Tatar says Cyprus problem needs ‘new approach’ for solution
The TRNC president pointed out the need to recognize ‘the new realities on divided Cyprus that have existed for 60 years’ if the international community wants a solution to the decadeslong deadlock
THE PRESIDENT of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) has argued that only a new model based on political realities could resolve the deadlock on the ethnically divided island of Cyprus.
“Let’s be creative and find a solution so that we can all benefit and contribute to the security and stability of the Eastern Mediterranean,” TRNC President Ersin Tatar told Anadolu Agency (AA) during his recent visit to Germany.
“If we can achieve this, Cyprus can become a prosperous island, probably more prosperous than Dubai,” he stressed.
Tatar welcomed German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s recent remarks expressing interest in helping solve the decades-old Cyprus problem but underlined that Berlin must first take steps to end unfair isolations.
“We should never be pessimistic. We should always be optimistic. And if Germany’s (chancellor) is saying that I want to help, I can help, then he is more than welcome,” the TRNC president said.
Tatar underlined that it was “a historic mistake” of Germany and the EU in 2004 to accept the Greek Cypriot administration as a member. However, the U.N.’s Annan plan for a political settlement was rejected by Greek Cypriot voters.
He also criticized the EU’s unfair treatment of the Turkish Cypriots.
Despite promises made by Europeans since 2004 to end the unfair isolation imposed on the Turkish Cypriots, no serious attempt has been made, he said.
“We are under isolation. We are under restrictions. We cannot play football games. We cannot do any sports. We don’t have direct flights. We don’t have direct trade,” Tatar said, underlining that the EU and Germany should take steps to end these restrictions and contribute to a better political climate.
Tatar complained that the Greek Cypriot administration, after becoming an EU member, had lost interest in a political settlement and instead started to abuse its membership and veto power to pursue its particular interests.
“Some Europeans are very uncomfortable and very disturbed about the fact that Greek Cypriots are using, in fact abusing, European Union mechanisms for their own good and obviously creating unnecessary problems for Europe,” he said.
‘ONLY WAY FORWARD’
The Turkish Cypriot leader said a new process for a political settlement in Cyprus could begin if the international community finally recognizes the political realities on the island, acknowledges the sovereign equality of Turkish Cypriots and puts pressure on the Greek Cypriot administration.
“I invite the international community, including the EU, and now today from Berlin, the German government and all those in positions of authority. Let’s look at the facts. Let’s look at the reality,” Tatar said.
“The reality is that we have had two states in Cyprus for the past 60 years. All these past U.N. Security Council resolutions based on bizonal, bicommunal, a federal republic, proved very unsuccessful.”
Tatar emphasized that the “only way forward for a successful resolution of the Cyprus problem ... (is) a new model, and this new model is a two-state solution.”
He said this idea put forward by the Turkish Cypriots has been widely discussed in the international arena in recent years and has started to garner increased support from countries.
Tatar said some European politicians, in their private discussions, told him that they also think “a two-state solution might be the only way out.”
At the current stage, the resumption of talks for a political settlement could only be possible if the sovereign equality of the Turkish Cypriots would be reacknowledged beforehand, he said.
He also underlined that the continuation of Türkiye’s guarantorship remains essential for Turkish Cypriots.
Tatar also warned that the rise of the far-right in the Greek Cypriot administration endangers the prospects of a political settlement.
“Like elsewhere in Europe, the tendency of nationalism and radicalism is going up,” he said, referring to the growing support for the ultranationalist National Popular Front (ELAM).
The president said the ELAM and its supporters want to turn Cyprus into a Greek island, where Turkish Cypriots would not even have minority rights.
“Basically, I think that one cannot reach a settlement even on a federal basis, even if they were to soften down a bit, because of these tendencies of increased radicalism,” he said.
CYPRUS ISSUE
Cyprus has been divided since 1974 when Türkiye, as a guarantor power, prompted by a coup aimed at Greece’s annexation of the island, launched a military intervention dubbed the Cyprus Peace Operation to protect Turkish Cypriots from persecution and violence.
As a result, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) was founded on Nov. 15, 1983.
Since then, the violence has stopped, but tensions continue, including over who holds sway on the island’s exclusive offshore economic zone, over 40% of which was claimed by Türkiye following recent natural gas discoveries.
Türkiye doesn’t recognize the Greek Cypriot administration as a state and still keeps some 35,000 troops in the TRNC.
The island has recently seen an on-andoff peace process, including a failed 2017 initiative in Switzerland under the auspices of guarantor countries Türkiye, Greece and the United Kingdom.
The Greek Cypriot administration was admitted to the European Union in 2004, the same year they thwarted a U.N. plan to end the longstanding dispute, but only the Greek Cypriot south enjoys its full benefits.
A Cyprus peace deal would reduce a source of potential conflict next door to an unstable Middle East and allow for the easier harnessing of hydrocarbon reserves in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea’s natural gas-rich waters where Türkiye has a drillship probing the seabed.
In January, the U.N. chief appointed a personal envoy for Cyprus, María Angela Holguín Cuellar, who met with Tatar and the Greek Cypriot administration leader Nikos Christodoulides to probe for common ground between the sides after years of complete stalemate. However, Cuellar faces a herculean task as Turkish and Greek Cypriots have grown increasingly apart over the years since the last major push to reach a peace settlement in the summer of 2017.
Türkiye and the Turkish Cypriots say the only way to peace now is a two-state deal, as opposed to reunifying the island as a federation composed of Greek and Turkish Cypriot zones.
Despite rejecting a deal on a federation previously, the majority of Greek Cypriots also reject anything that would formalize a partition, as well as demands for a Turkish Cypriot veto on all federal-level government decisions, permanent Turkish troop presence and Turkish military intervention rights.