Cyprus unity talks in new year

During the political discourse in the 1960s and 1970s Cyprus was one nation that was cited as a parallel to Sri Lanka, the beautiful Island, the legendary birthplace of the ancient Goddess of Love, Aphrodite.

Perhaps the similarity of the political environment enticed me to read on this picturesque country, and in June 1982 we visited Cyprus on the way to Lebanon for ‘Operation Evacuation of Sri Lankans,’ about which I informed my readers with a brief article. The journey through Cyprus was momentous during the First Lebanese War. Later during my professional career, I had occasion to visit this land under different circumstances. Through the notes and writings that I had authored, I felt that I should write a comprehensive essay on the political history which led to a division of this island. The reader should excuse me for writing about my personal experiences, but some of it is relevant to my main theme.

The boat journey we, Sene and I undertook from Larnaca to Jounieh in Lebanon gave us an opportunity to see the lovely beaches of Cyprus and the awesome landscape. The distance between Cyprus and Lebanon by sea is 243 kilometres, 151 miles is equal to 131 nautical miles. Larnaca was a tourist destination with lovely sandy beaches, where the visitor enjoyed the sunny environs.

The new year, 2017 has dawned to this paradise island with very hopeful political news as there is a new initiative being taken to unify the two segments of the country namely, the Greek Cypriot South and Turkish Cypriot North bifurcated in 1974. Greek Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades is meeting the Turkish Cypriot Leader Mustafa Akinci, along with the leaders of the three guarantor-countries of independence, Britain, Greece, and Turkey. They were meeting in Geneva from the 10th of January, and official talks were due to commence from the 12th. The President of the European Union, JeanClaude Juncker and British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, have already consented to participate in the talks. Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, and British Prime Minister Theresa May have also agreed to attend, but Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan is the only guarantor who had not yet given his consent. The talks have been fixed after nineteen months of discussions between the two leaders Anastasiades and Akinci. They are convinced of the need for a unified Cyprus. The northern part has not been recognised by the world community except Turkey. The southern part still has the seats of the northerners kept vacant in the legislature. Turkey has not been given EU membership until this issue is settled. Greeks have the interest of their people in Cyprus. The British have their bases in Cyprus. Therefore all have a stake in seeing a unified nation, for their national interests. Greek elections are scheduled for spring this year and Cyprus too will be an issue. The talks are to centre on property rights of citizens, rotating presidency every two years, security forces representation by the two communities, and the representation in legislatures. The new UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres will have UN representatives present in talks, as Cyprus has been an issue at the world body for the last half a century.

Former secretary general Kofi Annan in fact, had a plan drawn up in 2002 which was partly accepted by the Turkish Cypriots, while the Greek side had reservations. His proposals centred round a collective presidential council, and for it to choose the President and Vice President from among them, one from each community, for every 20 months, a bicameral legislature - a senate with 48, represented by 24 each from both communities, a chamber of deputies of 48 proportionately elected, judiciary having equal representation. The talks between Glafcos Clerides and Rauf Denktash the Turkish Cypriot leader began in January 2002, with a plan for Cyprus to be admitted to the EU. The plan was amended to suit the whims and fancies of the two sides and next Cyprus’s President Tassos Papadopoulos and Denktash had talks everyday with UN representative Alvaro de Soto in Nayom. Denktash refused a referendum, and did not attend the talks in Burgenstock and sent Prime Minister Mehmet Ali and Serdar Denktash his son on 24th March 2004. Annan personally visited Cyprus in the last week of March to agree to some solution, but failed.

Even before Perez de Cuellar, UN Secretary-General had negotiations between 1986-1990 there were frequent meetings with UN representative, Oscar Camilion and the leaders of the two sides, based on freedom movement for citizens, settlements, property and governance and after 18 months there was no consensus or agreements.

However, the present initiative by all concerned may bring a resolution, as commented on by many. As professor, Hubert Faustmann of Nicosia University commented it is the ‘final phase of the final phase’. Some pin hope on the two leaders personal links, whose birth place was the southern city of Limassol. It is relevant for Sri Lankan foreign policy makers to closely study the proceedings at the UN headquarters in Geneva, as the recent political history of Cyprus has some similarities to Sri Lanka.

Political history

This aphroditic island, 9,251 square km (3,572 square miles) in area was the home of two communities, the Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots who had migrated from their respective countries. The Greeks who are in the majority settled in the South while the minority Turks settled in the North. Being positioned surrounded by larger cultures, Cyprus, came under the influence of Assyrians from the 8th to 7th century B.C., Persians from the 6th to 4th century B.C, Greeks from the 4th to the 1st century B.C. and Romans from 1st century B.C.to 4th century A.D.

Medieval Cyprus was dominated by Byzantines in the 4th -12 century A.D., the Kingdom of Cyprus 12-15 century A.D., Venitians 15-16 century A.D.and Ottomans 16-19 century A.D. During the Crusades, Richard the Lion Heart, in fact sold this land in 1191, another mediterranean island like Corsica, to the French Family of Lusignan and they held it for 300 years, until the Venetians came. The above reflects the vulnerability of island civilizations, bordering large landmasses. We in Sri Lanka too experienced this same fate. As our Kanda Uda Rata chieftains did in 1815, seceding the kingdom to the British, Cyprus signed a Convention in 1878, thus becoming a protectorate of the British, moving away from the Ottomans. Lt. General Sir Garnet Joseph Wolseley became the High Commissioner, similar in functions to the Governors in Ceylon, like Sir Robert Brownrigg who signed the Kandyan Convention on March 2nd 1815 on behalf of the British, drafted by John D’Oyly. The British did only a little to develop Cyprus, as they were utilising the taxes and income collected from the country for paying the compensation which they had to settle, to the Sultan of Turkey for ceding Cyprus to them.

On November 2nd, 1914 when the British annexed Cyprus, it was due to Turkey joining axis powers in World War 1 thus ending the protectorate regime since 1878. Cyprus was inhabited by the Greek Cypriots and the Turks, at that time with generations settled at different times. The Greeks wanted a union with Greece (Enosis) while the Turks resented the move and demanded partition of the territory they settled in (Takism). Enosis in fact was a historical concept commencing from the 18th century and even before. The supporters cite the annexation of Crete to Greece as an example. The King of Greece in 1915 pressed for Cyprus to be annexed to Greece. Before the British gave independence to Cyprus on 16th August 1960 Archbishop Makarios was spearheading the Enosis movement of National Organization of Cypriot Fighters (EOKA), formed by General Georgios Grivas. It is said that in 1948 King Paul of Greece, declared that Cyprus wanted union with Greece. At a referendum 97% of Cypriots voted for Enosis. It was presented to the United Nations and the British submitted this proposal at the beginning, but later relented. Archbishop Makarios gave leadership to Enosis, and he was deported in 1955, for both giving leadership to this movement, and demanding the withdrawal of Britain from his country. However, the British accepted that Cyprus should be granted independence, and allowed Makarios to return in 1957 before granting Independence. The Turkish Cypriots formed the resistance movement called TMT, against ENOSIS, of Makarios. They wanted an explosive situation and it was alleged that they placed a bomb in front of their own Turkish Press Office, thus sparking communal violence. It was quelled by the British and the EOKA and TMT signed an agreement, to accept independence to an undivided single land, consequent to talks held in Zurich among contending parties. The British granted independence on 16th August 1960, with this agreement. After independence the British retained military bases, Akrotiri and Dhekelia, and even before they had the plan to use Cyprus as a base for their forces, when Suez was nationalised by President Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt in 1956. This was opposed by nationalists of Cyprus led by Makarios. The British changed this policy later but they kept a foothold with the military bases. They installed Archbishop Makarios as the first President of Cyprus, under the new Constitution of Cyprus, which stipulated Britain, Greece and Turkey as guarantors of peace and independence, and a quasi-unity Government was formed. Cyprus, was in fact used by colonialists since World War One when the British for example offered Cyprus to Greece, if the latter attacked Bulgaria, for siding with Axis powers. Greece, thus had a far-fetched undue claim for Cyprus, though not sanctioned during World War One.

After independencethe Greek Cypriots and the Turkish Cypriots formed a Government with Archbishop Makarios as the first President and the Vice President was Fazil Kucuk from the Turkish Community, according to the Zurich Agreement. The cabinet portfolios were divided between the two communities on a power sharing basis, seven to GreekCypriots and three to Turkish Cypriots respectively. The President and the VicePresident had a veto on respective unfavourable constitutional measures. It became unworkable as Greeks were trying amendments to make Cyprus unitary, and the Turks resisted. In 1963 when Makarios brought 13 constitutional amendments it irked the Turkish community and the Vice President resigned. The comparative population figures out of a total of 573,566, were 442,138 Greeks and 104,320 Turks while others were 27,108.There were demands by minorities for equal rights, both before and after independence. There was inter-communal violence from 1963 against measures for a unitary form of constitution and the Turkish Parliament passed a resolution to invade Cyprus alleging rights violations of Turkish Cypriots, but was prevented by UN and NATO. The change of Greek Government to a military junta too affected Cyprus as they strongly backed Enosis. Rauf Denktash the Turkish Cypriot leader installed a Turkish provisional administration in the northern Turkish region including the capital Nicosia, with the 1967-68 communal violence. The Greek military regime ousted Makarios as they felt that he was not supporting Eoka B of Grivas. Makarios was of the opinion that further violence will exacerbate the situation towards bifurcation of the country. Greece installed Nikos Sampson an ally of the Greek regime. The Turks at this stage invaded Cyprus on 16th August 1974. Makarios returned to office, but the country’s division was made semi-permanent. Around 200,000 Greek settlers fled the north while 60,000 Turkish settlers left the south. The UN had deployed the peace keeping forces called United Nations Forces in Cyprus (UNFICYP) Archbishop Makarios passed away in 1977. The attempts by successors at unification failed. Rauf Denktash declared the Northern Turkish Region the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus in 1982.This division remains the issue which has not been resolved and the Island remains divided. Many attempts discussed earlier had not borne desired results. The 2017 January Initiative continues this week in Geneva.

We wish the talks will resolve the division and unify the country. (The writer was a Foreign

Service Ambassador.)