Bananiot,
Please! You do yourself a disservice. You are an intelligent person so use your head.
What Edogan tells the Turkish press is one thing. The reality is quite another. Remember Erdogan saying that he was going to get a date early 2005? Remember he was saying he would not accept precoditions for the start of negotiations? Well, he got neither!
He got a date, late in 2005, which in reality is actually beginning of 2006, and he got a list of conditions as long as your arm.
I honestly have to plead with you to be more level headed and reasonable in your analysis. Cyprus did very well out of the EU summit. It has linked Turkeys EU course with Cyprus. That was the goal and that is what we have got.
Annan Plan 'As Is'
by pantelis » Wed Dec 22, 2004 2:54 pm
Bananiot,
The only allies we need, in order to solve our problem, are the Cypriots; all Cypriots, GCs and TCs.
Papadopoulos should restructure his government to include TCs, as ministers and civil servants. He should open the Cyprus parliament to fill the empty seats, reserved for the TCs. All Cypriots should be included in the decision making. If any of these first steps are taken, the rest will follow. How can we continue the policies of 1963 and expect to see a change, both internally and externally?
An honest and sincere effort to share the political power of the RoC, even with little or no success in the beginning, will create the climate for reconciliation and unity.
This is what I mean when I say we should solve our problems by ourselves, by sitting on the same side of the table, not the opposite side.
The only allies we need, in order to solve our problem, are the Cypriots; all Cypriots, GCs and TCs.
Papadopoulos should restructure his government to include TCs, as ministers and civil servants. He should open the Cyprus parliament to fill the empty seats, reserved for the TCs. All Cypriots should be included in the decision making. If any of these first steps are taken, the rest will follow. How can we continue the policies of 1963 and expect to see a change, both internally and externally?
An honest and sincere effort to share the political power of the RoC, even with little or no success in the beginning, will create the climate for reconciliation and unity.
This is what I mean when I say we should solve our problems by ourselves, by sitting on the same side of the table, not the opposite side.
- pantelis
- Contributor
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by -mikkie2- » Wed Dec 22, 2004 3:22 pm
This article in Cyprus Mail, that has been vociferous in its opposition to Papadopoulos!
They seem to agree that Papadopoulos has enhanced his reputation and that he is heading in the right direction towards a solution, something that I have been saying all along. I leave you to judge....
Papadopoulos can go down in history as a man of vision
By Nick Pittas
NOW that the dust has began to settle, it is time for us on the Greek Cypriot side carefully to assess the fall-out from the summit of the European Council, and prepare for what will almost certainly will be another, perhaps final, international effort to broker a Cyprus settlement based on the principles of federalism, bi-zonality and bi-communality.
First, we must salute Tassos Papadopoulos for not exercising the veto to prevent accession negotiations between the EU and Turkey. I am sure every nerve in his body (not to mention most of his political friends and advisers) must have been urging him, almost reflexively to use the veto in the face of Turkish refusal to recognise the Republic of Cyprus. He had every legal and considerable political reason to use the veto, and he wisely chose not to. Imagine if you will if Turkey did not recognise Greece or any other EU member. Would the EU have tolerated Turkey’s refusal and agreed to accession negotiations before recognition? The answer is obvious.
Had the President used the veto he would undoubtedly have incurred the wrath of the major European partners, but all would have understood and agreed that he had a legal and political foundation for his action. Indeed he would probably have gained the admiration of some leaders and considerable political support back home.
What President Papadopoulos did by accepting a compromise that was less than he had a right to expect from his partners was to re-establish his bona fides as a strong European partner. This vitally important intangible asset he had compromised at Burgenstock, by the ‘no’ vote campaign during the lead-up to the referendum and by his subsequent refusal to facilitate direct trade between the north and the EU and thereby soften the isolation of the Turkish Cypriot community.
By putting Europe first on December 17, he has gained the respect and admiration of his partners, and in the event that Turkey reneges on its promise to extend its Customs Union agreement with the EU to Cyprus before accession negotiations begin next October, he will not be under the same pressure to refrain from using the veto.
The other thing he has done is laid to rest the fear that he does not want a settlement based on the Annan plan. If that were really the case, I believe he would have used the veto, an action almost guaranteed to sink any further international effort to revive talks based on the agreed upon principles mentioned above.
The pressure now will be much more evenly balanced on the two sides. If anything, it will be felt more by the Turks, who, as they prepare for accession negotiations, will want to put to rest the issue of recognition. As Gul and Erdogan have said, a settlement must precede full diplomatic recognition. If they are sincere, and I believe they will want to convince the EU leadership that they are, Turkey will have every incentive to re-negotiate the Annan plan between now and next October.
The focus of our efforts over the next nine months must be to agree on the precise minimum changes we want made to the Annan plan, and then to negotiate hard to achieve them. We must for once also come to the table without a zero sum mentality, where every supposed gain for the Turkish Cypriots or Turkey is a loss for us and vice versa. Our entire focus must be on making the plan as workable as possible and ensure that there are efficient dispute resolution mechanisms that will avoid any temptation after a settlement to coerce or obtain agreements by duress.
As important as getting the right context for the negotiations, the right negotiators and achievable goals, we must start now to prepare the public for the next referendum. It is in this respect that I believe the one person who can best reach out to the people and allay their fears is the President himself.
If he now embarks on preparing the ground for the next and quite possibly final round of negotiations by creating the broadest possible alliance within the National Council in support of his negotiating positions, which of course must be within the realm of the possible and not simply the ideal based on nationalistic bombast, I believe President Papadopoulos can go down in history as the true founding father of the United Cyprus Republic and a man of peace.
He and Cyprus will also be remembered as having wisely let the new Europe take shape when narrow national self-interest might have dictated otherwise. In that respect our President may also come to be written in the history books as a founder of the new greatly enlarged Europe.
While Burgenstock was a real diplomatic defeat for Cyprus, I believe in the long run the Brussels summit will be seen as a victory for Cyprus and President Papadopoulos personally. He has made up much if not all the lost ground and can go back to the table with renewed strength and the respect of the international community.
Copyright © Cyprus Mail 2004
They seem to agree that Papadopoulos has enhanced his reputation and that he is heading in the right direction towards a solution, something that I have been saying all along. I leave you to judge....
Papadopoulos can go down in history as a man of vision
By Nick Pittas
NOW that the dust has began to settle, it is time for us on the Greek Cypriot side carefully to assess the fall-out from the summit of the European Council, and prepare for what will almost certainly will be another, perhaps final, international effort to broker a Cyprus settlement based on the principles of federalism, bi-zonality and bi-communality.
First, we must salute Tassos Papadopoulos for not exercising the veto to prevent accession negotiations between the EU and Turkey. I am sure every nerve in his body (not to mention most of his political friends and advisers) must have been urging him, almost reflexively to use the veto in the face of Turkish refusal to recognise the Republic of Cyprus. He had every legal and considerable political reason to use the veto, and he wisely chose not to. Imagine if you will if Turkey did not recognise Greece or any other EU member. Would the EU have tolerated Turkey’s refusal and agreed to accession negotiations before recognition? The answer is obvious.
Had the President used the veto he would undoubtedly have incurred the wrath of the major European partners, but all would have understood and agreed that he had a legal and political foundation for his action. Indeed he would probably have gained the admiration of some leaders and considerable political support back home.
What President Papadopoulos did by accepting a compromise that was less than he had a right to expect from his partners was to re-establish his bona fides as a strong European partner. This vitally important intangible asset he had compromised at Burgenstock, by the ‘no’ vote campaign during the lead-up to the referendum and by his subsequent refusal to facilitate direct trade between the north and the EU and thereby soften the isolation of the Turkish Cypriot community.
By putting Europe first on December 17, he has gained the respect and admiration of his partners, and in the event that Turkey reneges on its promise to extend its Customs Union agreement with the EU to Cyprus before accession negotiations begin next October, he will not be under the same pressure to refrain from using the veto.
The other thing he has done is laid to rest the fear that he does not want a settlement based on the Annan plan. If that were really the case, I believe he would have used the veto, an action almost guaranteed to sink any further international effort to revive talks based on the agreed upon principles mentioned above.
The pressure now will be much more evenly balanced on the two sides. If anything, it will be felt more by the Turks, who, as they prepare for accession negotiations, will want to put to rest the issue of recognition. As Gul and Erdogan have said, a settlement must precede full diplomatic recognition. If they are sincere, and I believe they will want to convince the EU leadership that they are, Turkey will have every incentive to re-negotiate the Annan plan between now and next October.
The focus of our efforts over the next nine months must be to agree on the precise minimum changes we want made to the Annan plan, and then to negotiate hard to achieve them. We must for once also come to the table without a zero sum mentality, where every supposed gain for the Turkish Cypriots or Turkey is a loss for us and vice versa. Our entire focus must be on making the plan as workable as possible and ensure that there are efficient dispute resolution mechanisms that will avoid any temptation after a settlement to coerce or obtain agreements by duress.
As important as getting the right context for the negotiations, the right negotiators and achievable goals, we must start now to prepare the public for the next referendum. It is in this respect that I believe the one person who can best reach out to the people and allay their fears is the President himself.
If he now embarks on preparing the ground for the next and quite possibly final round of negotiations by creating the broadest possible alliance within the National Council in support of his negotiating positions, which of course must be within the realm of the possible and not simply the ideal based on nationalistic bombast, I believe President Papadopoulos can go down in history as the true founding father of the United Cyprus Republic and a man of peace.
He and Cyprus will also be remembered as having wisely let the new Europe take shape when narrow national self-interest might have dictated otherwise. In that respect our President may also come to be written in the history books as a founder of the new greatly enlarged Europe.
While Burgenstock was a real diplomatic defeat for Cyprus, I believe in the long run the Brussels summit will be seen as a victory for Cyprus and President Papadopoulos personally. He has made up much if not all the lost ground and can go back to the table with renewed strength and the respect of the international community.
Copyright © Cyprus Mail 2004
- -mikkie2-
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by Bananiot » Wed Dec 22, 2004 3:59 pm
I have read the article, first thing in the morning. It does not represent the views of the paper. It is signed by someone called Pittas. You should read the better informed columnists of the serious press of Greece.
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Bananiot - Main Contributor
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by brother » Wed Dec 22, 2004 4:58 pm
The press in different areas(cyprus,greece,turkey etc.) all seem to be blowing a different trumpet on the same situation, at the end of the day every individual has the right to believe what they want.
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