[ 
.. 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 .. ]
[ .. 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 .. ]
Cyprus: It all went wrong The UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan, has presented a plan, which was supported by the EU. The UN and the EU have declared that it should be accepted and this last chance should be seized if a solution was to be found. Then, there were the refe-renda. The Turkish Cypriots voted yes. They said yes to a solution, yes to a new state, yes to peace, yes to reunification, yes to democracy, yes to the EU… The Greek Cypriots voted no. They said no to everything… It had been quite a long time that the Turkish side was accused of being aggressive and against a solution. For the first time, the international opinion has seen the truth: the Greek Cypriots want neither a solution nor reunification. It was a huge disappointment and especially an important failure for the EU and the UN… Then there was a complete silence… The Greek Cypriots have become part of the EU, while the Turkish Cypriots have seen themselves rejected, isolated, humiliated, and deceived
The EU Commission has declared itself as deceived by the Greek Cypriots and that it will make new proposals very rapidly to help the Turkish side of the island out of isolation…The EU has promised to keep its word and intends definitely to act against this unfair situation… "Very rapidly?" have you said "Definitely"? The EU is not acting that fast. And nothing is definite either. The Greek Cypriots who are now part of the EU and claim to represent also the Turkish Cypriots do not seem to agree with the European Commission and Parliament when it is about saving partially the EU from this "shame". Moreover, the Commission proposals seem legally problematical. The Turkish Cypriots, disappointed, are heading towards a political crisis. Those who have supported the Annan Plan and trusted the EU are more isola-ted than ever. There are continuous discussions: The Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdullah Gül has declared that "it is time to keep the promise to lift the injustice against the Turkish Cypriots which has been lasting for forty years …" and added : "Turkey and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus did what was expected from them. Now, we are expecting concrete steps" …
The current situation is disturbing immensely the Prime Minister of the TRNC, Mehmet Ali Talat, the main supporter of the EU and the "yes vote". He can only visit the European capitals and try to explain that it is all going wrong, that the Greek Cypriots are maintaining the blockade on the island and in the EU, and that an urgent action is needed. However, this confident and busy leader can only notice that nobody in the EU is in a hurry anymore, and in fact, it seems that this was all planned and expected by the EU. As for the President of the TRNC, Rauf Denktas, who has never trusted the Annan Plan or the EU, his declarations are cautious: In a carefully worded speech at the Peace and Freedom Day ceremony in Lefkosa, the President said that no people on earth will ever want to abandon its sovereignty because of internal hinders and problems. "We intend to reach a deal with the Greek Cypriots based on equality" he said, then addressing the youth, the President warned them against being deceived by unfounded promises of prosperity that are linked to the prospects of EU membership. "No nation will ever thrive without working hard and - above all - learning its history well" he said.
It all went wrong. However, the EU has seemed quite optimistic and the Commission President Prodi declared to be opposed to the issue being imported in the EU. It is now. The future Commission will inherit this sensitive issue. Following the EU's mistakes, some people believe that only the USA can bring a solution, while others pretend that the only solution is the recognition of the TRNC. What will happen now? It seems that no one knows. What we do know is that the "politically symbolic" proposals made by the Commission will not lead to concrete measures, despite the 259 millions Euro intended (eventually) for the northern part of the island. The government in Ankara, which has gone down the path that it was "shown" despite high political risks, is now quite preoccupied. Once again, its confidence in the EU has not reinforced its position. As for the divided Turkish Cypriots politicians, they are ready to settle their differences as some mistakes have been made. The calmest and less surprised one seems to be the "man in the street" in Turkey as well as in Cyprus, as he knows Cyprus' history and is learning to know better the EU, its abilities and limits. Let us recall Cyprus' history in order to refresh our memory: A BRIEF HISTORY Located 70 km from the Turkish coast, 100 km from Syria, 370 Km from Egypt, 400 Km from Rhode and 800 Km from Greece, Cyprus, with a surface of 9,251 Km, is the third largest Mediterranean island after Sicily and Sardinia. Its geographical location, crossed by trade roads linking Egypt to the eastern Mediterrane-an, had established the island's great importance since history began. Cyprus became an island after a subsidence separated it from the continental region of Hatay, and it was first populated as early as 4000 BC. Objects found in excavations show that the island was intensively colonized by Anatolia from 3000 BC onwards. Cyprus, which was the reason behind a perpetual war between the Hittites and the Egyptians, was conquered consecutively by the Dors, the Phoenicians, the Assyrians, the Persians and the Macedonians. Following a period under Roman domination in 394 AD after Emperor Constantine's death, and then the collapse of the Roman Empire, the island fell under the authority of Byzantium, the Eastern Roman Empire. It was then conquered in 649 by Muaviye, Governor of Damascus, and, under Muslim rule for a while, it was re-conquered in 964 by the Byzantine Emperor Nikeforos Fakos. The island was successively under the domination of the English, Genoese, Venetians and the Memlouks.
Finally, the conquest of Cyprus became a military and political necessity for the Ottomans, who had already established their domination of Eastern Mediterranean following the conquest of Egypt by Sultan Selim. Cyprus was conquered on 9 September 1570 by Lala Mustafa Pacha, and would remain under Ottoman rule for the next 300 years. Cyprus was lent to the British Empire in 1878 to limit the concessions that the Ottomans had to make following their defeat against Russia. Thus, while still a Ottoman property, the island was transferred entirely to British administration.
ENOSIS Since the administration of Cyprus was given to Britain, the main element determining the relations between Greek and Turkish Cypriots was the Enosis, i.e. the movement towards a union of Cyprus with Greece. Indeed, the Greek Cypriots, who regarded British rule as an important step towards Enosis, intensified their unionist activities, with the active support of Greece. THE REDUCTION OF THE TURKISH POPULATION In the meantime, the British used the motive of a "reorganisation" to pension the civil servants of Turkish origins and appointed Greek Cypriots to replace them. Therefore, people from the Turkish community were put under economic strain and consequently left the island for mainland Anatolia, which caused the demographic balance in Cyprus to alter to the Turks' disadvantage. During WWI, the alliance of the Ottoman Empire with Germany led Britain to invade Cyprus unilaterally on 5 November 1914. As a result, about 8,000 Turkish families who refused to support the British annexation migrated to Anatolia. On March 25th 1921, the first plebiscite from the Greek Cypriots requesting the unification to Greece and other further demands going in that direction were rejected by the British. The Turkish Republic, which was established at the end of a war of independence and officially recognised by The Entente Powers in accordance with the Lausanne Treaty signed on July 23rd 1923, also recognised Cyprus as a British possession. The same Lausanne Treaty, allowing a period of two years to the Turkish Cypriots to apply for and obtain the Turkish nationality. A large number of them were discontent with the British administration, and migrated to Turkey. During a period from 1925 to 1959, the Greek cypriots enhanced their actions to modify the status of the island. Moreover, a "plebiscite", organised on 15th and 20th of December 1950 under the initiative of the Orthodox Church, reiterated their claim for the unification of the island to Greece. Britain, which did not recognise the legitimacy of such a plebiscite, issued a new proposal aiming to grant more autonomy to both communities. However, this proposal, and the 1954 proposal to give the island a constitution, were not implemented.