The Evidence is so compelling that the same parameters are still burning strong today with the strong "OXI" campaign of the Annan Plan by the Military backed Greek Cypriot Orthodox Church and their corrupt Greek Cypriot Politicians. And Guess what? Britain does NOT care anymore. They have their Two British Sovereign Bases and they are there to stay. The Greek Cypriots are so deep rooted with their on-going Terrorist campaign against the British that they still falsely demand "Rent" for the use of the British Sovereign Bases. My good God, are these people that stupid? Do they not know that the Two British Bases are NOTHING to do with the "Republic of Cyprus" and are completely "Sovereign". You would think that the word "Sovereign" would give it away. But No, not with the Ultra-Nationalist - Greek Cypriot Republic of Cyprus. That is why EROGLU's most recent interview below will create a new state of play on the island with Two Recognised Republic States. Put it this way, and with no disrespect to R.R.Denktas, if Mr Dervis Eroglu had resumed President power of the TRNC in the 1980s and 1990s, the Cyprus situation would have looked very different today.
In other words.....Do the Greek Cypriots not know how powerful President Dervis Eroglu is? Let me tell you that Turkey loves this man so much that he is an automatic member of the Turkish establishment in Ankara, with a strong say. Please read his last interview below:
Turkish Cypriot leader warns he is serious about year’s end deadline
Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (KKTC) President Derviş Eroğlu has vowed that time is fast running out for the settlement of the issue of the divided island of Cyprus and said back-to-back meetings with Greek Cypriot leaders have failed to produce any concrete results which satisfy both communities -- sentiments felt in Turkey also.
“I think we have no choice but to seriously evaluate our own options on whether to carry on with talks forever -- for the sake of talking -- or to stop lying to ourselves and start considering other options if we have no solution by the end of this year,” he said in an interview with Today’s Zaman on Saturday.
Though he declined to specify what “plan B” would entail in the case of the ultimate failure of the UN-sponsored talks, many observers believe that it would involve partition, and eventual separation -- with two independent states on the tiny island. Turkey already signaled it would support alternative options if talks do not yield results by the year’s end.
Eroğlu emphasized that the UN special envoy to Cyprus, Alexander Downer, has a forthcoming report -- to be presented to the UN secretary-general in November -- on the talks’ progress and stressed that the report would be a crucial milestone in determining the options available to Turkish Cypriots. “Greek Cypriots have not offered anything new to the solution of problems we are trying to settle, such as property, compensation, power sharing issues -- and they are repeating the same basic line of repackaged old offers, which, I fear, have the ultimate aim of isolating the Turkish community on the island” he said.
Eroğlu warned that the fatigue and frustration over the failure to find a solution further complicated his efforts to continue down the negotiations track, as the public had grown weary of endless, fruitless talks. “In 2004, Turkish Cypriots overwhelmingly accepted the Annan plan, hoping the issue would be settled once and for all, even though the terms were not favorable to the Turks. That chance was missed because of the Greek Cypriots, who rejected to the plan. If we have another public referendum today, most Turks will reject a similar proposal because they simply do not believe in the sincerity of the Greeks,” he explained.
The Turkish leader made it clear that Greek Cypriots had not brought forward any “new proposals” regarding reunifying the island under the ongoing Cyprus reunification talks, mediated by the UN since September 2008. “Greek Cypriot leader Dimitris Christofias has basically repeated the same proposals over and over, and these have represented nothing new,” Eroğlu pointed out.
The veteran politician, who said he had an excellent working relationship with the Turkish leadership in Ankara, acknowledged Turkish support to the settlement and said Turkey’s guarantees were very important to the Turks living on the island. “We still have bitter memories of the past during which many Turks suffered, some got killed and others went missing. But at the same time we are trying to forget this past, unlike the Greek Cypriots who still portray Turks as monsters in school textbooks,” he said.
Eroğlu’s concerns about the deadlock of talks and the approaching end-of-year deadline were also shared with Ankara during his first official visit to Ankara in June, after his election as the Turkish Cypriot president. Turkish President Abdullah Gül suggested that the Turkish Cypriot state -- recognized only by Turkey -- could function as an independent state if talks did not produce results. “The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus is a country that has proven itself. It has a democracy that has proven its maturity and its economy is growing stronger,” he said.
In July, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Cemil Çiçek said the talks could not go on forever and demanded a solution by end of the year. He warned that the failure to reach a settlement by then could lead to the partitioning of the island. “We seek a solution by the end of 2010. However, if this cannot be achieved, everyone will go their separate ways,” Çiçek said during a visit to the island.
Committed to talks, but not forever
Cyprus was divided in 1974 when the Turkish military intervened to stop the bloodshed on the island following a Greek military junta-backed coup in Cyprus. Since then, numerous rounds of UN-sponsored negotiations based on a bi-zonal, bi-communal federation have ended in failure and observers think that another collapse could prompt the UN to abandon its mediation role, possibly leading to the island’s permanent partition.
Dismissing claims that he was a separatist and simply had no interest in reconciliation, Eroğlu said he picked up from where his predecessor left off and has kept negotiating through UN mediation. “Their plan was to portray me as a hard-liner who has no real interest in talks. That backfired as I kept dealing with the most difficult problems, like the settlement of property issues. We have put forward concrete and very technical, detailed plans to solve property issues, in line with the Annan plan and rulings by the European Court of Human Rights [ECtHR]. But they rejected these proposals and insisted on returning properties to former owners after 35 years had passed -- and the facts had changed on the ground.”
The Greek camp argues that the former property owners have exclusive rights to land, even if their properties were developed by Turks on empty fields. If the Greek proposal was accepted, owners of 30-40 unit apartment complexes would become tenants in their own homes or have to leave their homes. “This is simply not acceptable and the ECtHR recognized that,” Eroğlu said, adding that any such agreement would be flatly rejected by the Turkish Cypriots in the referendum. Turkey, along with the Turkish Cypriots, have advanced a new plan that could see idle and unusable properties renovated by establishing a construction company very much like the successful Housing Development Administration of Turkey (TOKİ), which could eventually lead to some kind of settlement -- though specific details are not yet forthcoming. “The plan was positively received by the UN and was appreciated,” Eroğlu said, noting the value of Turkish Cypriot’s properties in the south and properties of Greek Cypriots, for example those in a suburb of Famagusta called Varosha (Maraş in Turkish), will increase.
EU should make up for its mistake
Briefing about the recent talks he held with the EU officials in Brussels last week, the Turkish Cypriot leader said the EU leaders had increasingly recognized the mistake that was made in 2004 by accepting a portion of the island into the EU -- even though the Greek Cypriot side rejected the UN plan. He said, “One of the leaders I met with told me that the Greek Cypriots had tricked the EU into accepting the partitioned island by pretending that they would accept the Annan plan.”
“Now it is up to the EU to fulfill its pledge to resume direct trade with the KKTC,” he said, while recalling his country was doing business directly with the 12-member EU until 1994 -- when an EU court ruling annulled previous trade links. In 2004, the EU unveiled a plan to ease the isolation of the northern side by resuming direct trade with the Turkish north but never implemented it due to the Greek Cypriots veto. “I do not think resumption of trade warrants any concession from us, nor from Turkey -- like opening up Turkey’s ports and airports to traffic from Greek Cyprus,” Eroğlu noted.
20 September 2010, Monday
ABDULLAH BOZKURT LEFKOŞA
