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Rehn controversy over Virgin Birth



Rehn stirs up controversy over ‘virgin birth’


Pledges full support

for both sides


By Elias Hazou


EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli But Rehn briefly - and inadvertently - stirred up a hornet’s nest in Cyprus this week after being asked a question on the notorious "virgin birth."

Rehn was speaking at the EU-Turkey Joint Parliamentary Committee, when he told MEPs that the EU stood behind the new peace process on the island.

"We shall fully support both communities on the island to make the necessary compromises," he said.

Rehn welcomed last Friday’s meeting between the leaders of the two communities. Their joint statement, he said, "shows that the process towards a settlement of the Cyprus issue under UN auspices is well underway," he said.

It was also a "positive sign that the leaders agree on the basic parameters of a united Cyprus as a bi-zonal, bi-communal federation with political equality, as defined by relevant Security Council resolutions."

Hailed

Rehn hailed Christofias and Talat’s agreement to consider civilian and military confidence-building measures and to pursue the opening of further crossing points on the island.

"I encourage the leaders of the two communities to continue their efforts to end the deadlock," said Rehn.

"I trust Turkey will fully contribute to a solution. Reaching a comprehensive settlement will have an immense value to all of us who want to see an end to this 40-year-old conflict on a European soil, and it will certainly have a positive effect on the negotiations with Turkey."

Following his statement, Rehn was quizzed by MEP Yiannakis Matsis about the touchy issue of "virgin birth."

Matsis put the question to both Rehn and Turkey’s Foreign Minister Ali Babacan.

The Cypriot MEP asked whether Turkey supported the concept of “virgin birth” and how many sovereignties should exist on the island - one or two.

Will

In response, Rehn said he did not wish to go into detail on the Cyprus problem.

"It’s up to the two leaders," he noted.

He said a final solution on Cyprus would mainly depend on the political will from the two sides.

According to Rehn, the EU was at the disposal of the two leaders to furnish them with constitutional experts, who could come up with "imaginative ideas" that would even be able "to square the circle."

The EU had the ability to provide legal assistance for a Cyprus settlement, he added.

For his part, Babacan said Turkey endorsed the May 23 statement issued by the island’s two leaders.

For Turkey, he added, the objective was that the two "co-founding states would form a new state."

The government says it would never agree to this, because a reunified state must be the continuation of the present Republic. Greek Cypriots fear such an arrangement would not prevent the Turkish Cypriot constituent state from seceding from a federal republic, since that constituent state would be sovereign on its own.

Turkey is the only country that does not recognise the Republic of Cyprus.

Tactful

Despite his tactful answer, Rehn’s comment was taken by some to mean that the EU was not ruling out “virgin birth”, or the emergence of two sovereign states - even for a split-second - that would then unite to form the Federal Republic of Cyprus.

His comment sparked indignation among some political quarters and a section of the press in Cyprus.

"EU flirts with virgin birth," blared Phileleftheros on its front-page banner on Wednesday.

But later the same day Government Spokesman Stephanos Stephanou said such remarks should not be taken out of context.

Asked by newsmen whether Rehn’s answer appeared to lend support to the idea of “virgin birth”, Stephanou said: "That assessment is entirely your own. I say again, in my view Mr Rehn was not talking about virgin birth. Nor did last week’s communique for that matter."

The spokesman said that, given the government had a clear position on the matter, it would be pointless to start second-guessing what Turkey or anyone else thinks about “virgin birth”.

[boomerang]

September date likely



September date looking more likely for talks


Three-month timeframe

looks untenable



By Elias Hazou


IT IS looking increasingly likely that direct talks between the two Cypriot sides could be pushed back to September, an accommodation satisfying both sides without scuppering the peace drive.

Turkish Cypriots say they would like negotiations to get underway as soon as possible, but the three-month timeframe set last March by the two leaders is looking increasingly untenable.

Greek Cypriots insist that fresh negotiations should be prepared as thoroughly as possible to ensure success.

"Rationally, if we were to move to negotiations without convergence, without a solid foundation, the negotiations would lead to failure. And the Cyprus question, at this stage after 34 years, cannot afford the luxury of another failure," warned Government Spokesman Stephanos Stephanou.

And there were signs this week that, for all their public declarations, the two communities have reached a tacit understanding on an extension - with the international community willing to play ball.

Even the UN chief of mission in Cyprus, Taye-Brook Zerihoun, seemed to echo this realisation.

Practical reasons

Answering questions after yesterday’s event marking UN Peacekeepers’ Day, Zerihoun said that it was up to the leaders to determine if it is realistic for reunification talks to begin next month.

"I think they (leaders) will be the ones to determine the degree to which this is realistic or not...I think that a month here and a month there, should not be an issue", he remarked.

"This is their [the leaders’] process, they are the masters of this process," added Zerihoun.

For practical reasons, too, it is doubtful that Demetris Christofias and Mehmet Ali Talat should get down to real business when they next meet in the second half of June. Not only that, but observers say the next meeting will not even fix a date for the launch of direct talks.

Anniversaries

July 14-20 is the week of the 1974 anniversaries, and towards the end of the July Christofias will travel to China for the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games.

And then, of course, comes the mandatory summer break in mid-August.

Earlier this week, there was intense press speculation about a September date.

Politis, in particular, suggested the Turkish Cypriots have quietly acquiesced to widening the timeframe of the working groups and technical committees, which the government fears are not moving forward fast enough.

According to the same paper, a middle-of-the-road arrangement would be made, whereby the two leaders might hold a couple of ‘courtesy meetings’ in July, just to keep the momentum going until both sides are comfortable to talk shop.

Educated guess

The analysis was similar to an educated guess made to The Weekly last week by Professor Hubert Faustmann, who said Christofias and Talat could begin meeting in the summer even as the panels of experts continued to convene.

In an interview with the Associated Press in Brussels this week, Talat said it was "quite possible to reach a solution by the end of 2008," adding that a great deal of technical work had already been done during previous attempts to reach a deal.

"We agreed already on March 21 that we would begin negotiations three months from that date. This was declared," Talat said.

"But...the Greek Cypriot side argued that this is not the fact...My impression is that Greek Cypriots are not ready to start on the 21st of June, so this is a problem and we have to overcome this."

Soon as possible

And Talat’s spokesman Hasan Ercakica said Wednesday that Turkish Cypriots would continue to exhibit a behaviour that would encourage the Greek Cypriot side to come to talks "as soon as possible"--a comment that could be interpreted as cutting the Government some slack.

Meanwhile, Presidential Commissioner George Iacovou, who is overseeing the working groups and technical committees, was in Athens this week meeting Greek Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyanni.

Iacovou briefed Bakoyanni on the latest developments.

The Greek Foreign Minister is expected to visit the island on June 13.

Commenting on the ongoing preparatory process, Iacovou said it was the Greek Cypriot side’s wish to see positive results at the level of the working groups, the ones dealing with the substantive issues such as property, territory and security.

‘Virgin birth’

This was also the week when ‘virgin birth’ became a permanent fixture in the political jargon.

According to Politis yesterday, three weeks ago a European Commission official warned Christofias of the dangers of ‘virgin birth.’

The official reportedly said that, if the state emerging from reunification was an entirely new state, and not a contiuation of the Republic, then that state would have to reapply for EU membership.

Not only that, but Cyprus’ application would not be considered until the next wave of EU enlargement, that is, after the completion of Croatia’s accession negotiations.

Politis did not make it clear in what context these warnings were issued to Christofias.

Stavros Tombazos, assistant professor of Political Science at the University of Cyprus, said that technically this argument was valid.

"Not only would we have to reapply to the EU, but also to the United Nations, assuming a new state were created after reunification," Tombazos told The Weekly.

But all the talk and scare-mongering over “virgin birth” was beside the point, he added.

“Listen, the Turkish side knows we would never agree to this, not in a million years. I think that, for the most part, this catchphrase is being peddled on the Turkish Cypriot side for domestic consumption It’s rhetoric, more of a tactical manoeuvre ahead of the negotiations.

"When you get down to it, this ‘virgin birth’ is really a non-issue. It’s not going to happen, and i doubt it will even be discussed at the table."

According to Tombazos, the term was coined before the 2004 Annan Plan.

Hannay a supporter

"I’m not sure it was his brainchild, but Lord Hannay was definitely a supporter of the idea," said Tombazos.

Essentially, "virgin birth" was seen as a compromise satisfying both sides, Turkish Cypriots who sought sovereignty for their breakaway regime and Greek Cypriots who wanted assurances that a reunified state would be a bizonal, bicommunal federation.

And contrary to popular perception, “virgin birth” never made it into the Annan Plan.

"That’s the academic consensus. In fact, that blueprint contained explicit safeguards against virgin birth."

Tombazos recalls that, during the countdown to the referendum, a dozen or so analyses were made by constitutional experts. All but one concluded there was no danger of abolishing the Republic of Cyprus, as former President Tassos Papadopoulos famously warned during his televised address to the people.

"Yet it seems that Papadopoulos adopted the most pessimistic analysis."

http://www.cyprusweekly.com.cy/default.aspx?FrontPageNewsID=304_3

I would like to hear it from Elias Hazou as to which paper is correct in reporting his article

[Kikapu]

Take your pop corn and watch the "Virgin Birth" the pill will be hard to swallow but youll get it down, the end of the "RoC" and the TRNC is on the cards.

Sorry VP, but you have a better chance of the Second coming of Christ than second coming of a new
United Federation Republic of Cyprus.!!

In case you have forgotten, it has been already 2,000+ years since the last "virgin birth", so I hope you have enough popcorn to last you long enough while you are waiting for the next one.!!

[CopperLine]

As I said, in another thread, one either has a 'virgin birth' or one has the rejuvenation or remodification of already tabled proposals. I accept that TCs may have latched on to the idea of 'virgin birth' because it may be a helpful conceit to aid negotiations even if, in the final analysis, it was never going to happen.

Part of the art of negotiating is to offer to one's opposite an acceptable means of presenting a deal to their domestic constituents, including opponents. I'd expect in the course of negotiations a umber of 'non-flyers' to be aired. It's par for the course.