Reunifying Cyprus Fail?

Holiday island of Cyprus, Europe's most intractable conflict

01 April 2004

The eastern Mediterranean island of Cyprus, steeped in ancient Greek mythology, rich in archaeology and a tourism magnet for the sun-deprived, remains Europes most intractable conflict.

Occupied by empire after empire from the Greeks to the Ottomans and most recently Britain, Cyprus won its independence in 1960, only to be plunged into ethnic strife three years later.

Years of bitter fighting between the Greek Cypriot majority and the Turkish Cypriot minority killed and displaced thousands, as villages were ransacked, churches and mosques pillaged.

Following a Greek Cypriot coup that tried but failed to unite the island with Athens, Turkish forces occupied the north in 1974, slicing the island and its capital in two, leaving Nicosia effectively at war with Ankara.

Thirty years later, the northern third is still under Turkish occupation and efforts by the international community to bargain a deal between the rival Greek and Turkish Cypriot administrations have come to nothing.

Barely a sixth the size of Connecticut, Cyprus is crowded with soldiers, including 34,500 Turkish and Turkish Cypriot troops in the north, over 12,000 Greek and National Guard reserves in the south and a 1,230-strong UN force.

Britain also maintains 4,200 soldiers on two sovereign bases in the south, nearly half of which London has offered to relinquish if a UN reunification deal is signed before Cyprus joins the European Union on May 1.

Despite the thorny politics, positioned on the brink of Europe, Africa and Asia, the economy in the Greek Cypriot south has flourished since the 1974 war.

Built on the back of a thriving offshore sector, shipping and mass tourism, Greek Cypriots enjoy a higher standard of living than EU citizens in Greece and Portugal.

On the northern side of the Green Line, bled dry by decades of international sanctions, time has stood still, and agriculture and agro-tourism struggle to compete alongside the big business of casinos, outlawed in the south.

Since the shock decision by the Turkish Cypriot administration to re-open checkpoints along the buffer zone for the first time in 29 years last April, some 10,000 Turkish Cypriots now work in the south everyday.

The island now straddles an uneasy no mans land between partition and freedoms unimaginable 12 months ago, as Greek Cypriots travel north to visit the homes they were forced to flee and Turkish Cypriots come south.

The rearing spectre of EU membership, heavy international pressure and the lure, for Turkish Cypriots, of an economic revival post-reunification is forcing islanders, many reluctantly, to vote on a UN peace deal this month.

But with memories still bitter and heady debate over what many see as a convoluted settlement, reunification is no foregone conclusion.

Cyprus deadline passes with no deal
By Daniel Howden in Athens
01 April 2004


The United Nations Secretary General, Kofi Annan, last night presented a take-it-or-leave-it blueprint for reunifying Cyprus to Greek, Turkish and Cypriot leaders after two days of talks went to the wire without delivering a deal.

Despite the failure of political leaders reach agreement, voters on both sides will now decide whether to end three decades of division in parallel referendums on April 24.

Mr Annan announced the date for the joint vote and told the assembled leaders that the time for negotiation was over and "the time for decision and action has arrived."

Negotiations at the Swiss resort of Buergenstock continued right up to the midnight deadline as the UN unsuccessfully sought endorsement on the latest revision of its peace plan.

The UN chief called on all sides to support the "fair and workable" solution to Europe's longest running conflict in time to see a united Cyprus join the European Union on 1 May. In the absence of a deal only the internationally recognised Greek-Cypriot republic will join the bloc. "This is not a choice between this settlement and a future magical or mythical settlement. It is a choice between this or no settlement at all," he said.

The Turkish side were quick to express support for the plan which is widely seen as favourable to the Turks. The Greeks expressed their disappointment at the latest revisions and described chances of a solution as "poor".

Both sides are expected to conduct the referendums as planned. A Greek Cypriot 'no' in combination with Turkish Cypriot 'yes' could be the first step to a formal partition of the island, diplomats said.

Phillipos Savvidis, a spokesman for the Greek thinktank Eliamep warned Greek-Cypriot voters to contemplate the consequences before voting 'no': "It has to be clear what it means. The blame will fall exclusively on the Greek side."