Turkish Cypriots want the island to be reunited under the EU roof, but the reunification has to be in the form of a new, bi-zonal state based on the political equality of the two peoples on the island. The taxi driver who took me from Gazi Magosa to Ercan Airport made the point quite bluntly: "The border should be open. People should be able to travel north and south whenever they wish. But the two sides can never mix." As indicated by the declining number of border crossings between the two parts of the island, feelings on both sides seem to be mutual. Both the Turks and Greeks do want to live in a united Cyprus, but on their own part of the island. Any solution that does not recognize this fact is not a solution at all.
The election last month of Dimitris Christofias as Greek Cypriot president has surely raised hopes for an end to the long-standing division of the island. Christofias seems to be more inclined toward finding a solution to the Cyprus problem, especially when compared with the previous president, Tassos Papadopoulos. KKTC President Mehmet Ali Talat has already declared that he expects 2008 to be the year of a solution for the island. The two leaders met on March 21 and agreed to immediately start negotiations for finding a comprehensive solution, to personally meet again in three months. As a sign of goodwill, they agreed to open the border at Ledra Street, which has symbolized the island's division for decades.
Talat's position is that the UN-brokered "Annan plan" of 2004 should be taken as the starting point for negotiations with the aim of founding of a new Cypriot state, as envisaged by that plan. Christofias' position, on the other hand, is that the starting point should be the consensus reached between Talat and Papadopoulos on July 8, 2006, to resume negotiations and work toward a solution in the context of the Republic of Cyprus founded in 1960. The discrepancy between the starting positions of the two sides renders any guesses as to where the new round of negotiations will lead extremely difficult.
My good friend, Associate Professor Ahmet Sözen, the director of the CPC, is very cautiously optimistic about the new process. He sees the possible futures of Cyprus as follows, in order of probability: 1 -- Structural stalemate and the "Taiwanization" of northern Cyprus as the international community gradually lifts its isolation. 2 -- Negotiations between the two sides progress and the non-cooperative relations (the status quo) are transformed into cooperative relations. 3 -- Negotiations lead either to a federal solution as described in the UN documents or to an "amicable divorce" on the Czechoslovakian model. 4 -- Conflict breaks out and there is divorce on the Yugoslavian model.
According to Sözen, to move toward a comprehensive solution in Cyprus, an interim solution is absolutely necessary. In return for Turkey extending the customs union to include Greek Cyprus and opening its ports to Greek Cypriot vessels, the EU must fulfills its moral, political and legal obligations toward northern Cyprus and thus extend the acquis to the north of the island.
24.03.2008
SAHIN ALPAY
[email protected]
