Turkish Cypriot authorities condemn EU's rejection of two-state solution

[Paphos Life]

Authorities in the north on Saturday condemned the EU's "unjust and unilateral attitude" regarding the Cyprus problem and called it to adopt a "neutral position" after the EU Commission said it would never accept a two-state solution....

Read the article and chat about it below...

[Jimgward]

The EU has to back the Cyprus view on this.

[Kili01]

But what can the EU practically do about it? The EU great as it is, seems a bit like a toothless tiger. Successive Republic of Cyprus Presidents and Turkish Cypriot Leaders have had talks with the Guarantor powers ie Britain. Greece and Turkey and the UN has brokered them. To no avail. The nearest instance of a settlement came in 2003 with the Annan Plan. But unfortunately there was a General Election a month before Cyprus was slated to join the EU. Had Glafcos Clerides won it, the result would have changed recent history as he and Rauf Denktash would have signed to accept it, But, as so happens here the next president took immediate steps to reject it.
If you read the terms of the agreement so nearly reached, many would say that it would have offered the best chance for each side. To work together. But that is history.
Since then there have been a few failed attempts. So we are where we are now,
The Cyprus problem seems to be even more unsolvable now than ever.
Dee

PS. Surprisingly the Cyprus Sunday Mail even published in English a translated version of the Annan Plan, which many of us on island then will have read. Wish I had kept my copy.

Dee

[WHL]

But what can the EU practically do about it? The EU great as it is, seems a bit like a toothless tiger. Successive Republic of Cyprus Presidents and Turkish Cypriot Leaders have had talks with the Guarantor powers ie Britain. Greece and Turkey and the UN has brokered them. To no avail. The nearest instance of a settlement came in 2003 with the Annan Plan. But unfortunately there was a General Election a month before Cyprus was slated to join the EU. Had Glafcos Clerides won it, the result would have changed recent history as he and Rauf Denktash would have signed to accept it, But, as so happens here the next president took immediate steps to reject it.
If you read the terms of the agreement so nearly reached, many would say that it would have offered the best chance for each side. To work together. But that is history.
Since then there have been a few failed attempts. So we are where we are now,
The Cyprus problem seems to be even more unsolvable now than ever.
Dee

PS. Surprisingly the Cyprus Sunday Mail even published in English a translated version of the Annan Plan, which many of us on island then will have read. Wish I had kept my copy.

Dee

The Annan plan was unworkable and loaded in Turkeys favour, all it did was legitimise, Turkeys occupation, no nation in the World would accept that, while Turkey has a dictator running the country, hell bent on reviving the Ottoman empire, there will be no settlement...you are confused about a general election, it had nothing to do with Clerides wining it or not, the Annan plan would of been voted on by the Cypriots, who ever won the election........ you really need to read up on Denktash , please do not insult our intelligence, by saying he wanted a settlement he was the architect of a two nation Cyprus, he even admitted that it was under his orders that his terrorist group TMT , placed bombs in Turkish cypriot areas, blowing up and killing his own Turkish cypriot people so to cause a reaction and pit cypriot against cypriot, back in the fifties, evil man.

[Diocletian]

In my opinion, this will never be resolved. As for the statement by the EU, well that has the gravitas of, should we say, someone like Matt Hancock.
The only reason Turkey takes any notice of the fools in Brussels is their ability to throw money at Turkey to stem the flow of migrants. Some additional €3.5 Billion this week.

[Jimgward]

Who would have thought the south Africa situation would have happened? Or that NI would look like becoming part of a combined Ireland in our lifetimes?

[Kili01]

WHL, having read the provisions of the Annan plan myself ( note it was also translated into English, for the benefit of all non Greek speaking nationals to understand it), it was a plan that aimed to gradually allow an exchange of populations to return to their villages and towns. ( with the exception of Kyrenia) thus properties and land would gradually be returned to their original occupants. This over a timed period. Greek Cypriots who had previously lived there and wanted to would be allowed to return, also Turkish Cypriots to the south. I remember I think that Varosha was to be handed back to Greek Cypriots who had property there. At the same time and in stages, the island would gradually become demilitarised, with Turkish troops gradually reducing their numbers and the same for the Greek Cypriot forces, what it required and was to be fostered through confidence boosting measures was the idea that done slowly, area by area with supervision within a period of 20 years most populations would have returned to their original homes. Though a number of Cypriots had already resettled forming their own communities in countries and cities all over the world.
This is a very broad brush description of what was a very detailed and carefully constructed plan which might have benefited a large number of both populations.
BUT unfortunately, this plan had its critics on both sides. On the Greek side, the Church and the Arch Bishop were implacably against any such plan, as were the more radical political parties. And the potential new president Tassos Papadopolis, were completely against any such attempt. So the whole idea was vilified and preached against in some churches.
And Glafcos Clerides lost the race for president. The rest is history.

Thus when they time came for Cyprus accession to the EU shortly afterwards, only the south part of Cyprus was allowed to join. While the north was unable to until the island could reunite in a workable form.
This is what I remember, WHL.

Dee

[WHL]

WHL, having read the provisions of the Annan plan myself ( note it was also translated into English, for the benefit of all non Greek speaking nationals to understand it), it was a plan that aimed to gradually allow an exchange of populations to return to their villages and towns. ( with the exception of Kyrenia) thus properties and land would gradually be returned to their original occupants. This over a timed period. Greek Cypriots who had previously lived there and wanted to would be allowed to return, also Turkish Cypriots to the south. I remember I think that Varosha was to be handed back to Greek Cypriots who had property there. At the same time and in stages, the island would gradually become demilitarised, with Turkish troops gradually reducing their numbers and the same for the Greek Cypriot forces, what it required and was to be fostered through confidence boosting measures was the idea that done slowly, area by area with supervision within a period of 20 years most populations would have returned to their original homes. Though a number of Cypriots had already resettled forming their own communities in countries and cities all over the world.
This is a very broad brush description of what was a very detailed and carefully constructed plan which might have benefited a large number of both populations.
BUT unfortunately, this plan had its critics on both sides. On the Greek side, the Church and the Arch Bishop were implacably against any such plan, as were the more radical political parties. And the potential new president Tassos Papadopolis, were completely against any such attempt. So the whole idea was vilified and preached against in some churches.
And Glafcos Clerides lost the race for president. The rest is history.

Thus when they time came for Cyprus accession to the EU shortly afterwards, only the south part of Cyprus was allowed to join. While the north was unable to until the island could reunite in a workable form.
This is what I remember, WHL.

Dee

Sorry your memory is failing you, The whole of Cyprus has joined the EU, not just the southern part. As for the Annan plan it was rejected by the vast majority of Greek Cypriots, not only the arch bishop ... knowing that Turkey would never keep to its side of the agreement, as history has shown, Erdogan only does whats right for Erdogan, so in hindsight the Greek cypriots were correct in rejecting it.

[Kili01]

Oh, DHL we'll never agree! The only part of this lovely island which was able to join the EU in 2004 was the part in the southern 2/3 of it, which forms the Republic of Cyprus. The northern part proclaimed itself as a separate entity and it is administered by Turkey. Although the EU has given it sufficient money to help it improve and modernise its own infrastructure.
Though the Turkish Cypriots there would like to be in the EU,Some of them have Passports issued by the Republic of Cyprus.
Neither Erdogan orTatar were around back then in 2004. I think I'm correct that Akinci followed Denktash as the TC leader. Some Cypriot presidents appear to have got on well with the Turkish Cypriot leader. Glafcos Clerides went to school with Rauf Denktash and knew him quite well.
The problem on this island is that although there are many moderate thinking Cypriots, there are a few extremists on both sides.

Dee

[WHL]

Oh, DHL we'll never agree! The only part of this lovely island which was able to join the EU in 2004 was the part in the southern 2/3 of it, which forms the Republic of Cyprus. The northern part proclaimed itself as a separate entity and it is administered by Turkey. Although the EU has given it sufficient money to help it improve and modernise its own infrastructure.
Though the Turkish Cypriots there would like to be in the EU,Some of them have Passports issued by the Republic of Cyprus.
Neither Erdogan orTatar were around back then in 2004. I think I'm correct that Akinci followed Denktash as the TC leader. Some Cypriot presidents appear to have got on well with the Turkish Cypriot leader. Glafcos Clerides went to school with Rauf Denktash and knew him quite well.
The problem on this island is that although there are many moderate thinking Cypriots, there are a few extremists on both sides.

Dee

Sorry you are wrong, the whole of Cyprus joined the EU,

On 1 May 2004 Cyprus joined the European Union, together with nine other countries. Cyprus was accepted into the EU as a whole, although the EU legislation is suspended in Northern Cyprus until a final settlement of the Cyprus problem.


Clerides did not go to school with Denktash

[Kili01]

No again you are wrong, WHL. The EU will be pleased to accept the whole island, if it were reunited in some workable form. But they were not prepared to accept two states of a divided Cyprus. The north is administered by Turkey, as you know. Suspended or not, the EU and the UN are both trying to work towards a solution to the Cyprus problem.
But that is looking even further away now.

Dee

[memory man]

Glafcos Clerides went to school with Rauf Denktash and knew him quite well.


Dee

Not according to this Dee: -

Mr Clerides was expelled a year before graduation because of anti- colonial activity and went to London to study law where another story has it that they met and became friends. In fact, Mr Clerides went to war and did not meet Mr Denktash while studying. According to Mr Clerides, they did not meet until 1950 when they were both back in Cyprus and in court, probably in Famagusta, where Mr Denktash was prosecuting and Mr Clerides (and his father) defending in a criminal case.

LINK TO SOURCE

[WHL]

No again you are wrong, WHL. The EU will be pleased to accept the whole island, if it were reunited in some workable form. But they were not prepared to accept two states of a divided Cyprus. The north is administered by Turkey, as you know. Suspended or not, the EU and the UN are both trying to work towards a solution to the Cyprus problem.
But that is looking even further away now.

Dee

Do you make this rubbish up as you go along, stop wasting everyone's time on here with your own spin on how you think, things are,
Google try using it and educate yourself, https://www.google.com/search?q=whole+m ... e&ie=UTF-8


On 1 May 2004 Cyprus joined the European Union, together with nine other countries. Cyprus was accepted into the EU as a whole, although the EU legislation is suspended in Northern Cyprus until a final settlement of the Cyprus problem.[

[PhotoLady]

We moved to Cyprus from UK in March 2004, just before Cyprus joined the EU in. May that same year.

The island joined as a whole, I clearly remember that part and as regular visitors to the north of the island (at least 3 or 4 times each year) until we left in 2016 we saw lots of money being spent in the north, for improvement projects coming via the EU.

I recall signs were erected which showed just how much money had been passed through for such purposes.