What the papers say
THERE was widespread controversy this week over a column by Turkish Cypriot writer Metin Münir, advising that the Turkish side needed to change its negotiating position if a peace deal is to be struck in Cyprus.
Writing on the T24 website, and also published on TRNC news sites, Mr Münir told of having received a round-robin text message from National Unity Party (UBP) leadership candidate Ersin Tatar, saying: “There will only be an agreement in Cyprus if the Greek Cypriots follow reason.”
Mr Münir praised Mr Tatar but said “unfortunately, like all other politicians on the Cyprus issue, he is parroting the Turkish line”, and told how he had texted back: “If a solution is wanted in Cyprus, the Turks must follow reason but you, as a politician, can’t say that.”
Explaining his view, he said he did not claim the Greek Cypriots were “angels”, but called the Turkish side’s negotiating demands “excessive and unreasonable” — prime among them, he claimed, the continuation of Turkey’s guarantor rights and the presence of Turkish troops on the island.
Mr Münir wrote: “Brother, if you don’t trust the Greeks; if you’re worried that one night suddenly they will come and cut our throat again, then why do you want to live under the roof of a common state with them?
“Those days are over. Turks are now living all together in their own area. They are no longer scattered across hundreds of villages to be easily hunted down by Greek Cypriots.
“In a future federation they will have their own armed police. The umbrella of the European Union forms an additional guarantee.
“Turkey has no need of guarantor agreements nor a resident army on the island. In today’s world, governments don’t need . . . guarantor agreements to intervene in another state . . .
“If you have the power to protect your interests, you invade another country and then everyone yells but no-one does anything about it.”
Mr Münir argued that the Greek Cypriots will not reach an agreement until the guarantor agreement and Turkish troops are removed, commenting: “How would you feel with 40,000 Greek soldiers on your borders? The solution for Cyprus is the demilitarisation of the island.”
He also cited as an “obstacle to agreement” the Turkish side’s “insistence on a right of veto in all important institutions right up to Cabinet level”, which he argued amounted to “you alone . . . running the island, not managing it together”.
“There is no such model of a federation where the minority rules the majority anywhere in the world.”
Mr Münir concluded: “I am sorry to say that our negotiating position is based on fear, insecurity and inferiority.
“If we continue with this mindset, it will be us, not the Greek Cypriots, who are finished off by the lawlessness, lack of authority and corruption of our failed state . . .
“Empty talk and rabble-rousing is not the road to a solution. Only facts will lead there.”