So should the Turkish Cypriots be left on their own?

ON THE 47th anniversary of the Peace Operation, the President of the Republic of Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan made a political landing on the island.

More than half of the top management of the Turkish government structure came to North Cyprus.

While we look at Erdoğan’s TRNC visit with a domestic policy connection, our southern neighbours and foreign capital cities, especially in Greece, view it very differently.

We were stuck on a very local understanding of the “good news” [that President Erdoğan had promised to give].

But no matter what was whispered in ears backstage, the strongest possibility was that Erdoğan would not open a new “front” after the two-state solution was emphasised in Geneva.

That’s what happened. In his speech to the Parliament, Erdoğan’s “good news” was the Presidency and Parliament buildings. The Right, in particular, seemed to be disappointed.

Greek Cypriot politics has a Cyprus policy shaped by loyalty to the great ideal [that] Cyprus is considered a Greek island.

Whether it is connected to Greece or not, it is desired that the state administration of the island be in the hands of the Greeks and that the Republic of Cyprus remains a Greek state.

The Greek Cypriots cannot stomach the divided structure formed after 1974 and the fact that the Turkish Cypriots have a government, even though it’s only recognised by Turkey, and a state, accepted by the world, including the Greeks and Greek Cypriots.

It is believed that Turkish Cypriots won’t be able to maintain the existing structure if they don’t have the active and de facto support of Turkey. Do these beliefs have a logical basis?

They do. Until Turkey actually came to the island in 1974, they did not properly accept the Turkish Cypriots as a political entity, let alone politically equal.

So should the Turkish Cypriots be left on their own? The Greek Cypriot leadership’s preference or desire is for the Turkish Cypriots to be alone.

Anastasiades is currently in the Greek Cypriot leadership seat. Let Anastasiades have his team prepare a solution model that he can sign off, and inform the Turkish Cypriots about it.

If he doesn’t want to waste time negotiating, let him prepare it alone. Let’s see what solution model he thinks the Turkish Cypriots deserve and will sign off on. Has the opportunity for a solution to the Cyprus problem not been found? It has. It’s the Greek Cypriots who are wasting opportunities every time.

In his parliamentary speech yesterday [Monday], was it wrong for Erdoğan to say “the mentality that destroyed the Republic of Cyprus in 1963, rejected the Annan Plan in 2004 and left the table in Crans Montana in 2017 has never changed, it’s always the same”?

He was right, of course. What bothers the Greek Cypriot side is that Erdoğan brought almost the entire government with him to Cyprus.

In Erdoğan’s approach to the construction of the Presidential Palace and the Parliament building, there is a physical infrastructure message regarding the permanence of the state. What did Erdoğan say about this in his speech yesterday [Monday]?: “The TRNC Presidency doesn’t have a proper building, complex or parliament building. This is the Parliament building. This isn’t suitable for the TRNC. The Presidential Complex building was a British slum. This isn’t suitable either.”

After the Peace Operation 47 years ago, a bizonal, bicommunal structure and two states emerged on the island. The solution will meet this reality. The Greek Cypriots also know that this will happen. They know it, but they can’t accept it. As soon as they accept it, the Cyprus problem will be resolved in a very short time.

This article originally appeared as an editorial in Kıbrıs newspaper on July 20