the invaders'," said one British resident, who asked not be be named for fear of reprisals.
Many Britons have spent up to £120,000 buying and renovating their homes. Most are leased from the Ministry of Tourism, although a handful are freehold properties.
The ministry took over abandoned homes in the 1980s, renovated them and offered leases. It decided they would suit foreigners, mainly Britons, seeking permanent or second homes. The ministry will resist efforts by Greek Cypriots to reclaim their former property.
Ginny Nye, 49, the landlady of the Crow's Nest pub in Karmi, has 32 years left on her lease, which she bought two years ago after moving to Northern Cyprus from Kent. "It would break my heart to have to give this up," she said. "We have the most wonderful people living here. Everyone takes a real pride in the village."
Jeff Davis, 67, and his wife, Jackie, 62, have lived in Karmi for seven years and have 30 years left on their lease. They paid £28,000 for the two-bedroom property and have spent at least £4,000 on improvements. "We love it here. It is such a tight-knit community," said Mr Davis, a retired engineer. Mrs Davis said: "If we lose our home, we would have to go back to England. It's the uncertainty of not knowing what is going to happen that is so difficult."
Another British resident said that she did not want to be identified because she has received three death threats as a result of owning a property in the village. The businesswoman paid £35,000 for her one-bedroom house 13 years ago and has since spent £50,000 renovating it.
"This is a very emotive and highly charged situation. Most of these houses were derelict after the Greek Cypriots abandoned them. They have now been restored into beautiful homes," she said. "I think that most of us would be prepared to compensate the original owners for the land - that would be fair - but we are certainly not going to give up our homes."
Villagers say that their homes were almost worthless in the 1980s. They had been in disrepair for a decade after Turkey's 1974 invasion.
Elsewhere in Northern Cyprus, which is home to 2,000 Britons, residents on both sides of the border are anxious about the future. Regardless of the referendum result, they fear a free-for-all as Greek and Turkish Cypriots seek to reclaim their former homes now that the border is opening.
John Costi-Mouyia, 42, a second-generation Greek Cypriot from Barking, Essex, and who has family in Southern Cyprus, said that the British residents in Karmi and elsewhere in Northern Cyprus were in the wrong.
"In many cases they have bought from people who are not legally entitled to sell. They are opportunist squatters and, just because they have lived there for many years, it doesn't give them a right to someone else's home."
The legal situation relating to the abandoned homes is complex. Under the United Nations, there would be some repatriation of Greek Cypriots to the north and compensation for those who lost their homes but do not move back. Ultimately, however, any disputes may have to be settled by the EU courts.
DAILY TELEGRAPH
Greek Cypriots set to cause EU fury by rejecting island unity
Greek Cypriots seem set to provoke fury in America, Europe and at the United Nations today by rejecting a plan to re-unite their divided island.
Barring a big upset, at least two thirds of voters in the southern, Greek half of Cyprus appear determined to vote No in a referendum on the deal.
While a separate, simultaneous, referendum on the same question seems sure to win widespread approval in the Turkish north of the island, a Greek Cypriot veto is enough to foil the plan and put its government at loggerheads with the diplomatic community. Officials from the UN, the United States and the European Union have made a huge effort to ensure that the deal goes through and feel betrayed by the attitude of the Greek Cypriot government, which has been heading a vociferous and at times intimidating No campaign.
Politicians, churches and even schools have all helped drum home the No message in the south. A Greek Orthodox priest promised damnation for other supporters of the peace plan.
By contrast, the chief Sufi cleric in the Turkish north, Sheikh Nazim, urged his flock to vote yes, saying the plan was "God's will". James Kerlindsay, a Cyprus analyst, said: "It's not just the opposition of the Greek Cypriot government that has angered the international community. It is the vehemence of that opposition. Many people feel that elements of the plan have been misrepresented."
A Greek No will prompt particular anger at the EU, where officials were hoping to welcome a united Cyprus as one of 10 new member states on May 1.
But the likely referendum result means Greek Cyprus will join the EU without the north, whose international isolation following the Turkish invasion in 1974 will be prolonged. The accession of the divided island will prompt many problems for the EU, which had staked a crucial part of its future on a solution in Cyprus.
Most important, the EU promised mainland Turkey that any start date to its own accession talks would depend on it being co-operative over Cyprus, where it had previously been intransigent.
Moderates in the Turkish administration responded, at some risk to their standing among the country's hardliners, but now seem certain to gain little reward for their efforts and Turkish accession talks may have to be shelved. That is dismaying the US administration, which is keen to bring Turkey - a moderate Muslim nation and a key ally in the Middle East - ever more into the bosom of the EU and the West.
The plans of international diplomacy matter little in Greek Cyprus, where the bitter passions of 30 years ago still burn as bright as ever. On every street corner, on every wall, a poster or sprayed graffiti bears the word oxi, Greek for "no".
Even those who stand to gain most proclaim themselves dead set against reconciliation and re-unification with the Turkish side. Many Greek refugees driven from their homes by the Turkish army support the campaign to veto the plan, even though approval could mean many of them regaining lost lands.
Only a near-unthinkable turnaround can prevent the best laid plans of the world's greatest powers coming to nothing in Cyprus. Now officials are pinning their hopes on a second referendum this autumn which would allow them to consider offering Turkey accession talks by December as planned.
But a second referendum will be possible only if the result is reasonably close first time. That may not be the case.
DAILY TELEGRAPH
EU accuses Greek Cypriots of betrayal over island's peace
planThe European Union accused the Greek Cypriot government of betrayal yesterday for campaigning against a deal to unite the island with only days to go to a referendum.
The tortuously negotiated 9,000-page plan would see the Greek south and Turkish north of Cyprus join the European bloc together on May 1. But in a tearful televised address, Tassos Papadopoulos, the Greek Cypriot president, has advised his people to reject it.
"I feel cheated by the Greek Cypriot government," the EU enlargement commissioner, Guenter Verheugen, told the European Parliament. "For months on end I have done everything I could in good faith to make it possible for the Greek Cypriot side to accept this plan on the understanding that this is what they intended to do. Now things look very different."
He added to allegations that the Greek Cypriot government has used its power to undermine the "yes" campaign, with EU officials banned from appearing on television and pro-solution adverts rejected by local newspapers. "The very least we can expect is a fair and balanced information campaign about the objectives and contents of this plan," he said.
The slanging match is a rare loss of temper by the EU and marks the extent to which frustration at the apparent disintegration of the latest peace effort has boiled over.
The EU has uncompromisingly thrown its weight behind the plan, which was brokered by the United Nations, in the hope that a united Cyprus would be ready for membership next month along with nine other countries.
The deal is to be put to the people in simultaneous referendums on both sides of the island on Saturday. If either side rejects it, the plan will fail, and only southern Greek Cyprus will join the EU.
But while Turkish Cypriots desperate for economic benefits of EU accession are widely expected to rally behind the deal, Greek Cypriots appear to be preparing an overwhelming "no" vote.
The war of words marks a remarkable reversal of fortune, since the intransigent Turk Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash was long considered the principal barrier to a peace deal. But he has seen his power wane in recent months as the military on mainland Turkey withdrew its support for his stance and tentatively backed the peace plan.
Now Mr Papadopoulos has become the villain of the piece, infuriating the huge teams of diplomats from the UN, the US and the EU who have invested long hours and huge effort in finding a plan they considered suitable to all. All that effort appears to be heading down the drain.
More pressure was applied last night when Russia vetoed a Security Council resolution, drafted by Britain, to back a plan to unify the island. Delegates said that any course of action could be viewed as an attempt to interfere in the internal affairs of Cyprus.
DAILY TELEGRAPH
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April 26, 2004 By Michael Theodoulou in Nicosia and Rory Watson in Brussels |
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GREEK Cypriot leaders were accused yesterday of betrayal after they rejected a United Nations plan for reunifying the divided island.
Chris Patten, the European Union’s External Relations Commissioner, said that the overwhelming rejection by the island’s Greek community of the plan had created "a huge amount of political ill-will" in Brussels. |
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Final results showed that 76 per cent of people in the Greek Cypriot south of the island had voted against the plan put forward by Kofi Annan, the UN Secretary- General, which had been backed by the EU and the United States. In a separate referendum, 64.9 per cent of people in the much poorer and internationally unrecognised Turkish Cypriot region had endorsed the scheme. European foreign ministers who meet today face a race against time to reward the Turkish Cypriot minority for supporting the plan before Cyprus joins the EU on Saturday. Publicly they will acknowledge their disappointment at the outcome, express appreciation of the UN’s role and hope that a united island may one day be an EU member. Privately, however, diplomats admit that there is deep resentment that the chance to heal 30 years of enmity has been lost. Speaking on BBC Radio’s The World This Weekend, Mr Patten said that the EU had eased the path to membership on the understanding that Greek Cypriot leaders would argue the case for a settlement. "I think we feel that we have, as it were, handed over the chocolate and they have refused to hand back the crisps," he said. Only the Greek part of the island will now join the EU and, Mr Patten added, "they are not going to be a very popular addition to the family ". The UN said that a "unique and historic chance" to end the island’s 30-year division had been missed. Günter Verheugen, the EU’s Commissioner for Expansion, was more blunt: "The political damage is large. There is now a shadow over the accession of Cyprus." The United States said that it was disappointed with the result, which was a "setback to the hopes of those on the island who voted for the settlement and to the international community". Alvaro de Soto, the UN envoy who had worked on the plan for nearly five years, said that his office would close within weeks. Turkish Cypriots were commended for approving the plan, which would have reunited Cyprus under a loose federation of two largely autonomous areas. Today EU ministers will consider providing about €300 million (£200 million) in regional aid for Turkish Cypriots and the lifting of sanctions to stimulate economic growth. Turkish Cypriots hope that the EU will also allow direct flights to the region. Lifting the flight ban would be more than a psychological boost: international isolation has meant that northern Cyprus attracts just 50,000 British tourists a year, compared with the 1.3 million who propel the economy in the booming south. Turkey hopes that its involvement in the process will assist its own entry to the EU. Mr Erdogan called for international recognition of Turkish and Turkish Cypriot efforts to secure a "yes" vote. "We believe the steps that we took should count as positive marks for Turkey," he said. Many Greek Cypriots felt that the plan gave too many concessions to the envisaged Turkish state, while President Papadopoulos, the Greek Cypriot leader, and other opponents of the plan played on security fears and mistrust of Turkey. Others were unhappy at limits on the right to return to property in the Turkish north. Turkish Cypriots saw the plan as a way to end the isolation that they have endured since Turkish troops invaded the island in 1974. Mr Papadopoulos denied claims that he had deceived the international community and said that his Government would announce measures to enable Turkish Cypriots to enjoy some of the benefits of Cyprus’s EU accession. He said that he wanted "viable" settlement talks under the auspices of the UN. Turkish Cypriots blared car horns and flashed victory signs as they drove through Nicosia on Saturday night as the referendum results emerged. Later thousands called for the resignation of Rauf Denktas, the veteran Turkish Cypriot leader, who opposed the plan. |
THE TIMES 26/04/2004
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April 26, 2004 By Suna Erdem in Istanbul |
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AMID all the official statements of regret over Cyprus’s failure to vote for reunification, Recep Tayyip Erdogan could be forgiven for feeling some small satisfaction.
For the Turkish Prime Minister and his Justice and Development Party, the result on Saturday could represent the best of all worlds. |
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For many years the division of Cyprus has been an obstacle to Turkey joining the European Union. Since the Turkish invasion in 1974, Turkey has been the only state to recognise the self-declared Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus and the repeated desertions by Rauf Denktas, the veteran Turkish Cypriot leader, of the negotiating table had become a barrier to any solution. Now, by a sudden last-minute move to participate constructively in the Cyprus talks, Mr Erdogen has completely transformed the image of Turkey and the Turkish Cypriots from the villains of the piece into that of thwarted peacemakers. At home, he has taken on the powerful nationalist bureaucratic-military establishment and won, brushing aside their grim attachment to the status quo with the carrot of EU membership as an ideal that even the most hardline opponents were unable to oppose publicly. Furthermore, at the end of the process, thanks to the Greek Cypriots’ opposition to the plan, he is spared the potential political repercussions from implementing controversial elements, such as the handover of territory, the reclaiming of properties by Greek Cypriots and the withdrawal of Turkish troops — all of which are emotive issues in Turkey. "The Greek Cypriots have made the biggest mistake of their lives. But for Erdogan — if not for Turkey — this is a win-win situation," Mehmet Ali Birand, the respected journalist and author of a book about the Cyprus invasion, said. "If the plan had been approved, there would have been constant scuffling between the two sides and with every argument the status-quo lovers would have had a field day." The result leaves Mr Denktas a much-weakened representative of the almost-defunct old guard. Few Turks expect him to go without a fight, but his image is now so tarnished that his presence has almost ceased to make a difference for a people who have seen hope of rejoining the world community. |
Turks call for end to isolation on Cyprus
By Vincent Boland in Kyrenia Published: April 25 2004 21:04 | Last Updated: April 25 2004 21:04 
Turkey took the lead on Sunday in calling for the international isolation of northern Cyprus to be ended after voters in a referendum at the weekend confirmed the division of the island. But officials said the government in Ankara would stop short of any call for the recognition of the so-called Turkish Republic of northern Cyprus as a sovereign state, believing that such a step would be counterproductive, at least for now.
After the referendum, in which Turkish Cypriots voted two to one for reunification but Greek Cypriots rejected it by three to one, Ankara said it expected the international community to lift an economic embargo that was imposed after Turkey invaded in 1974.
"I believe the isolation of the Turkish Cypriots is over now. The world should open its heart," said Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish prime minister. Abdullah Gul, the foreign minister, said: "From now on the embargo should be lifted."
The Turkish Cypriot government echoed those comments. Mehmet Ali Talat, its prime minister, said: "Almost all countries agree that our isolation is unfair and has to be rectified. It is the turn of the international community to propose steps to alleviate or remove the isolation of Turkish Cypriots."
Officials said Turkey would press for the resumption of flights to and from northern Cyprus and for the enclave to be able to export. The economy has been devastated by the embargo and unemployment is very high.
Diplomats said the European Union would do what it could to reward the Turkish Cypriots for voting in favour of a United Nations plan for the reunification of the island that Brussels strongly backed. If the Greek Cypriots had voted Yes a united Cyprus would have joined the EU next weekend. Only the 800,000 Greek Cypriots will join, leaving the 200,000 Turkish Cypriots in limbo.
Frustration at being denied EU entry was evident throughout northern Cyprus after the referendum result was officially confirmed. One manifestation of this was a demonstration in northern Nicosia late on Saturday calling for Rauf Denktash, the Turkish Cypriot leader, to resign.
Mr Denktash had campaigned for a No vote and remained defiant despite voters' rejection of his advice, saying he had no intention of resigning because the result was a foregone conclusion.
But calls for him to step down were mounting with opposition and business leaders joining Mr Talat in calling for the veteran 80-year-old leader's resignation.
Mumtaz Soysal, an adviser to Mr Denktash, said it was "out of the question" for him to resign. He also denied there would be a political stand-off between Mr Denktash and Mr Talat, who campaigned strongly for a Yes vote among Turkish Cypriots.
Mr Denktash could now be sidelined further by the Turkish government. Mr Erdogan said: "I respect Mr Denktash. It is up to him to evaluate the outcome [of the referendum]."
FINANCIAL TIMES 26/04/2004
Gul: partition is now permanent
OXI: 76%
EVET: 65%
OVERWHELMING rejection of a UN-brokered plan by Greek Cypriots has sealed the permanent partition of the island, Turkey said last night.
The Turkish foreign minister, Abdullah Gul, told a news conference Turkey would not now pull troops out of Cyprus because the Annan plan would not come into effect.
"With the Greek Cypriot ‘no’, the partition of the island has been made permanent," Gul said.
In yesterday’s referendum 75.8 per cent of Greek Cypriots issued a resounding ‘no’ to the Annan plan, while in the north of the island, Turkish Cypriots delivered a strong 64.9 per cent ‘yes’ to reunification, compared with a 35 per cent rejection.
The 24.1 per cent Greek Cypriot ‘yes’ was a slap in the face to the Turkish Cypriots, who now face an uncertain future outside of the EU when a divided Cyprus accedes next Saturday.
Turkish Cypriots did gain yesterday however. They earned the respect of the international community and the opportunity to end their economic isolation, at the expense of Greek Cypriots, who are soon likely to feel the "icy blast", as one diplomat said..
Even Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash, who personally campaigned against the plan was celebrating last night although his Prime Minister Mehmet Ali Talat called for his resignation -- as did thousands of Turkish Cypriots, who took to the streets chanting "Denktash quit".
"If the Annan Plan had been accepted I would have resigned. But it was not accepted so there is no need for me to do so," he said. "Our plan has succeeded in destroying the Annan Plan. The road to recognition for the TRNC has opened. Forty years of isolation has come to an end."
Talat said Turkish Cypriots were "partly pleased" with the results. "No one can blame us for the Greek Cypriots saying no," he said. "The EU now has to think carefully about how they can see the Greek Cypriots as representing the whole island. While the Greek Cypriots rejected the plan…they are joining the EU and we on other hand accepted the plan but cannot join. This is not fair."
But President Tassos Papadopoulos, who was the first to call on Greek Cypriots to issue a ‘resounding no’, was unrepentant and persistent in his belief that a better deal was just around the corner.
''I want to underline with emphasis that the non-acceptance of the Annan plan is not the end of the road. There will be a continuation. There will necessarily be new prospects and new possibilities," he said. "I am sorry if our ‘no’ disappointed our Turkish Cypriot compatriots. They should know, however, that when we say ‘yes’ it will be in their true interests. I will strive and struggle for that."
Reaction from the international community was swift. Even before the final results were announced yesterday, the European Commission said it "deeply regretted" that the Greek Cypriot community did not approve the Annan plan but it said it respected the democratic decision of the people. "A unique opportunity to bring about a solution to the long-lasting Cyprus issue has been missed," the statement said.
It went on to "warmly" congratulate the Turkish Cypriots for their ‘yes’ vote. "This signals a clear desire of the community to resolve the island’s problem," it said, adding that the Commission was ready to consider ways of further promoting economic development of the north. This will begin in Luxembourg tomorrow.
The UN, which had spent extensive time and effort to complete the 9,000-page settlement said a unique and historic chance had been missed.
A statement attributed to UN Secretary-general Kofi Annan’s spokesman, read out by special envoy Alvaro de Soto, said Annan would give careful thought to the implications of the results. "Meanwhile Cyprus will remain divided and militarised as it accedes to the European union, and the benefits of a settlement will not be realised," the statement said.
"The Secretary-general applauds the Turkish Cypriots, who approved the plan notwithstanding the significant sacrifices it entailed for many of them."
He also regretted that the Turkish Cypriots would not equally enjoy the benefits of EU accession but he hoped that that ways would be found to ease the plight they have found themselves in "through no fault of their own".
He also hoped that Greek Cypriots might arrive at a different view "in the fullness of time" and "after profound and sober assessment" of yesterday’s decision. De Soto said Annan will be making a full report to the UN Security Council in the coming weeks.
The US and Britain were no less disappointed. "Failure of the referenda in the Greek Cypriot community is a setback to the hopes of those on the island who voted for the settlement and to the international community," said US State Department spokesman Richard Boucher.
"We commend all who voted to approve the plan -- particularly a large majority of Turkish Cypriots -- for their courage and their vote for peace and reconciliation."
British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said he was saddened. 'We will respect the choice which Greek Cypriots have expressed today. But I hope that they will continue to reflect on whether this choice is the right one for them," he said. "The result shows what a fundamental change of attitude has taken place within the Turkish Cypriot community in recent years."
CYPRUS MAIL 26/04/2004