Greeks Driving The Cyprus Issue Off The Rails |
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Prof. Dr. Ata ATUN |
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After the passage of eight years since the April 24, 2004 Annan plan referendum it is now clearly visible that the side punished by the international community is the Turkish Cypriots, who voted “yes,” rather than the Greek Cypriots, who rejected the plan. It can be observed that the international isolation and embargo of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (KKTC) and of the Turkish Cypriots is still on with hopes for finding a solution to the Cyprus problem becoming increasingly slim.
The Greek Cypriot administration, with the assurance of being a full member and sitting on the decision-making side of Turkey’s EU accession talks — currently going off track — suggests a possible solution under the auspices of the UN.
Greek Foreign Minister, with an active and tough attitude toward the Cyprus problem, declared the Annan plan to be in the depths of the history, somewhere untouchable.
Turkey’s “Cyprus Action Plan” dated Jan. 24, 2006 aimed to form a basis for a solution, but was turned down by the Greek Cypriot administration and Greece in the first instance. The attitude of the international community toward the Greeks’ position concerning the April 24 referendum was that of “mutual understanding,” further boosting the Greek disagreement.
The leader of the Greek Cypriot administration, Demetris Christofias, is now talking about the abandonment not only of the Annan plan but also of a federal solution on the island, giving signals that his final target is a “unitary state in Cyprus.”
Different surveys held in Greek Cyprus recently revealed the drop of support for AKEL. The consistent increase in opposition to AKEL and the stability of the support given to Anastasiades reveals that the Greek Cypriot people think differently from their today’s leader or the existing Greek Cypriot administration.
The latest bargaining chip nowadays is the “Natural gas”. The Greek Cypriots concocted this to erase the negative sentiments originating from their unwillingness in the negotiations. They grasped it like a political lifeline to keep their heads above water.
The trespass of the Greek Cypriot Police to the territories of TRNC proved how necessary is forming the joint central authorities, to handle the disputes, criminals, forest fires, water shortage, electric blackouts and similar joint interests in both sides.
If the two peoples of the island cannot come to an agreement on humanitarian problems, how then will they solve the Cyprus problem, which stretching back to 1796 and the Megali Idea.
Ata ATUN
October 17 2012
