On April 24, 2004, the Cypriot Hellenes rejected overwhelmingly the Annan Plan, with a 76%vote against and a 24% for it. The Cypriot NO was worthy of the OXI given by the Greeks to Mussolini on October 28, 1940, when he demanded their capitulation.
The pressures on the Cypriots to say YES were enormous, ranging from numerous phone calls by Secretary Colin Powell to Cypriot and Greek politicians, to implied threats such as European Representative Javier Solana stating «the train is leaving; If the Cypriots do not take it, it may not come back».
Yet the Cypriots knew better. They were willing to miss the train that would lead them back to colonization and giving up their status as an independent country to become a protectorate under Turkish domination.
The majority of Greek Cypriots rejected the Annan Plan because:
1) It legitimized and continued the illegal Turkish occupation. 2) It permitted fewer than half of the 200,000 refugees who fled the onslaught pf the Turkish army in 1974 to return to their homes, and that only after three and one half years from now; The rest would be compensated largely by bonds issued not by the invader, but by the Cypriot government-in effect, the victims would be compensating the victims. 3) Instead of uniting the country, the Annan Plan perpetuated the division, being, in all but name, a partition. 4) The 18% Turkish population of the island received 29% of the land and 50% of the valuable coastline. 5) The Plan permitted all the 100,000 Turkish colonists illegally imported to Cyprus by occupation authorities to remain in homes confiscated from the Greeks. 6) It created an unwieldy and unworkable system of separate legislatures for each community, with a veto formula where the 9% (one half of the 18% Turks) could hold the 91% hostage, hardly an example of a functioning democracy. 7) It provided for a supreme court of 9 judges, 3 Greek Cypriots, 3 Turkish Cypriots and 3 non Cypriots. No sovereign country in the world has such an absurd arrangement.
The Annan Plan gave Turkey the right to intervene unilaterally in Cyprus at any time for any reason it chose. 9) It required the dissolution of the Cypriot National Guard, while the Turkish troops remained forever, although in smaller numbers than the present 35,000. However, the Greek population, being unprotected, would be at their mercy. 10) The Plan nullified the LOIZIDOU VS TURKEY case, in which the European Court of Human Rights awarded Tina Loizidou $900,000 for the LOSS OF USE of her property in occupied Kyreneia, not its loss, which the Court did not recognize. Under that precedent, Turkey would owe displaced Cypriots between 2 and 4 billion dollars, all of it lost under the Annan Plan. 11) In addition to the preceding elements, which violate international law in many respects, the Anna Plan violated the Aquis Communautaire, the basic European Union law, which provides for free movement and free settlement within the Union. Tha Annan Plan restricted the right of Greek Cypriots to settle in the Turkish controlled area and requested the Union to make an exception to its rules applicable specifically only to that area. After May 1, 2004, the European Union rules would apply everywhere else in the 25 countries and among 400 million people. The Europeans were less than thrilled with that exception. 12) Finally, and this does not exhaust the list of defects of the Plan, there are no guarantees that Turkey would perform its obligations; everything would depend on the good will of Turkey, a historically undependable criterion.
How did such a monstrous plan, which Kofi Annan with a straight face called «fair and balanced», originate? It surfaced in November 2002 when the U.N. Secretary General presented to the government of the Republic of Cyprus and the occupation authorities a settlement plan bearing his name. Why is it so lopsided in favor of Turkey? Perhaps the explanation lies in a statement made by senior State Department official Daniel Fried to a group a Greek Americans on June 26, 2003. He stated: «When we were trying to persuade Turkey to allow the passage of our troops through its territory into Northern Iraq, we offered Turkey incentives: several billion dollars in loans and grants and Cyprus in the form of the Anna Plan». When Turkey refused passage, the billions were dropped but the Annan Plan remained. It was left up to the Cypriots to drop it on April 24.
On the 37% of the island occupied by the Turkish army, with only 143,000 registered voters, 65% voted in favor and 35% against. Given the tremendous advantages given to Turkey and the Turkish Cypriots, one would have expected a much higher percentage in favor in that area. The Turkish puppet Rauf Denktash, wanting to remain «president of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus», campaigned against it.
What happens now? On May 1, 2004, Cyprus along with nine other countries becomes a full member of the E. U. as an independent country, a portion of whose territory is illegally occupied by a foreign power. The European laws will not apply to the occupied area. Cypriot President Tassos Papadopoulos has pledged that the Cypriot government would take measures to ensure that Turkish Cypriots would get the benefits they would have if they were in the E.U. Under present E. U. Law, the accession of a new country must be approved by all members. Therefore, Cyprus is in a very strong position and could exercise a veto to Turkey’s membership, unless the Turkish troops are withdrawn. THAT IS THE SOLUTION.
Kofi Annan and the people behind him have started a campaign of vilification, recrimination and criticism of the Greek Cypriots for turning down his plan.
The people of courageously did their duty. It is up to each one of us to persuade our fellow Americans that this was not only a victory for Cyprus but also for the American ideals of democracy, human rights, equal rights, self determination and justice.
commentary by Aris Anagnos, V.P. Political Action
http://www.americanhellenic.org/modules ... icle&sid=8
The author which I reckon that strongly believes he represents the feelings and thoughts of majority of Hellenes. In his imaginery world, he deems that by granting TCs full individual rights, repatriation of all settlers, putting TCs in minority status and withdrawal of all Turkish troops, Cyprus peoblem will be solved. Do really majority of Hellenes think like this?
