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Category: Prof. Ata Atun

Cyprus Plans that were Approved by the Greek Cypriots

Actually, it would have been a lot better had the title of this article been “ Which Solution Plan did the Greek Cypriots accept?”

As a matter of fact, so far there has been no plan that has been accepted or approved by the Greek Cypriots that would ultimately lead to a solution regarding the Cyprus issue.

The Greek Cypriots have never had the intentions of saying “yes” to a plan that would give the Turkish Cypriots equal rights and hence a partnership status on the island, and they have never had and never will have such thoughts crossing their minds.

In 1959, when Makarios was signing the London and Zurich Treaties which in fact had laid the foundations for the 1960 Republic of Cyprus Constitution and defined the Turkish Cypriots as one of the founders and partners of the new Republic, he had said “Zurich and London Treaties will form the first step toward achieving Enosis.”

What he had actually meant with this statement was, “ I am signing this Treaty involuntarily, and my mission is to achieve Enosis.” As a matter of fact, he had launched deadly attacks on the Turkish Cypriots three years after signing this Treaty so as to annihilate the Turkish Cypriots on the island of Cyprus.

In 1878 the British leased Cyprus from the Ottoman Empire. Following this, the Greeks and Greeks Cypriots came up with the belief that the British would soon let them have full control over the island because both the British and the Greeks shared the same religion, i.e., Christianity, so they started to press the British to transfer the entire Island to them.

Until 1878, the population ratio between the two communities was mostly 1:1 and at times 1:2, however, from the beginning of the 20^th century, the Greek Cypriots brought many Greek immigrants from Anatolia and Greece to the island, and hence they changed the ratio in their favor. First it was 1:3, but later on they managed to make it 1:4. With this steady increase in Greek population on the island, they started working on their Enosis ideals, which meant annexing the island to Greece. They wanted a “Unified Greek State” to rule the island and thus started the Greek atrocıties toward the Turkish Cypriots.

In 1945, when World War Two ended, both the UN and the USA brought it to the attention of the member states that Colonialism should no longer be practiced; that all Colonies should become independent states. This meant a new period would begin on the Island of Cyprus.

England had already started talking about a bi-communal governing system on the island, and in 1947, introduced a plan for a new state that would consist of two peoples, i.e., the Turkish Cypriots and the Greek Cypriots.

The Greek Cypriots immediately rejected this plan known as the “Lord Winster Plan,” as it recognized the Turkish Cypriot existence.

13 years after rejecting the first “State of Cyprus Plan,” the Greek Cypriots involuntarily accepted the 1960 Republic of Cyprus Constitution based on the assumption that they would achieve Enosis sooner this way. Had they not approved the 1960 Constitution, the island would again have been divided somewhere alongside the Green Line, and would have gotten the immediate approval of the UN.

In order to avoid the legitimate partition of the island and to confiscate the entire territory, the Greeks unwillingly said, “yes” to the 1960 Constitution. Since then and up until the year 2012, the Greek Cypriots have said “No” to 52 different plans that would have eventually led to a solution of the Cyprus problem.

Greek Cypriots have no substantial plans for a solution other than declaring a Unified Greek Cypriot State, which would give them the right to self-determination, and eventually achieve Enosis.

It is for this reason that the Greek Cypriots have been intentionally trying to make all the negotiations continue open ended and wait till the Turks become weak economically, politically and militarily because under such circumstances, Turkey will not have the power to intervene and send military troops to the Island.

However, as the saying goes, there is always the possibility of losing a diamond while collecting stones. Losing the whole island is also a probability while trying to get hold of it in its entirety. This is just one of the probabilities of the mathematics based “Game Theory.”

Ata ATUN

ata.atun@atun.com

September 11, 2012

September 11, 2012
Two Politically Equal and Sovereign Peoples Live on Cyprus

The conflict in Cyprus has been ongoing for the past 57 years, since 1955 when the Greek Cypriot terrorist organization EOKA was established.

Yet still there seems to be no sign of a settlement and no hope for one as well. Cyprus became part of the Ottoman Empire in 1571 and more than 300 years later, it was leased to Britain by Turkey with the agreement that Cyprus was to be returned to Turkey when Britain no longer wanted it. Britain ruled Cyprus as a protectorate until 1914, when Turkey sided with Germany in the Great War. Britain then annexed Cyprus and assumed sovereignty, ruling it as a colony until 1960 when it became an independent republic.

Although Cyprus has historically never been part of any Greek state, the population of Cyprus was changed dramatically by the British as from 1905 once Cyprus became a Crown Colony. The British began to allow Greeks to settle in Cyprus and communities were set up in Greece to encourage people to move to the island of Cyprus. Greek Cypriots became a majority on the island of Cyprus and remain so today.

Around mid 1950s Britain decided to hand sovereignty over to the inhabitants of the island. Her decision was to transfer sovereignty jointly to the Turkish and Greek Cypriot peoples, for the “creation of an independent, partnership state in Cyprus.”

It was on this basis that the constitution of 1960 was negotiated and the Treaties of Guarantee, Alliance and Establishment were finalized. It was at this point that the Republic of Cyprus came into being as an independent partnership state.

The agreements that were made were based on equality and partnership between the two people in the independence and sovereignty of the island. The 1960 constitution required joint presence and effective participation on both sides in all organs of the state to be legitimate.

Neither community had the right to rule other the other, nor could one of the communities claim to govern the other. The aim of the basic articles of both the constitution and the subsequent treaties was to safeguard the rights of the two peoples as equals.

It was hoped that the two peoples of the island and their new partners would be able to live peacefully together under this new political partnership. It soon became obvious that this was not going to be possible.

It became clear that the Greek Cypriots and Greece did not intend to abide by the constitution. They did not give up their ambition for the annexation of the island to Greece, and the Greek Cypriot leadership sought to unlawfully bring around constitutional changes. In effect, this would negate the “partnership” status of the Turkish Cypriots and clear the way for annexation with a Turkish minority. The only way that the Greek Cypriots could achieve their aims was to destroy the legitimate order, by the use of force, and to overtake the joint-state. The rule of law collapsed on the island in 1963 as a result of a ruling by the Supreme Constitutional Court of Cyprus.

The Turkish Cypriots took the Greek Cypriots to court because the Greek Cypriots refused to obey the mandatory provision of separate municipalities for the two communities. The court ruled against the Greek Cypriots, and as expected they ignored the courts’ ruling.

After this the Greeks tried to get eight basic articles of the 1960 Agreement abolished. These articles were there to protect the Turkish Cypriots, and so by removing them the Turkish Cypriots would be reduced to a minority subject to control by the Greek Cypriots. Christmas 1963 saw Greek Cypriot militia attack Turkish Cypriot communities across the island killing many men, women and children. Around 270 mosques, shrines and other places of worship were desecrated. The constitution became unworkable, because of the refusal on the part of the Greek Cypriots to fulfill the obligations to which they had agreed. The bi-national republic which was imagined by the Treaties ceased to exist after December 1963. The Greek Cypriot wing of the “partnership” State took over the title of the “Government of Cyprus” and the Turkish Cypriots, who had never accepted the seizure of power, set up a Turkish administration to run their own affairs.

In the end, the Greek Cypriot state was internationally recognized under the title of the “Government of Cyprus,” was brought into the EU, and the Turkish Cypriots were forced in 1985 to unilaterally declare their own administration under the name of the “Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus,” which still is not recognized.

The two main peoples on Cyprus, the Turks and the Greeks, share no common language besides English, no common religion and no common literature, nor do they, except on the surface, share any common culture, from the past until the present. A “United Cyprus” or a “United Federal Republic of Cyprus” is a utopian idea that has no hope of realization.

Ata ATUN

ata.atun@atun.com

August 9, 2012

August 23, 2012
Is It A Petrol Crisis Or A Trick For Sovereignty

Exclusive Economic Zone of Turkey by Ata ATUN

The Greek Cypriot Administration (GCA), finally managed to convey the artificially created petrol crisis based on the hydrocarbon exploration in her so called “Exclusive Economic Zone” in to the EU and European Parliament.

Actually this was the target of the GCA, to create a dispute with Turkey and push Europe as a whole to deal with political issues provoked artificially by her self, with Turkey.

Turkey is not a party to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, UNCLOS, due to the continental shelf demands of Greece for her Dodecanese islands in Aegean sea. Turkey duly did not accept the 12 nautical miles width of the territorial waters of the Dodecanese islands as declared by Greece on the bases of UNCLOS and noted this act as “Casus Belli”, a “Cause of war”.

All the European countries recognized UNCLOS and are part of this Convention. According to UNCLOS, declaration of an Exclusive Economic Zone by an independent state strictly requires mutual agreement’s of the neighbor states around.

Since Turkey is not a part of this convention, she already possesses her previously declared southern Continental Shelf stretching 200 nautical miles southwards starting from the baseline joining Gazipasha, the eastern tip of Antalya bay, with Kash, the western tip of Antalya Bay, according to the 1958 Geneva Convention.

GCA had signed an Economic Cooperation agreement with Greece years before. Now she signed and agreement with Egypt delimiting their respective economic zones and providing for detailed offshore cooperation, while she also has agreed with Lebanon on a similar delimitation and cooperation.

The Economic Cooperation agreement with Greece, covers and delimits the seas between Rhodes island and Western tip of Cyprus, extending 200 nautical miles southwards, shuts away to Turkey the western waters of Eastern Mediterranean sea.

The Exclusive Economic Zone agreement with Egypt, covers all the waters with in Cyprus and Egypt and gives underwater sovereignty to Greece, Cyprus and Egypt.

The Exclusive Economic Zone agreement with Lebanon, covers all the waters in between Cyprus and Lebanon as well.

The target of these agreements is, to occupy Turkey’s southern Continental Shelf zone, to build a solid wall around Turkey’s southern shores and to isolate her from the seas of the Eastern Mediterranean Sea, with all the underwater and sea bed wealth underneath.

Based on the 1960 Treaty of the Establishment of the Republic of Cyprus, the March 4, 1964 dated UN resolution No. 186, passed to stop the fierce inter-communal clashes on the island, contributed to the GCA the sovereignty and the role of Governing Government of the island of Cyprus.

The protocol 10 of the Republic of “Cyprus’ Accession Agreement” to the EU, took into consideration the island of Cyprus as a single sovereign state and the GCA as the sole and only accredited “Government of Cyprus”, as well.

Article 1(1) of Protocol 10 disregards the existence of Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) and partnership rights of Turkish Cypriots in the so called Greek Cyprus Government, and defines the territories under the sovereignty of TRNC as “the areas of the Republic of Cyprus in which the Government of the Republic of Cyprus does not exercise effective control”.

The trick of the artificial petrol crisis lies on extending and spreading the sovereignty of the GCA to the territorial seas of “the areas of the Republic of Cyprus in which the Government of the Republic of Cyprus does not exercise effective control”, namely the waters of TRNC, facing to Turkey, along the northern cost of the island and grasp the whole island, relying on to the 26 EU member states behind.

Ata ATUN

ata.atun@atun.com

August 7, 2012