A new process of negotiations will succeed if citizens, Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots alike, feel that the prospect or resolving the Cyprus issue enhances their sense of security, safeguards the normality of their daily lives, strengthens their prosperity, offers a more hopeful future and wipes away any ground for the revival of the conflict of the past, Greek Cypriot negotiator Menelaos Menelaou said, noting at the same time that ‘we remain firmly committed to shaping a positive path ahead.’
Menelaou, was speaking during a panel discussion, entitled ‘Perspectives on the Relationship between the EU and Cyprus and Cyprus Problem’ co-organised by the Cyprus Center for European and International Affairs and the European Policy Centre at the University of Nicosia, on Thursday evening.
Referring to the recent ‘elections’ in the Turkish occupied areas of Cyprus which resulted in the Turkish Cypriot community having a new leader, Tufan Erhurman, the Greek Cypriot negotiator although warning against over-simplification said that ‘if there is however one common denominator it is the clear rejection of the two-state concept.’
Not only, he pointed out, ‘as a non-viable choice but as a potentially catastrophic one, even for the Turkish Cypriots themselves.’
According to Menelaou ‘just as it would be wrong to assume that the path towards a federal solution now lies wide open, it would be equally wrong to consider that nothing has changed regardless of who leads the Turkish Cypriot community.’
‘Without denying Turkey’s decisive role – to do so would have been naïve and unrealistic – we must recognise that not all Turkish Cypriots are the same, the inter-relation between Turkey and the Turkish Cypriot community is multi-faceted and cannot be reduced to a simple relationship between a ruler and a subject.’
It is important to see things as they are, not as we would have wished them to be, he said.
The Greek Cypriot negotiator pointed out that ‘a key issue in this regard which directly links with the Cyprus question and the prospect for a solution is that I believe the Turkish Cypriots’ quest for preservation of their identity and their autonomy encapsulates a demand and expectation which is twofold: autonomy from Turkey, but also non-subjection to a relationship between a majority and a minority with the Greek Cypriots.’ This he said ‘is an issue we have settled eloquently within the convergences that we have accomplished in the past under the title of the bizonal, bicommunal federation (BBF) with political equality and effective participation and this goes hand in hand with effective function which we have also accomplished.’
Referring to the next steps forward, Menelaou said that we know positions have been expressed regarding terms and conditions for the resumption of talks, which in our view have been attempted in the past and have not worked and should therefore not be repeated.
‘In the period ahead everyone’s intentions and political will, will be judged in the context of dialogue which is going to hopefully begin soon,’ he added.
Menelaou assured that ‘from our part, we know what we want, what we must do to get there.’
‘We remain firmly committed to shaping a positive path ahead, a vision where we will be partners not rivals, a new paradigm where the interests of Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots are not perpetually antagonistic but mutually reinforcing,’ he stressed.
‘The EU as a leverage and a space within which this vision will flourish is instrumental and catalytic and we will continue to take initiatives and work hard in this regard,’ he added.
The Greek Cypriot negotiator also underlined that ‘the people’s confidence will only be won if a new effort is accompanied with a hopeful perspective.’
‘A new process of negotiations which is imperative – and in my view inevitable – will succeed if citizens, Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots alike, feel that the prospect or resolving the Cyprus issue enhances their sense of security, safeguards the normality of their daily lives, strengthens their prosperity, offers a more hopeful future, wipes away any ground for the revival of the conflict of the past,’ he concluded.
In his intervention, Professor Andreas Theophanous, President of the Cyprus Center for European and International Affairs outlined, among other things, his proposal on an evolutionary path ahead, which is described in his recently published book ‘What Really Happened In Cyprus: A Critical Assessment Since Independence And The Way Forward.’
He said that ‘what happens in Cyprus constitutes a litmus test for the credibility of the EU as well as its ability to move forward as a global power.’
‘My philosophy for addressing the Cyprus problem focuses on an evolutionary process, that is the logic behind it,’ Professor Theophanous noted. He pointed out that there is ‘mistrust and heavy baggage’ between the two communities, adding that ‘we cannot go from one day to another, even if there was an agreement within 24 hours.’ He also said that the occupied part of Cyprus cannot today operate in the EU, adding that ‘it takes time, there are criteria and in negotiations mostly this thing was not touched.’
So, he pointed out, ‘under the best circumstances you need a process.’ He proposed a revision of the Constitution of 1960 based on certain elements “which would make it a normal federal state.”
‘I have a series of Confidence Building Measures or actions involving not only the two communities, but also the guarantor powers, the EU and perhaps other powers including the United States,’ he added.
These steps, Theophanous explained, ‘can create mutual benefits and can gradually cultivate a new culture.’
He stressed that ‘it is important to arrive to a solution but it is more important that the solution will not have the fate of the 1960 Constitution and this takes time.’
Professor Theophanous said that he envisions a normal federal state and not a protectorate of a third state, adding that ‘this should not only be a Cypriot concern, it should be an EU concern.’
‘Despite difficulties we can look forward with cautious optimism if we act accordingly,’ he noted.
On his part, former Turkish Cypriot negotiator Ozdil Nami spoke of the convergences achieved just before the Crans Montana conference, noting that they were in line with the EU.
‘Looking ahead we now have a new window of opportunity with a new leader in the north who is a very strong pro-EU leader and a strong proponent of a federal settlement and ready to resume negotiations from where they left off which is something that I often hear from President Christodoulides as well,’ he said.
However, he added, ‘a basic point he is making is why we couldn’t finish it in Cran Montana.’
‘This time the Turkish Cypriot leader is totally fine to resume negotiations where they left off with the aim of establishing a BBF in line with the principles on which the EU is founded,’ he said. He added however that what he wants is ‘a new serious negotiation process whereby we will not be asked to have negotiations in an open-ended fashion and if my community says yes and the other community once again rejects, I have to know what will happen to my community.’
‘I think the main challenge ahead of us is to agree on a new negotiation process which will deliver this results-oriented, time limited approach,’ he said. ‘Once that is done, I think we have a bright future ahead of us,’ he concluded.
In her intervention, Amanda Paul, Senior Policy Analyst at the European Policy Centre referred of the need to having ‘the engagement of civil society, having the engagement of citizens in an effective way, having grass roots all involved in this new process when it starts to build.’
‘It is important because we need to build trust and we need people to start to trust each other and that hasn’t been the case before. So there needs to be a clear process,’ Paul said.
Looking back, she added, while there has been civil society engagement and bicommunal engagement in Cyprus, it was small, underfunded and there were too many obstacles. Many of the Bicommunal Technical Committees which were supposed to build trust, ‘have lacked funding, had limited mandates and limited impact on reconciliation.’
‘I think that there must be a much bigger focus on bringing ordinary people into this process to bring a much stronger climate and to remove the fragilities that have been there now for many years,’ she pointed out.
This, she concluded, ‘is not going to be easy but I think that if we are really committed to a new process to reunify the island then there needs to be effective political will behind this in a way that wasn’t there before.’
Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third. Repeated rounds of UN-led peace talks have so far failed to yield results. The latest round of negotiations, in July 2017 at the Swiss resort of Crans-Montana ended inconclusively.