Al-Ahram Weekly 14 - 20 September 2000 Issue No. 499
Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875

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One for all, some for two

By Tanya Goudsouzian

Two distinct peoples inhabit a tiny piece of land. The majority is granted the internationally-sanctioned right to self-governance; the others are relegated to the status of minority-cum-de facto state. As the former expands its network of political and economic relations, the latter struggles to obtain basic recognition. Beyond the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, on the eastern Mediterranean island of Cyprus, the storyline plays out in much the same way.

"It is pretense that they are the sole authority on the island and that the Turkish Cypriots are subject to it," Ergün Olgun, undersecretary of the presidency of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) told Al-Ahram Weekly. "Turkish Cypriots have never succumbed to Greek Cypriot authority." Therein lies the essence of a dispute that has remained unresolved for over 20 years, and which entered a fourth round of United Nations-sponsored proximity talks on 12 September. It remains to be seen whether these series of talks, which began in December, will eventually pave the way for a viable solution to the question of Cyprus that does not contradict the raison d'être of either community. How much progress is achieved toward this end lies in the extent each party is willing to bend.

A one-time British colony, Cyprus was granted independence in 1960, when the leaders of the Greek Cypriot nationalist movement were compelled to compromise over their desire to join Greece. A partnership republic was established, an experiment allocating power to both Greek and Turkish inhabitants. According to the Turkish Cypriots, a coup carried out by Greek Cypriots three years later dismantled this set up and wiped the mutually-acceptable leader Archbishop Makarios off the scene, ushering in a new era of internal instability and foreign intervention. The Greek Cypriots maintain that the division dates back to 1974, when Turkey intervened militarily and established a permanent presence over the northern third of the island.

The 1960 setup was deemed inconvenient by the Greek Cypriots, who felt that clauses in the constitution, intended to preserve Turkish interests, posed obstacles to efficient government. Full unification has been dismissed altogether as too costly and a practical impossibility, in light of religious, cultural and historical schisms. Nor will the Turkish side accept a unitary state that downplays the role of roughly 20 per cent of its population.

Olgun spoke to the Weekly from Nicosia, a day before his departure for New York to join a delegation led by TRNC leader Rauf Denktash. The Turkish Cypriot administration is proposing a solution based on a two-part confederation -- two nearly autonomous societies living side by side with minimal contact. The Greek Cypriots, who comprise roughly 80 per cent of the population, would like to work toward a bi-zonal, bi-communal federation, involving one country with a single sovereignty, international personality and citizenship. While the latter is also the United Nations' recommendation, the Turkish Cypriots reject it since repeated efforts to translate this into a new constitution have failed.

The primary aim of the Denktash delegation is to lay the "behavioural, structural and motivational" groundwork for substantive negotiation -- basically, "to establish the rules of the game." First and foremost, Denktash has made it clear that there will be no face-to-face talks with Cypriot President Glafcos Clerides, until the latter acknowledges his government has no jurisdiction over Turkish Cypriots. The international community, with the exception of Turkey, has recognised the government of the Republic of Cyprus as the only legitimate ruling body of the island. The Turkish Cypriot community unilaterally declared an independent government in Northern Cyprus in 1983, with de facto jurisdiction over 38 per cent of the island's territory. The TRNC is backed only by Turkey, whose continued military presence has prompted Cyprus to file a case against it at the European Court of Human Rights. Notwithstanding such preconditions, the UN has stated that the preparatory phase of the Cyprus peace talks is complete and it now expects the two sides to hand over written ideas on the core issues.

Clerides arrived in New York on 3 September to address the UN Millennium Summit and to meet with Secretary-General Kofi Annan for an exchange of views on developments regarding the Cyprus issue. The Cypriot strategy to be pursued in the proximity talks has been drafted in close conjunction with Greece. Foreign Minister Iannakis Kasoulides spoke with the Weekly from New York, shortly after his meeting with Greek Prime Minister Semitis.

"The precondition that has been set by the secretary-general is that there be no preconditions," said Kasoulides, referring to Denktash's demand. "If you ask one side to accept something before the talks, this is not negotiation, but capitulation."

"There is great room for compromise, great room for give-and-take if the other side is ready to negotiate," said Kasoulides. And, the negotiations, as made amply clear, are to revolve around the UN prescription. The foreign minister came across as optimistic and further pointed out that the recent rapprochement between Greece and Turkey, guarantor powers under the London and Zurich agreements, has somewhat altered the climate, "in respect to the tensions." He expressed hope that Turkey would understand there are three independent tracks relevant to the negotiations: Euro-Turkish, Graeco-Turkish and Cypriot. "If there is stagnation on one of these three tracks, there are negative effects on the others," he cautioned.

However, on the track leading to a just settlement in Cyprus, both parties seem to have a different starting line. The Cypriot government wants to begin talks without preconditions within the framework of UN resolutions, whereas Turkish Cypriots will not begin without assurances over their bargaining position. "If we can accept that neither side can claim to be the representative of the other, progress is possible," said Olgun. "Respect for the political playing field of each party is the key to unlocking the door to the process."

The talks are expected to continue into October but might be over by late September if they have not by that stage tackled core issues, warned a spokesman for the Republic of Cyprus last week. Kasoulides corrected that there would be no time limit, so long as the talks are conducted "with the same patience and wisdom as Egypt's [late] President Sadat and Israel's [late] Prime Minister Begin." Core issues, as set by the UN secretary-general, include territorial issues for each federated community, constitutional matters, security and refugees. Kasoulides likens the situation to that of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

Olgun, for his part, called the process a "joint journey" on which there is a "moral obligation not to hurt, but to work with, the other side." The highest priority of the Cypriot Turkish population is for "their political equality to be respected by the Greeks and the rest of the world." Olgun draws a parallel between the situation in former Czechoslovakia, which became two political entities, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, following a referendum in 1993. He staunchly dismissed comparison with the aspirations of Kurds in Turkey.

The greatest irony in the conflict is that both sides firmly believe they are in line with international law. The Turkish Cypriots are convinced of their right to self-determination as enshrined under international conventions, despite the fact that UN resolutions have repeatedly "deplored" the idea of secession. The Greek Cypriots cite, among other grievances, Turkey's unwarranted presence on the island. "International legality is important and Security Council resolutions are to be upheld," said Kasoulides. "It has been demonstrated time and again that actions taken against international legality cannot remain forever unresolved," he added, citing the example of Lebanon and UN Resolution 425.

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