EvanL
02-19-2004, 11:59 PM
Cyprus is making headlines today, because its people are daring to hope again.
For decades, the bitterly divided Mediterranean backwater of 700,000 Greek Cypriots and 200,000 Turks has been caught in a political time warp. The island has been partitioned for 30 years. Unlike Berlin, it has yet to tear down its wall of mistrust.
But Greek Cypriot leader Tassos Papadopoulos and Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash hold talks today that tempt hope by aiming to meld the two communities back into a single country, with a referendum in April.
Canadians, who served as United Nations peacekeepers in Cyprus from 1964 to 1993, can only wish them well.
"We can live together as one," Omer Ahmed told the Cyprus Mail newspaper this week. "We did before the invasion (by Turkish troops in 1974) and can do so again. "We are all Cypriots."
That said, Papadopoulos and Denktash are mutually mistrustful Cypriots, and unlikely unifiers. Aged hardliners, they typify the give-no-quarter obduracy of decades past.
But under pressure from Athens and Ankara, they have reluctantly bowed to a U.N. plan to strip away their naysaying vetoes, by going past them directly to the people in a referendum.
If U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan gets his way, Cyprus will join the European Union on May 1 as a single country again. If he fails, the affluent Greek enclave will join the EU by itself. And the world will then be forced to consider recognizing the poorer Turkish enclave as a state in its own right.
What happens in Cyprus matters elsewhere because it might serve as a template for dealing with other obtuse feuds: The India/Pakistan standoff in Kashmir, the Israeli/Palestinian wrangle, the Sri Lankan/Tamil struggle. The players in these interminable conflicts equally need rescuing from themselves.
The Cyprus "breakthrough" came about because political leaders in Greece and Turkey no longer see any compelling reason to fight over the island. Greece knows that Greek Cypriots will soon be tied to Europe, under its protection. And Turkey is eager to join the EU. If Turkish Cypriots are members, can Europe deny the mainland?
So there's ample reason to defuse Cyprus as a flashpoint.
Annan's proposal builds on that healthy evolution in thinking.
After gaining independence from Britain in 1960, under a deal that forbade union with Greece or partition, Cyprus was wracked by communal fighting that led to U.N. peacekeeping in 1964. In 1974, militant Greek Cypriots tried to force the island into enosis, or union with Greece, and Turkey invaded and occupied part of the island.
Greek Cypriots now control the affluent southern two-thirds, which is internationally recognized. The northern Turkish "republic" is small, poor and recognized only by Ankara. The island is divided by a "Green Line" patrolled by the U.N.
If talks go well, the U.N. proposes to refederate Cyprus along Swiss lines, with a weak central government presiding over a demilitarized, two-state republic. The presidency would rotate, and parliamentary voting rules would give the Turkish minority a veto over decisions, safeguarding minority rights.
While Papadopoulos and Denktash will run the talks, if they can't agree by March 22 Annan will bring in Greek and Turkish officials to knock heads.
And if there's still no deal by March 29, Annan will try to bridge the remaining differences himself by ruling on issues and submitting his proposals to Cypriots in two referenda on April 21.
Issues in dispute include the amount of additional land the Greek state would have, repatriation of refugees and compensation for people uprooted from their homes.
A referendum Yes is far from assured.
The Greek side can vote No, knowing it will join the EU anyway. But if the Turks vote Yes, pressure would build to have the U.N. recognize their side as a country in its own right. The Greeks would be ill-placed to object.
Much will depend on how the deal is sold to the two communities.
Still, Annan's strategy wrenches Cyprus' future away from obdurate politicians and puts it where it belongs: Squarely in the hands of the people, who must live with the result.
That alone tempts hope.
For decades, the bitterly divided Mediterranean backwater of 700,000 Greek Cypriots and 200,000 Turks has been caught in a political time warp. The island has been partitioned for 30 years. Unlike Berlin, it has yet to tear down its wall of mistrust.
But Greek Cypriot leader Tassos Papadopoulos and Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash hold talks today that tempt hope by aiming to meld the two communities back into a single country, with a referendum in April.
Canadians, who served as United Nations peacekeepers in Cyprus from 1964 to 1993, can only wish them well.
"We can live together as one," Omer Ahmed told the Cyprus Mail newspaper this week. "We did before the invasion (by Turkish troops in 1974) and can do so again. "We are all Cypriots."
That said, Papadopoulos and Denktash are mutually mistrustful Cypriots, and unlikely unifiers. Aged hardliners, they typify the give-no-quarter obduracy of decades past.
But under pressure from Athens and Ankara, they have reluctantly bowed to a U.N. plan to strip away their naysaying vetoes, by going past them directly to the people in a referendum.
If U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan gets his way, Cyprus will join the European Union on May 1 as a single country again. If he fails, the affluent Greek enclave will join the EU by itself. And the world will then be forced to consider recognizing the poorer Turkish enclave as a state in its own right.
What happens in Cyprus matters elsewhere because it might serve as a template for dealing with other obtuse feuds: The India/Pakistan standoff in Kashmir, the Israeli/Palestinian wrangle, the Sri Lankan/Tamil struggle. The players in these interminable conflicts equally need rescuing from themselves.
The Cyprus "breakthrough" came about because political leaders in Greece and Turkey no longer see any compelling reason to fight over the island. Greece knows that Greek Cypriots will soon be tied to Europe, under its protection. And Turkey is eager to join the EU. If Turkish Cypriots are members, can Europe deny the mainland?
So there's ample reason to defuse Cyprus as a flashpoint.
Annan's proposal builds on that healthy evolution in thinking.
After gaining independence from Britain in 1960, under a deal that forbade union with Greece or partition, Cyprus was wracked by communal fighting that led to U.N. peacekeeping in 1964. In 1974, militant Greek Cypriots tried to force the island into enosis, or union with Greece, and Turkey invaded and occupied part of the island.
Greek Cypriots now control the affluent southern two-thirds, which is internationally recognized. The northern Turkish "republic" is small, poor and recognized only by Ankara. The island is divided by a "Green Line" patrolled by the U.N.
If talks go well, the U.N. proposes to refederate Cyprus along Swiss lines, with a weak central government presiding over a demilitarized, two-state republic. The presidency would rotate, and parliamentary voting rules would give the Turkish minority a veto over decisions, safeguarding minority rights.
While Papadopoulos and Denktash will run the talks, if they can't agree by March 22 Annan will bring in Greek and Turkish officials to knock heads.
And if there's still no deal by March 29, Annan will try to bridge the remaining differences himself by ruling on issues and submitting his proposals to Cypriots in two referenda on April 21.
Issues in dispute include the amount of additional land the Greek state would have, repatriation of refugees and compensation for people uprooted from their homes.
A referendum Yes is far from assured.
The Greek side can vote No, knowing it will join the EU anyway. But if the Turks vote Yes, pressure would build to have the U.N. recognize their side as a country in its own right. The Greeks would be ill-placed to object.
Much will depend on how the deal is sold to the two communities.
Still, Annan's strategy wrenches Cyprus' future away from obdurate politicians and puts it where it belongs: Squarely in the hands of the people, who must live with the result.
That alone tempts hope.