Cyprus-Forum.com

[Kifeas]

The fly is disgusting
Saturday, May 28, 2005-TDN editorial by Yusuf KANLI

There is an idiom in Turkish in which the literal translation still retains its essence: The fly is small, but it disgusts all.

Cyprus is a very small island, and southern Cyprus is just a part of the small Mediterranean island. Greek Cypriot leader Tassos Papadopoulos, despite his “heroic past” in the murderous EOKA and EOKA-B gangs, is just a small old man suffering from cancer of the larynx. Yet what the small state he and people like him usurped from their Turkish Cypriot partners by force of arms has been trying to do has become really disgusting.

The Greek Cypriot side has unilaterally become a member of the European Union -- thanks to Guenter Verheugen, Sir David Hannay and former Turkish Cypriot President Rauf Denktaş. As a full member, they have the right to block each and every effort by Brussels and EU capitals aimed at easing the economic and political isolation of northern Cyprus. Conversely, the EU must have mechanisms or tools to use on Papadopoulos and his mini-state as well as on Greece to compel them to see the reality in Cyprus, stop their trouble-mongering and get on the path to resolution.

European bureaucrats as well as diplomats confess in private that the EU underestimated the Greek Cypriot side and made pledges to the Turkish Cypriots that “unfortunately” have not been able to be delivered on since the April 24, 2004 referendum, in which the Turkish Cypriots overwhelmingly supported a U.N. peace plan. The initiative collapsed because of a massive rejection in the Greek Cypriot referendum.

What is the meaning of such a confession if the EU is still not doing anything to overcome the obstacle that is Papadopoulos -- Mr. Intransigent?

The small president of the southern Cypriot mini-state was in the news once again on Friday with a statement that entering Cyprus from ports in the north is a crime. His administration has rejected a request by a group of American congressmen to visit southern Cyprus on grounds that they would be entering the island from “illegal ports.”

U.S. congressmen Ed Whitfield and Robert Wexler said at a news conference in Washington that the State Department reviewed the situation and told them entering Cyprus in northern ports is “not illegal.” Of course, what the congressmen said is what they were told by the State Department. So why doesn't the State Department issue a statement and announce that the United States considers the ports and airports in northern Cyprus to be “legal”?

Such a statement, naturally, would be a very big step that would show the Papadopoulos administration that persisting with their intransigence could land them in a very difficult situation. Papadopoulos rejected the U.N. plan, saying he came to office as president of the Cyprus Republic -- which is wrongly recognized as the sole sovereign government of the entire island and its entire population -- and won't agree to being president of one of the two states forming the new Cyprus according to the peace plan. If he comes to realize there is a limit, and if the Turkish Cypriot state can receive international acknowledgement, if not recognition, he may abandon his hard-core intransigence and take recourse in a settlement based on the notion of “power sharing” with Turkish Cypriots.

That's the catch phrase in Cyprus. If the Greek Cypriots put aside their disgusting policies and agree to share power with Turkish Cypriots on the basis of political equality, the rest will just be details. There will be a Cyprus accord.

[Main_Source]

a s true separatist.

What I want to know is, if entering directly into northern Cyprus is not illegal, why do all these officials ask the persmission of RoC to go there? Why dont they just go there directly and see what happens???

and again, the RoC is not a government for Greek Cypriots but an official government for all Cypriots. So this journalist saying the Greek Cypriots should give political equality to Turkish Cypriots is more manipulation of words.

[erolz]

What I want to know is, if entering directly into northern Cyprus is not illegal,

It is 'technicaly' illegal under RoC laws - but even your own courts have ruled that this law can not be used against anyone - not EU citizens or non EU citizens. That is the current reality. Anyone can fly from outside Cyprus into the north and cross the border to the south. The authorites know that if they try and arrest such people their own courts will throw the cases out (or impose no penalty on the 'guilty'. They know this because attempts have been made to prosecute people under this law and this is what the RoC courts did.

If Mr John Smith of the UK (or USA or India or anywhere else) can fly to the north and enter the south without fear of prosecution, then why do the GC adminsitration make such a fuss when Mr Poltician does the same. There is no international law that says it is illegal to fly to the north. There is an atiquated RoC law that says it is illegal but this law is unenforceable - according the RoC own courts. That's the reality today. One of the benefits of your 'european' solution I might add (not being able to enforce the RoC law that says it is illegal to enter Cyprus form the north).

[Main_Source]

So why dont these American officials just go and fly to the north. If it's such a plastic law, why is there such concern on their behalf?

[suetoniuspaulinus]

So why dont these American officials just go and fly to the north. If it's such a plastic law, why is there such concern on their behalf?

Mr Main-Source

Maybe they just want to advertise the fact that they are flying direct to Ercan. as a promise of things to come.?

[erolz]

So why dont these American officials just go and fly to the north. If it's such a plastic law, why is there such concern on their behalf?

Whether a foriegn politician decides to enter Cyprus via the north or not is a _political_ decision. It is not a legal issue (any more) despite the cries of your government 'it's illegal, it's illegal'.

http://www.cyprus-mail.com/news/main.ph ... &archive=1

But the district court judge trying the case refused to sentence the five, citing an EU directive that forces the Republic to allow the movement of EU citizens, irrespective of their point of entry, arguing that to sentence the Pakistanis would be discriminatory.

He said that if the case was closed without sentencing, any third country national would be able to enter the Republic through the north.

http://www.cyprus-mail.com/news/main.ph ... &archive=1

A NICOSIA court yesterday slammed the police for prosecuting a Greek Cypriot who travelled to Istanbul through the occupied areas, describing his treatment as discriminatory and unconstitutional.

In his five-page decision, Judge Giasemis Giasemi noted that the charges had been filed based on article 12(1) of the Aliens and Immigration Law, which stipulates that no person may enter or exit the Republic through an illegal point of entry.

However, as Giasemi pointed out, the government had agreed to implement the European Union’s Green Line Regulation on the movement of goods and people, which, after considering the government’s concerns, stressed that “it was necessary to give the right to EU citizens to exercise the right of free movement within the EU”.

Giasemi pointed out that the Green Line Regulation did not cancel article 12(1), but added that the code effectively did exactly that.

The Regulation took effect immediately after the island’s accession to the EU on May 1.

Legal and political circles had from the outset questioned the decision to prosecute the man, since a sentencing would have had serious repercussions for Cyprus. It would have created a precedent forcing police to arrest everyone -- including other EU nationals and Turkish Cypriots – using illegal points of entry to come to the island.

Since EU accession, the government has not been able to stop EU nationals from crossing the Green Line, irrespective of their port of entry.

So what is really going on here. The RoC governement KNEW that EU accession would make this RoC law ineffective. However they also knew that telling people this is the case would not be popular. They maintain an impression, for internal consumption, that they can still prosecute people for entering Cyprus via the North when in fact they KNOW they can not.

So when a politician makes a polticial decision to enter the north directly - they do not talk about it being a bad political decsion - they prefer to claim it is a legal issue and not a political one (sound familure) and shout 'it's illegal, it's illegal' - even though they know this is no longer an issue - and that it was EU entry that has stopped it being a legal issue.

The RoC still has a law prohibiting people from entering (or exiting) Cyprus from the north. This law is unenforceable. The RoC knows this but does not want to admit to their people - prefering to leave an impression the law is still enforceable. The effectiveness of this confusion can clearly been seen by posts on this forums with GC (apparently sincerely) telling foreigners that if they enter Cyprus from the north the risk prosecution, and imprisonment in the RoC. The RoC claims they can still impose fines for this offence - but no one has been fined for it because they know that even this is not enforceable.