Tag: Christofias

No blank check for Turkey: Greek Cyprus

NICOSIA

This file photo shows Greek Cyprus’ foreign minister, Kozakou-Marcoullis.

Greek Cyprus’ support of Turkey’s ultimate EU accession process is not a “blank check” as it depends on Turkey’s implementation of all of the bloc’s obligations without any concessions, the country’s foreign ministry has said.

Evaluating the European Commission’s progress report on Turkey released Oct. 12, the ministry said it welcomed the commission’s call for Turkey to increase its efforts for the settlement of the Cyprus problem. However, the Greek Cyprus ministry denied the report’s claim that Turkey was continuing to give public support for talks between the two sides of the island.

“The statements of Turkish Prime Minister [Recep Tayyip Erdoğan] made during his illegal visit to [Turkish] Cyprus in July,” is proof that Turkey is not giving support to the talks, the ministry said. The Mediterranean island has been divided since Turkish troops intervened in 1974 in response to a Greek Cypriot coup seeking union with Greece.

Greek Cyprus also asked the European Union to increase its pressure on Turkey over the Cyprus issue, saying, “The EU ought to make it clear that it is Turkey that is the source of the tension, especially in light of the fact that Turkey has recently intensified its threatening stance in the eastern Mediterranean, creating tension and challenging the sovereign rights of the Republic of Cyprus in a provocative manner and in blatant violation of international law.”

Meanwhile, Turkish Cyprus’ leadership called for domestic support for its agreement allowing Turkey to explore for oil and gas in the Mediterranean.

The Turkish Cypriot Prime Ministry said Oct. 13 that it supported the Continental Shelf Delimitation Agreement signed with Turkey, Anatolia news agency reported Oct. 14.

“Everyone should extend support to the agreement signed with Turkey in order to protect the rights and interests of the Turkish Cypriot people and motherland Turkey,” the Prime Ministry said in a written statement released Oct. 13.

On Sept. 21, Turkey and Turkish Cyprus inked a continental shelf accord in New York to determine their maritime boundaries in the eastern Mediterranean Sea in which the Turkish state oil company will conduct exploratory drilling.

Meanwhile, Turkish Cyprus President Derviş Eroğlu and his Greek counterpart, Demetris Christofias, met in the buffer zone in Nicosia on Oct. 14 as part of intensified talks to find a solution to the Cyprus question. Eroğlu and Christofias will meet twice before holding a tripartite meeting with U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in New York at the end of the month.

via No blank check for Turkey: Greek Cyprus – Hurriyet Daily News.

October 15, 2011
Christofias Says Turkey’s Moves on Cyprus Oil Risk New Conflict

By Bill Varner – Sep 22, 2011 7:16 PM GMT+0200

Cypriot President Demetris Christofias said Turkey’s moves to extract oil and gas from waters off the divided Mediterranean Sea island are illegal provocations that risk a renewal of hostilities.

“Turkish naval maneuvers in the region of Cyprus’s Exclusive Economic Zone, where exploration is being carried out, are provocative and a real danger for further complications in the region,” Christofias said in a speech today to the United Nations General Assembly.

“I wish, from this esteemed podium, to condemn this illegal act which constitutes a provocation, not only for the Republic of Cyprus but also for the entire international community,” Christofias said. “Turkey and the Turkish Cypriot leadership are trying to create tension and new illegal faits- accomplis.”

Turkey, which invaded Cyprus in 1974 and is the only country to recognize the Turkish Cypriot north as an independent nation, disputes Cyprus’s right to explore for hydrocarbons in its Exclusive Economic Zone and has sent warships to the area.

Reunification talks resumed in 2008 after Greek Cypriots, who run the internationally recognized Republic of Cyprus in the south, rejected a UN-sponsored settlement plan.

A Turkish vessel will sail tomorrow to begin seismic exploration for oil and gas in waters of the Mediterranean north of Cyprus, Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yildiz said today.

Also today, in a statement released by his government’s press office, Christofias gave a “guarantee” that Turkish Cypriots will benefit from offshore discoveries before the island is unified. The continental-shelf agreement announced yesterday by Turkey and northern Cyprus is “unacceptable,” Christofias said in the statement.

Christofias also told the General Assembly that the unification talks have been set back by what he described as Turkish Cypriot “retracting on the negotiation table, including from previously found convergences.” The change in the Turkish Cypriot position, he said, “feeds on recent negative and provocative policy of Turkey in the region.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Bill Varner in United Nations at wvarner@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Mark Silva at msilva34@bloomberg.net

via Christofias Says Turkey’s Moves on Cyprus Oil Risk New Conflict – Bloomberg.

September 23, 2011
Cyprus Reunification Still Stalled

U.N. mediated talks have failed to achieve an agreement to reunify the divided island of Cyprus. This is the third time since November the Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders have met to try to resolve this decades-old problem without success.

Greek Cypriot President Demetris Christofias (L) and Turkish-Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu stand next to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (C) as he gives a statement concluding a meeting at the European headquarters of the UN in Geneva, July 7, 2011

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who mediated this latest round of negotiations, is an unfailing optimist. But even he acknowledges progress in healing the divisions of the island is far too slow.

He says negotiators from the Greek and Turkish Cypriot sides have worked steadily to move ahead since the last meeting in January. Despite this, he says some important areas still have not been touched.

“For this reason, today’s meeting has been useful and productive,” said Ban. “We have identified some of the difficulties that are standing in the ways of reaching a comprehensive agreement, and we have discussed the need to significantly intensify the negotiations. I have also raised with both leaders the importance of looking ahead at the objective rather than focusing on the problem in minute detail.”

Ban says he is impressed with, what he calls, the commitment on both sides to agree on the details to create a united Cyprus.

Cyprus has been divided since Turkey invaded the island in 1974 following a Greek-inspired coup. Thousands of Turkish and Greek Cypriots fled their homes.

Repeated negotiations throughout the succeeding years have failed to achieve a political settlement to bring the two separate communities together. The major issue of contention concerns property rights. A diplomatic solution as to how to reinstate ownership rights to the thousands of people who were forced to abandon their property has not been found.

Other core issues include governance and power sharing, economy, territory and security, citizenship, and European Union membership. The Greek Cypriot part of the island is an EU member, the Turkish part is not.

This is an ongoing bone of contention between the two sides. It also poses problems for Turkey, whose membership aspirations are tied to the re-unification of Cyprus.

Secretary General Ban says the Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders have agreed to intensify their negotiations on the core issues when they return to the island.

“I have every expectation that by October the leaders will be able to report that they have reached convergence on all core issues, and we will meet that month in New York,” added Ban. “This will take the Cyprus negotiations close to their conclusion and would allow me to give a positive report to the Security Council on the matter. It would also pave the way for me to work with the parties towards convening final, international conference.”

Ban says people on both sides of the divide are weary of these endless negotiations. He urges both leaders to renew hope and enthusiasm for a solution.

Some analysts believe the prospect of the Greek Cypriots taking over the six-month rotating EU presidency a year from now might act as an incentive to seal a deal.

via Cyprus Reunification Still Stalled | Europe | English. VOA

July 9, 2011
Turkey must answer for its crimes, says Cyprus President

Turkey must answer for its crimes, says Cyprus President

FAMAGUSTA GAZETTE

• Wed, Jun 29, 2011

Turkey must answer for the crimes it has committed and continues to commit by occupying and violently dividing the island and the people of Cyprus, said here Tuesday President Christofias.

The statement was made during the President�s eulogy at the funeral of the remains of missing person Christodoulos Kouris, delivered on his behalf by Minister of Communications and Works Erato Kozakou Markoullis.

The Cyprus problem, President Christofias said, has many aspects resulting from the occupation and invasion of Turkey which continue – 37 years on – to afflict the people of Cyprus everyday.

Although it would be unfair to prioritize the tragic resonance of these aspects, nevertheless the missing persons issue and particularly the unbearable pain and suffering their relatives continue to endure 37 years on due to uncertainty and questions left unanswered is in fact the most tragic aspect of the Cypriot tragedy, the President pointed out.

President Christofias assured that the government has and continues to do its utmost in order to find what happened to all missing persons.

He noted that for years the resolution of this humanitarian problem has remained on a standstill because Turkey, which is responsible for the disappearances, had followed and continues to follow a policy of obstruction over the issue thus perpetuating the tragedy.

The Cyprus President said that since 2005 when the Committee on Missing Persons started an exhumations and identification of remains programme under the auspices of the UN and since the beginning of 2008 when intensive and independent exhumations by bi-communal groups of scientists started to be conducted, 184 Greek Cypriots and 58 Turkish Cypriots have been identified.

He continued to say that although the relatives are somewhat solaced when they are at last able to bury the remains of their loved ones, their suffering will not truly be over until answers are given to the countless questions haunting them relating to the disappearance of their loved ones.

Only Turkey possesses these answers, he pointed out, as they are documented in the archives of the Turkish army.

President Christofias further underlined that Turkey cannot refuse to take responsibility for the crimes it has committed against a people as a whole, something for which it has been convicted by the European Court of Human Rights.

Turkey, he noted, cannot continue to �knock on the door� of the EU whilst its hands are still stained by the blood of thousands of innocent victims of the Cypriot tragedy, including that of Christodoulos Kouris.

�Turkey must answer for the crimes it has committed and continues to commit by occupying and violently dividing the island and the people of Cyprus�, he stressed.

He added that �it must also answer for the crimes it continues to commit against the Turkish Cypriots themselves who have been reduced to a small and nearly extinct community due to the mass and continual influx of Turkish settlers in the areas it occupies.�

Christodoulos Kouri was born and lived in the now occupied village of Mia Milia. When the 2nd phase of the Turkish invasion took place in August 1974 he refused to abandon his village. He was listed as missing ever since. His remains were found in 2007 and were later identified.

Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third. As a result of the invasion, 1619 Greek-Cypriots were listed as missing, most of whom soldiers or reservists, who were captured in the battlefield.

Among them, however, were many civilians, women and children, arrested by the Turkish invasion troops and Turkish-Cypriot paramilitary groups, within the area controlled by the Turkish army after the end of hostilities and far away from the battlefield. Many of those missing were last seen alive in the hands of the Turkish military. A further 41 cases of Greek Cypriot missing persons have been recently added to the list of missing persons. These cases concern the period between 1963-1964, when inter-communal fighting broke out but none of them has been identified yet.

The number of Turkish Cypriot missing since 1974 and 1963/64 stands at 503.

In his latest report on the UN peace-keeping force in Cyprus, the UN Secretary General reported that ”complete access to military areas in the north for the purposes of exhumations remains crucial. I urge the Turkish Forces to adopt a more forthcoming approach, given the humanitarian dimension of the issue”.

via Turkey must answer for its crimes, says Cyprus President.

June 30, 2011
The insoluble Cyprus problem: Sad island story

Long talks have got little nearer to solving Europe’s oldest “frozen conflict”

Mar 31st 2011 | NICOSIA | from the print edition

GLOOM has settled over the Cyprus talks. Under a UN special envoy, Alexander Downer, the Greek-Cypriot president (Demetris Christofias) and his Turkish-Cypriot counterpart (Dervish Eroglu since March 2010), have held 100 meetings since September 2008. But politics intrudes: general elections are due in Cyprus (in May) and Turkey (June). Attention will then switch to Cyprus’s European Union presidency in 2012 and its presidential election early in 2013.

After meeting the two leaders in Geneva in January, the UN secretary-general, Ban Ki-moon, expressed grave concern about the talks’ slow progress. Yet Mr Downer, a former Australian foreign minister, is breezily upbeat. He told an Economist Cyprus conference last month that more had been achieved than was widely realised. He noted broad agreement on such long-term issues as the structure of a federated Cyprus. The toughest disputes are all short term: property, territory and security. Yet Mr Downer says the real question is not whether a deal is possible but whether the two sides truly want one.

And this is where pessimism kicks in. Mr Christofias baldly told the same conference that “progress has been zero since Mr Eroglu was elected.” He preferred dealing with the man whom Mr Eroglu defeated, Mehmet Ali Talat. His negotiator, George Iacovou, thinks Turkey does not want a deal at present. Most of the Greek-Cypriot media are rejectionist. Turkish-Cypriots have staged protests against Turkey, their sponsor, but these have mostly fizzled. Mr Eroglu’s negotiator, Kudret Ozersay, says that “everyone wants peace, but not everyone wants a compromise.” Without more progress, he adds, he might quit.

The talks cannot go on for ever. Time is making them harder. Younger Cypriots have no memory of a united island and the “green line” is coming to look like permanent partition. Mr Christofias seems ready to run again in 2013 if there is a chance of a deal. But without clearer signs of progress, he could well lose—just as Mr Talat did. Is there scope for unilateral gestures? The International Crisis Group suggests several, including Turkey opening its ports to Cypriot trade, Cyprus allowing charter flights to Ercan airport in the north or a supervised return of the ghost resort of Varosha to its Greek-Cypriot owners. But in today’s bitter climate, none looks feasible.

What if there is no deal? Many Greek-Cypriots shrug their shoulders: they are now in the EU and the euro. But Mr Downer warns those who want the talks to fail to be careful what they wish for. The economy suffers from the island’s division. And a failure to settle the Cyprus problem can only make Turkey’s strained relations with the EU worse. Sadly, there is little the EU can do about this. It is perhaps telling that the Greek for give and take is “take and give”.

from the print edition | Europe

via The insoluble Cyprus problem: Sad island story | The Economist.

June 17, 2011
Turkey will never get in EU unless it pulls out of Cyprus

Cyprus president Dimitris Christofias has said that Turkey has no chance of getting into the European Union unless it withdraws its army from Cyprus completely, Bulgarian media reports said on May 31 2011.

Christofias made the statement in Sydney during his visit to Australia.

There is an expectation on the part of both the Greek and Turkish Cypriots that there would be a swift resolution to the problem, but the continuous flow of Turkish migrants to the north part of the island, which is under Turkish control, is destabilising the island’s demographics and causing “catastrophic” problems for the future, and for the Turkish community in particular, Christofias said.

“The demographic situation of the Turkish Cypriots has changed dramatically and this is a military crime,” he said.

“We must launch court proceedings against tens of thousands of Turks who have forcibly taken the property of Greeks and expelled from their homes in the north part of the island. This is a crime,” Christofias said.

Christofias is a left-wing Greek Cypriot politician and the current and sixth president of the Republic of Cyprus.

He led the AKEL and is Cyprus’s first, and the European Union’s first and so far only, communist head of state. He won the 2008 Cypriot presidential elections in the second round of voting. Throughout the election campaign, it was his priority to galvanise talks between the Greeks and the Turkish Cypriots to find a solution to the Cyprus dispute and reunify the island.

Cyprus remains separated following the 1974 Turkish invasion that was triggered by a brief Greek-inspired coup.

via Turkey will never get in EU unless it pulls out of Cyprus – Cypriot president – Foreign – The Sofia Echo.

June 1, 2011