zan wrote:YUSUF KANLI
Common denominator in Cyprus
Thursday, September 11, 2008
YUSUF KANLI
The success of any Cyprus negotiated settlement effort will largely depend on the ability of the negotiators of the two sides to find a common denominator, which an army of international mediators and previous negotiators have all failed to agree on. The common denominator, however, has always been there and if ever there is to be a resolution to the Cyprus problem it has to be the cornerstone of that resolution.
Why do we have the Cyprus problem today? The answer to this question may help everyone to see what might be the common denominator, or the key to a resolution of the Cyprus problem. However, the totally different answers the two sides give to this question – made worse because both sides believe in the accuracy of their answers – underline indeed how serious an intractable Gordian's knot the Cyprus problem has become. An honest and correct answer to this problem, however, will help anyone wishing for a lasting and just deal or to contribute to a resolution of the Cyprus problem.
According to Greek Cypriots, the tragedies and sufferings the Turkish Cypriot people were subjected to from 1963 to 1974 were nothing but some “domestic security problems” of the Republic of Cyprus but the Cyprus problem started with the 1974 “attack” and the consequent “occupation” of one-third of the territory of the island by Turkey.
Better governance needed
According to Turkish Cypriots, however, the Cyprus problem started with the Greek Cypriot Dec. 21, 1963 “bloody Christmas” attacks on the Turkish Cypriot population under the so-called Akritas plan – according to which all Turkish Cypriots would be slaughtered on the island within 24 hours – and 1974 is just a by-product of the Cyprus problem, not a cause for it.
The 1963 attacks and the consequent massive Turkish Cypriot suffering until the 1974 Turkish intervention were as well a by-product of the Cyprus problem because a rational evaluation will show that the Cyprus problem is one of sharing power between the two peoples of the island that dates back to the immediate aftermath of the 1960 founding of the Republic of Cyprus and the allergy on the Greek Cypriot side to the “privileged status” the republic's founding agreements – which indeed produced an effective federation on the island – provided to the Turkish Cypriot people. That is, when he traveled to Ankara for the first-ever trip to the Turkish capital by a Cypriot president in 1962 Archbishop Makarios was indeed negotiating a resolution to the Cyprus problem. At the time he was trying to get Turkish consent for a 13-point amendment he wanted to make in the Cyprus constitution for “better governance” – a demand considered by Ankara and Turkish Cypriots as an effort to liquidate partnership rights of Turkish Cypriots in the sovereignty and administration of the island.
1960 system
The 1960 republic was a product of a common denominator, which was “partnership of the two peoples in the sovereignty of Cyprus.” A new settlement will become possible only if a new and reasonable common denominator can be concocted by the two leaders. For that new settlement to be a lasting one, that new common denominator must be consolidated with some clauses in the new founding agreement that neither of the two sides would seek alterations in the founding agreement and any attempt to that end would give legitimacy to the other side to secede from the partnership governance and go its own way.
Indeed, the 2004 referendum on a U.N. peace plan had demonstrated that Greek Cypriots did not want to share power with Turkish Cypriots but all they wanted is a settlement that would give Turkish Cypriots some privileges as one of the minorities of the island. Remarks of current Greek Cypriot leader Demetris Christofias and his team still indicate that there was no significant change in that obsession.
Today, the leaders of the two sides on Cyprus will start comprehensive talks for a resolution of the Cyprus problem while in both sides of the Cyprus divide public opinion polls indicate majority support for the partition of the island into two separate states within the European Union.
The common denominator that may open the way to settlement – as was in 1960 – is full political equality of the two peoples of the island, and of course their two states, in the sovereignty and political administration of Cyprus. The day this is acknowledged, a settlement is half done … The rest will be detail …
Zan, I'm confused as to why you had to edit the above post 30 minutes after you originally posted it. You did not write it yourself and it was only a copy paste, so just what exactly was it that needed editing. Can you please provide the link to the above story....thanks.
