’No solution in foreseeable future’
By Simon Bahceli
President gives controversial interview to Dubai paper.
PRESIDENT Tassos Papadopoulos says a settlement on Cyprus that insists on political equality between Turkish and Greek Cypriots will be unworkable and that a solution to the island’s division is still more than 20 years away.
The comments appeared in an interview Papadopoulos gave to the Dubai-based Khaleej Times last week.
The statement will undoubtedly cause concern among peace campaigners on both sides of the Green Line, who see Cyprus as closer than ever to a solution.
In the interview Papadopoulos slams the UN’s Annan plan for giving too much power to the Turkish Cypriot side.
“The Turkish Cypriots…will have 50-50 in everything, in each and every decision,” he said. He added this situation would lead to “lots of problems”.
“There would be two heads in every department. A two-state federation means half-half power,” he adds.
Papadopoulos said he believed such a system would seriously hinder the workings of the state.
“The head, who may be Greek, couldn’t give his approval until his deputy, who must be a Turk, steps in. It means that work would be hindered”.
Papadopoulos, however, concedes in the interview that straight majority-rule democracy could also pose problems in a place like Cyprus where sizeable minorities exist.
“Democracy, in principle, is based on the majority opinion. I accept that, but in our case, it will not work.”
He bemoaned the political equality envisaged in the Annan plan as giving more power to the Turkish Cypriot minority than it does to the Greek Cypriot majority.
“The minority has all the rights, even if the Turkish Cypriots are 18 per cent of the population. On the contrary, the majority doesn’t have the same power,” he was reported as saying.
The President said he believes, “some other solution should be tried or the state issue will never be solved”.
But when pressed on why he backed a ‘no’ vote in April’s referendum on the plan, Papadopoulos told the newspaper, “We said ‘no’ because we feel insecure”.
“I was afraid their [Turkey’s] troops would remain on the island after the referendum, and we are a very small and weak nation”.
He conceded, that Turkey was now attempting to deal with the problems its occupation of the north posed.
“Turkey is trying to solve the problem now, but at the same time it does not want to pull out its forced from the north.
“If Turkey doesn’t do that [withdraw]… I think it will not be able to join the EU,” he added.
Papadopoulos denied that he or the Greek Cypriots rejected the Annan plan for economic reasons.
Papadopoulos told Khaleej Times how he met with a Turkish Cypriot leader before discussions on the Annan plan and asked for a postponement – something the unnamed leader, apparently, agreed to.
He went on to say that – had negotiations been delayed – he and his Turkish Cypriot counterpart might have been able to “solve all problems”.
Without a doubt, of all of Papadopoulos’ reported comments, the one most likely to cause anger in the Turkish Cypriot community where he denied any atrocities being committed by Greek Cypriot militants against Turkish Cypriots.
“From the beginning, they [Turkish Cypriots] were planning for a separation. But, in fact, the Turkish Cypriots were the ones who committed massacres. In 1963 we asked to increase the police patrols, but they refused. From 1963 to 1974 how many Turkish Cypriots were killed? The answer is none”.
Copyright © Cyprus Mail 2004
So what's your comments on Papadopulos' statements?I think he is a big liar and it's impossible to find a solution to Cyprus Problem till he is there...
