Cyprus-Forum.com

[CBBB]

Finding a solution by Cypriots for Cypriots
By George Vassiliou

WE ALL know very well that since 1963 and subsequently 1974 with the coup d’état and the invasion there have been many efforts to reach a solution and reunite the island. Unfortunately, all these efforts failed for various reasons that I do not feel is our task to try to analyse.

I would like, however, to point out a truth which is important to have in mind if we want to succeed this time. In both communities there are people with illusions about what is feasible.

On our side, there are some people who hope that we could go back to the conditions prevailing when Cyprus became independent or as close as possible to those. On the Turkish Cypriot side the theory of partition, ‘taxim’, is still alive and if this is not possible, then a ‘near-taxim’ solution under the cover of ‘federation’.

The high level agreement of 1977 for a bizonal, bicommunal federation with political equality has put an end to all those illusions. Unfortunately, however, due to the premature death of Archbishop Makarios III and various other events that followed, it has never been possible to implement.

Now with the election of Demetris Christofias to the presidency of the republic and the fact that the Turkish Cypriot community has a new leader, in the form of Mr Talat, we can again hope. On both sides there is a clear understanding that there can be no unilateral victory by either of the two and that we must both strive for a win-win solution. This implies that there is need for compromises from both sides. Compromises that, when reached, may be attacked by many on both sides but which in a few years will have been forgotten as we will all be working and enjoying the benefits of the reunited Federal Republic of Cyprus.

I will disappoint those who were expecting me to analyse the position of the one or the other side in the negotiations that have just started. To me what is extremely important is that only one month after the election of Mr Christofias to the presidency he met his old fried, Mr Talat, and they agreed operating, They carried out a very productive and useful work which enabled the two leaders to start negotiations.

Personally, I believe that these negotiations are ‘condemned to succeed’ and that the benefits of the reunification will be substantially bigger than the cost of the compromises that we may have to accept.

The negotiations need to be successful because by now practically everybody realises that the lost time is nobody’s friend. Living apart in an island divided by force is not our choice and in my opinion involves only disadvantages for both communities. We must also appreciate that the international community is losing interest if a problem appears to be unsolvable.

Let us therefore contribute with all our force to the success of the negotiations. Personally, I am convinced that a solution at last of the Cyprus problem and the reunification of the island will present too many advantages to both communities. Let us examine some of them:

Territory and Property issue

The agreement to establish a bizonal, bicommunal federation implies that to a large extent the present territorial division between the two communities will remain in force. Towns, for example, like Kyrenia which was overwhelmingly Greek Cypriot or Paphos which had a vey large Turkish Cypriot community will in the future be inhabited by nearly exclusively Turkish Greek Cypriot. I expect that about one-fifth of the land currently under Turkish Cypriot control will be returned to Greek Cypriots, including Famagusta, Morphou, a great number of villages and various other areas.

The major problem, however, will be to agree as to how to address the issue of the properties that will remain in the two constituent states but owned by persons residing in the other state. In some, their legal owners will be able to return but in most cases, they will not be allowed either for practical reasons or because the owners may prefer compensation rather than the property.

As a result, very substantial sums of money will be made available to the dispossessed owners in both parts of the island. The United Nations, the European Union, the various large and wealthy countries are all expected to contribute. This will give a tremendous boost to the construction industry but also provide the required liquidity for all kinds of project that Greek or Turkish Cypriots may want to initiate. We will therefore be starting our new life as a united island with a substantial ‘dowry’.

The Federal Republic of Cyprus will be a full member of the EU from the first moment of the solution in the same way as the united Germany was. The advantages of the EU membership are too many and well known. What is more important, however, is that within the EU we can have confidence to each other.

As we all know suspicion of the others’ motives is probably the greatest challenge of a reunited federal Cyprus. In the EU however, legislation is for everybody and all countries. Thus we are ’condemned’ to trust each other and accordingly co-operation between the two communities should develop smoothly.

Furthermore, we must highlight that even after some transitional periods, we will enjoy the full benefits of the unhindered implementation of the four freedoms:

a) the freedom to move goods, i.e. trading,

b) the free movement of people

c) the free movement of services and

d) the free movement of capital

The development of commerce and industry will naturally create new and strong relations between Greek and Turkish Cypriots, help them to know better each other, co-operate and jointly take advantage of the many opportunities arising from membership of the European Union.

The free movement of capital will lead to significant investment in the future federal Cyprus. Today, because of the fact that most of the properties in the north belong to Greek Cypriot, foreign investment is practically impossible. Very few people are prepared to take the risk of going against the international legality and investing in properties the ownership of which is not clarified. With the solution all these problems will disappear and the unhindered development of North Cyprus will become possible.

Equally important will be the free movement of services. Cyprus because of its favourable tax laws, climate and highly qualified professionals is ideally suited to be the centre of a great number of international companies and provide all kind of services around the world both to companies and individuals. In this respect I should point out that the opportunities and prospects for our Turkish Cypriot compatriots that wish to trade in the EU and the wider area of the Middle East or simply need to have an offshore base.

Special references should be made to the great prospects for tourism. Undoubtedly, their number will increase as for the first time tourists will know that they visit one united island-state and are entirely free to move around the island wherever they like.

The free movement of capital will lead to the development of new tourist facilities of all types. In the various hotels, restaurants, shops, etc. Greek and Turkish Cypriots will work together catering for visitors from the region and further apart.

In addition to the traditional activities Cyprus is ideally suited a recuperation centre for people recovering from various illnesses but also as a centre for providing medical service from simple dental treatment to difficult operations. As a results, hundreds of Cypriot medical doctors and thousands of paramedical personal will work together and discover that there is a lot that unite them and practically nothing that divides them.

Cyprus already has significantly greater number of universities than its population can justify, attracting thousands of foreign students from the area, who are coming to Cyprus to study in English. With the solution it would be possible for universities of both sides to attract even more students from the whole region around us and further apart. The benefits of this prospect are obvious and Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot educational staff will start working together.

Last but not least, we should point out that all Cypriots will feel secure. By being full members of the European Union we can all enjoy the collective security of the whole Europe. Accordingly, we will be able to eliminate practically all military expenditure and rely on a well organised and adequate police force to protect internal peace. We will thus save millions of euros that can be used for development and social purposes.

The progress of the economy, the opportunity to work together, study or travel together will contribute greatly to the development of personal relations between members of the two communities. Young people, whether Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriots will lend to frequent the same coffee shops and restaurants to enjoy the same shows.

Young people particularly tend to forget easily nowadays. Therefore, even if at the beginning, the first months or years, the bitter feeling from the long years of partition may still prevail, gradually they will fade until they finally disappear. Cypriots, instead of thinking of the sufferings and conflicts of the past will work together to create a better future for themselves and the country as a whole.

n President George Vassiliou led the Republic of Cyprus from 1988 to 1993



Copyright © Cyprus Mail 2008

[Bananiot]

A wise man, but solution will give a "tremendous boost" to the construction industry and not "bust" as the article suggests. Obviously the printshop daemon has struck again.

[CBBB]

A wise man, but solution will give a "tremendous boost" to the construction industry and not "bust" as the article suggests. Obviously the printshop daemon has struck again.

I fixed the spelling mistake as it was spelt correctly in the print edition!

I don't know how they manged that!

[Bananiot]

Sorry CBBB, once a teacher, always a teacher!

[Paphitis]

Sorry CBBB, once a teacher, always a teacher!

The Private Education System should use you in their promotional campaigns.

[Nikitas]

In the end it is the financial interest of the "developers" that will rule the day.

There is huge opportunity in the rebuilding of Famagusta which I wonder whether will be realised. It is a golden opportunity, unique in the world, to create a dream town assuming that architects are given the right mandate. On the other hand it might just be another case of "development ala Cypriota". The choice will indicate the future of Cyprus, whether we think out of the box or stay stuck on the lines of "development" as we have done so far.

[Get Real!]

Finding a solution by Cypriots for Cypriots
By George Vassiliou

The classic definition of “solution” is…

“The method or process of solving a problem”

…but without a one-man-one-vote fair & square Democracy there is NO SOLUTION no matter what abbreviation you label it with.

I wonder how many decades it’ll take before one of these old geezers who like to think they understand sociology will finally say…

“Eureka! The solution is democracy!”

…most likely never, so out with the old and in with the new until we get it right.

[Piratis]

The agreement to establish a bizonal, bicommunal federation implies that to a large extent the present territorial division between the two communities will remain in force.

Not only the division will remain, but it will also be legalized, with Greek Cypriots signing off their rights to their homeland and surrendering all control to the Turks.

Therefore Vasiliou is admitting that the "solution" he proposes is one of division i.e. partition.

As a result, very substantial sums of money will be made available to the dispossessed owners in both parts of the island. The United Nations, the European Union, the various large and wealthy countries are all expected to contribute.

So not only we will give up our homeland to the Turks, but the Turks will not have to pay a single cent for them. All our cases at the ECHR will be erased and Turks will keep our land and declared innocent. Instead we will become beggars and hope that some other counties will come and donate money to us! Can you sue a donor if he doesn't give what he promised? I bet you can't!

The Federal Republic of Cyprus will be a full member of the EU from the first moment of the solution in the same way as the united Germany was. The advantages of the EU membership are too many and well known.

Whatever the benefits we already have them. Only the TCs can have any additional benefits. Not us.

As we all know suspicion of the others’ motives is probably the greatest challenge of a reunited federal Cyprus. In the EU however, legislation is for everybody and all countries.

Sure, unless of course we are stupid enough to sign off our rights and agree to derogations, which is exactly what the "solutions" that Vassiliou supports will do. In that case the laws will be for everybody except us, since we would be second category EU citizens.

The development of commerce and industry will naturally create new and strong relations between Greek and Turkish Cypriots, help them to know better each other, co-operate and jointly take advantage of the many opportunities arising from membership of the European Union.

We are already developed and we have the whole EU and the whole world as commerce partners. Only the TCs will benefit, since they will get to keep and Turkify our lands, without facing any consequences such as international isolation.

The free movement of capital will lead to significant investment in the future federal Cyprus. Today, because of the fact that most of the properties in the north belong to Greek Cypriot, foreign investment is practically impossible. Very few people are prepared to take the risk of going against the international legality and investing in properties the ownership of which is not clarified. With the solution all these problems will disappear and the unhindered development of North Cyprus will become possible.

So you will legalize the selling of our properties by the Turks so they can profit. Great!!

Equally important will be the free movement of services. Cyprus because of its favourable tax laws, climate and highly qualified professionals is ideally suited to be the centre of a great number of international companies and provide all kind of services around the world both to companies and individuals. In this respect I should point out that the opportunities and prospects for our Turkish Cypriot compatriots that wish to trade in the EU and the wider area of the Middle East or simply need to have an offshore base.

Again, benefits are only for the TCs.

Special references should be made to the great prospects for tourism. Undoubtedly, their number will increase as for the first time tourists will know that they visit one united island-state and are entirely free to move around the island wherever they like.

It will increase in the occupied areas, decrease in the free areas. If we accept what Vassiliou wants, the 18% TC minority will get the 50%+ of the coastline and they will be totally free to exploit it. It is clear who will benefit from such arrangement.

The free movement of capital will lead to the development of new tourist facilities of all types

Capital will flow in the occupied areas from Greek Cypriots and from foreigners who will then be able to invest with no problems in the occupied areas (and might invest there instead of here). What flow of capital will we see? From the rich TCs who will now come and invest their billions in the free areas?

Last but not least, we should point out that all Cypriots will feel secure. By being full members of the European Union we can all enjoy the collective security of the whole Europe. Accordingly, we will be able to eliminate practically all military expenditure and rely on a well organised and adequate police force to protect internal peace. We will thus save millions of euros that can be used for development and social purposes.

We are already in EU and if there is any security benefit from this we already have it. If we accept what Vassiliou wants however we will become less secure since we will have do dissolve our army, while Turkey will continue to be a fully armed "guarantor" and the TCs will now be able to create new deadlocks and new problems (as they did in 63) creating the excuse for Turkey to invade again.

So, if we accept what Vassiliou wants, not only we will officially surrender the north part of our country to the Turks, not only the Turks will not have to pay a cent for keeping our land, but the Turks are the ones who will benefit financially as well.

Such a "solution" will benefit Turkey and the TCs (the vast majority of them). Among GCs the only ones who will benefit are those, relatively few, who might be able to return to their lands in that 7% or so of land that theoretically (with no guarantees) will be returned, and some Capitalists (among them some GC capitalists) will will take advantage of the situation to advance their profits (which is one of the main reasons why Vassiliou, Anastasiades and the representatives of the Capitalists support such a "solution").

The vast majority of GCs, including those refugees who will wait in vain for the international donations, will be royalty screwed from a financial perspective as well.

Yes, like the people of west Germany we would be willing to temporarily suffer financially and make lots of other sacrifices as well, if the result would be a truly united Cyprus, like the truly united Germany.

And we have no problem for the TCs to gain financially everything they ever dreamed about. But they will have to give us back our land first.

[Tony-4497]

Piratis

I fully agree with your analysis above. GCs have absolutely nothing to gain from the above solution, which is largely the Annan plan, other than getting back a tiny percentage of the stolen land - and even that is highly uncertain as it will be subject to Turkey keeping promises to move out the settler and TC population etc (she could find many excuses not to do this after the solution i.e. can't find alternative housing, "humanitarian" reasons etc - and noone would in practice be able to force her to - as noone forced her to open the ports to RoC as per the EU Ankara agreement she signed).

In return for this tiny bit of land, GCs would not only have to legalise the theft of the rest of their land as you mentioned, but, more importantly in my view, agree to abolish the Republic of Cyprus, which is the only reason GCs still exist and prosper today.

Allowing what Christofias called an "equal partnership of two component states" (i.e. "United Cyprus") to replace the RoC as a country (i.e. UN and EU member state) means that once the highly complex and full of grey areas power sharing arrangements (that will necessarily, by definition, exist in any such solution) come to a deadlock for any reason, GCs will no longer have a country. The "equal partnership" will clearly not be able to function without one of the "equal partners" and GCs will lose their voice in the UN, the EU, access to international justice etc.

Following the above scenario (which is exactly what Turkey will activate - and they would be stupid not to), IF we are lucky, the EU etc will recognise 2 separate states in Cyprus and the 18% TCs will end up with 30% of land and 50% of coastline. If we are not lucky, we will continue as an unrecognised pariah state (much as the current TRNC) begging for a guardian to protect us.

I believe that for both GCs and TCs to accept any such arranagement (i.e. "equal partnership of 2 component states"), the land sharing should be 82:18 and there should be clear provisions stating that if for any reason the "partnership" breaks down, then both component states will automatically become full UN and EU members. There should also be EU/ Nato guarantees and the solution and abolishment of RoC should only take place at the same time as Turkey hands over the land to GCs and not a minute before.

[Viewpoint]

This thread reveals a great deal about why we will never find middle ground and why this problem has not been solved, the signs are not promising at all.