Further section of Varosha set to be opened

[Paphos Life]

Foreign Minister Ioannis Kasoulides on Friday confirmed reports there will be a further partial reopening in areas of Varosha, namely that of Ayios Memnonas. Speaking to CyBC radio, Kasoulides said that information relayed to the government points to the occupying forces proceeding with another section being reopened. Kasoulides said that...

Read the article and chat about it below...

[Kili01]

It seems that the time for having bi communal talks is well and truly over now. Such a pity when one thinks of the numerous times when successive attempts were made by both sides to meet and settle the Cyprus question.
Why wasn't the Annan Plan accepted in 2002 which would have completely changed our situation in Cyprus. We could have been living on a united island now,

Dee

[WHL]

It seems that the time for having bi communal talks is well and truly over now. Such a pity when one thinks of the numerous times when successive attempts were made by both sides to meet and settle the Cyprus question.
Why wasn't the Annan Plan accepted in 2002 which would have completely changed our situation in Cyprus. We could have been living on a united island now,

Dee

You should be writing fairy tales, for someone who claims to have lived in Cyprus for years, your knowledge on Cyprus politics is zero, if you want to know why the Annan plan failed, google President Erdogan, but im guessing your not really interested in the facts,

[Kili01]

I'm afraid, there are differing opinions on this and you are entitled to yours.

Dee

[WHL]

I'm afraid, there are differing opinions on this and you are entitled to yours.

Dee

Every right thinking person knows why the Annan plan was rejected, except the Erdogan followers.

[Kili01]

It might have been a different story had the general election in the Republic not taken place one month before the accession treaty of the (entire) island of Cyprus to the EU was due to be signed. The signatories would have presumably been President Glafcos Clerides and Akinci the head of Northern Cyprus. This was before the advent of Erdogan. If my memory is correct, it would have been supervised and facilitated by the UN. Thus the situation we find ourselves in today where N.Cyprus has been taken over by Turkey could have been avoided and we might not be forced to accept a partition or a Bi communal settlement, with Turkey financing and controlling the North.
Dee

[WHL]

It might have been a different story had the general election in the Republic not taken place one month before the accession treaty of the (entire) island of Cyprus to the EU was due to be signed. The signatories would have presumably been President Glafcos Clerides and Akinci the head of Northern Cyprus. This was before the advent of Erdogan. If my memory is correct, it would have been supervised and facilitated by the UN. Thus the situation we find ourselves in today where N.Cyprus has been taken over by Turkey could have been avoided and we might not be forced to accept a partition or a Bi communal settlement, with Turkey financing and controlling the North.
Dee

Spin it how you want Turkey took over the north of Cyprus in 1974, I don't know where you get your information from ? possibly the Beano or Dandy, Erdogan was the head bloke at the negotiations...

[WHL]

Erdoğan was 20 years old in 1974. His 1st big job in politics was mayor of Istanbul in 1994

We are talking about the Annan plan, Erdogan was alot older then 20 years old, he was born in 1954.

Wiki

In the meantime parliamentary elections in Northern Cyprus (14 December 2003) had changed the political landscape. Mehmet Ali Talat leading a coalition of pro-Annan-Plan parties had narrowly defeated the incumbent Prime Minister Derviş Eroğlu. Elections had recently brought about a change of leadership in Turkey too, and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan had become prime minister on 14 March 2003.[31] The Justice and Development Party implemented a major policy shift by supporting the peace process in the island.[32] Erdoğan, keen to make progress on the issue of EU membership for Turkey, was "not in favor of following the Cyprus policy that has been followed for the last 30 or 40 years." He criticised Denktaş, saying, "This is not Mr. Denktaş's personal business," and adding that Denktaş "should pay more attention to what Turkish Cypriots think and the growing protest against his rule".[33][34] However analysts have suggested that he and Denktaş were not so far apart in what they wanted from a settlement—they merely disagreed on tactics, with Erdoğan preferring that: "Neither Turkey nor Turkish Cyprus should give an uncompromising impression. We should not be the side keeping away from the negotiating table."[35]

Following intervention by Erdoğan, the outcome of post-election manoeuvring in Northern Cyprus was that Talat formed a government in alliance with the Democratic Party led by Rauf Denktaş's son Serdar Denktaş. However Rauf Denktaş remained President, since the President is elected at separate elections.

[Kili01]

Les Bean,
Thanks for your post which explained very well the reasons why it suited the Turks to accept the Annan plan, which the South would have also accepted were it not for the Presidential elections happening at such a crucial time.
Erdogan was around, but he wasn't so radical in his outlook or interested in Cyprus. Mainland Turkey is after all a very large country with its own problems.
Dee