Tag: Cyprus/TRNC

Why No Turkish

The European Union’s pressure on the Greek Cypriot Administration on the issue of golden passports has started to yield results. The Greek Cypriot Administration will no longer be able to hand out the so-called “Golden Passport” to anyone for its political and financial interests, because the Greek Cypriot Administration made an important change in December regarding naturalization. From now on, those who will be naturalized will first have to be able to speak, read and write Greek at level B1 according to international foreign language exam criteria. Depending on the situation, the slightly lower A2 level may also be accepted. It is not yet clear what this special “situation” is or will be.

According to the amendment to the Citizenship law, which was published in the Official Gazette after the House of Representatives adopted the draft law approved by the Council of Ministers, a foreigner applying for citizenship of the so-called “Republic of Cyprus” can be naturalized on the condition that he or she has knowledge of the Greek language at level B1, as set out in the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, based on language certificates at the level mentioned in the Decree.

In addition to this, they will also be required to have “adequate knowledge of the basic elements of the contemporary political and social reality of the so-called “Republic of Cyprus”” and to pass an exam on this subject. This exam will be prepared, conducted and evaluated by a committee consisting of staff from the Greek Ministries of Education and Justice.

If the candidates who will take the exam say, “Between 1963 and 1974, the Greeks attacked the Turkish Cypriots in order to ethnically cleanse the island of Cyprus, mercilessly killed hundreds of Turks, burned down their homes, looted their property, confiscated their livestock and crops, and forced the Turkish Cypriots to migrate en masse,” they will fail definitely. He/she can never become a citizen.

If he/she says, what the members of the committee, all of whom are Greek Cypriots, want to hear and denigrates the Turkish Cypriots and Turkey, he/she will pass this so-called “History and Culture Exam” with a hundred percent.

But there is lawlessness and suspension of human rights involved. According to the Constitution of the so-called “Republic of Cyprus”, the valid official languages are Greek and Turkish, yet this amendment law does not include a sentence such as “being able to speak, read and write Greek or Turkish at B1 level”. The requirement is limited to knowing only and only “Greek”. The constitutional rights of Turkish Cypriots, which are clearly stated in the 1960 Constitution of the Republic of Cyprus, have not been taken into consideration at all. When have they ever been taken into consideration, and they will be taken into consideration this time too. If anything, the rights of the Greeks are the only valid ones.

And they shamelessly expect miracles from Maria Holguin, the Personal Representative of the UN Secretary-General, and with the magic wand in her hand, to touch the parties in Cyprus and try every possible means and pray that the negotiations will start immediately from the place where in Crans Montana in 2017, the Greeks overturned the table – due to their maximalist demands and their Enosis dreams of annexing the island of Cyprus to Greece – in a way that, the map submitted at the meeting in 2017 in their pockets and the concessions made at that time will also be valid.

Going back to citizenship, many of the Greek fans among us do not speak Greek. If the citizenship of Turkish Cypriots is to be revised in terms of knowing how to “speak, write and read Greek” at an adequate level, then they will be disillusioned.

Oh, if you say vested rights!, we know how the Greeks took away all the rights of the Turks and did not even want to give them the right to breathe.

March 18, 2024
Turkey says Cyprus crisis is chance to end division

By Andrius Sytas

VILNIUS | Wed Apr 3, 2013 12:08pm EDT

(Reuters) – Turkish President Abdullah Gul said on Wednesday the financial crisis in Cyprus presented an “important opportunity” to end the division of the island, split between the Greek Cypriot south and Turkish north.

The Mediterranean island concluded a 10 billion euro ($13 billion) bailout deal with the euro zone and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Tuesday in order to stave off bankruptcy.

It has been divided since a Greek Cypriot coup was followed by a Turkish invasion of the north in 1974. Efforts to reunite it have repeatedly failed and Turkey is the only nation to recognize the self-declared Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.

“There is at the moment significant economic crisis on the island. This should be seen as important opportunity … Because if the island was to unite, there would be a greater economic potential,” Gul said during an official visit to Lithuania.

“There are some restrictions, embargoes on the island. Our suggestion is to lift any and all kinds of restriction or embargo simultaneously so that we can create a new climate for moving forward,” he said.

“I hope that this message will be well understood.”

Turkey’s failure to extend a customs agreement with the European Union by opening its ports to goods from Cyprus has hindered its ambitions to join the EU.

Turkey began EU entry talks in 2005, a year after Cyprus was admitted, but its bid has been blocked by the intractable dispute over the island, as well as by long-standing opposition from core EU members Germany and France.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel highlighted the Cyprus dispute as a stumbling block when she visited Turkey in February.

Relations between Greece and Turkey have thawed over the years, making a resolution more imaginable than in the past.

Beset by economic crisis at home, Greece last month pledged to double annual trade with its eastern neighbor to $10 billion by 2015.

Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras met his Turkish counterpart Tayyip Erdogan in Istanbul and signed deals on issues ranging from agriculture to disaster relief.

Gul said the potential for cooperation between Turkey and Greece made the possible benefits of Cypriot reunification even greater.

(Writing by Nick Tattersall; Editing by Kevin Liffey)

via Turkey says Cyprus crisis is chance to end division | Reuters.

April 4, 2013
Turkey’s Promising Shift to the West

Turkey’s Promising Shift to the West

By the Editors

The recent drama over the euro area’s bailout of Cyprus diverted attention from two important events, both of which feature the island’s old nemesis, Turkey.

The first was a cease-fire declaration on March 21, made by the imprisoned leader of the Kurdish Workers’ Party, or PKK, Abdullah Ocalan. His decision was the result of overtures made by Turkey’s government, after more than a year of escalated conflict in one of the world’s longest and bloodiest insurgencies.

The second signal event came a day later, March 22, when Israel apologized for its killing of nine Turks onboard a Gaza- bound ferry in 2010. Turkey’s acceptance of the apology, on lesser terms than it had demanded, was no less significant. It suggests Turkey wants to do more than simply humiliate Israel.

Each of these developments is a response to the deteriorating security situation in Turkey’s neighborhood, as the conflict in Syria is radicalized; the rift between mainly Sunni nations, including Turkey, and the Shiite governments in Iran and Iraq widens; and the differences over Syria dim prospects for deeper Turkish ties with Russia.

Any form of U.S.-backed intervention in Syria, which Turkey wants, would require cooperation between Turkish and Israeli security forces. Indeed, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu publicly justified his apology on grounds of the threat in Syria. Intervention would also be less dangerous for Turkey if it were no longer at war with the PKK, which is closely allied to the main Kurdish organization in Syria.

Domestic Influence

Politics being local, domestic triggers for these moves were paramount, including, for Israel, a new government and a visit by U.S. President Barack Obama. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, meanwhile, needs to gain the support of ethnic Kurdish voters ahead of presidential elections in 2014. A peace deal with the PKK would help.

Still, it’s clear that Turkey is rebalancing its foreign policy, embracing old allies in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization while moving away from the Turkey-Iran-Russia triangle it nurtured in the 2000s. The confrontation with Israel has been a hindrance, especially to improved relations with Washington. The latest moves follow Turkey’s decision to host the radar for NATO’s missile defense system (angering Iran and Russia), and to place NATO Patriot missile batteries on its border with Syria.

Turkey deserves credit for these actions, but they are only beginnings. Erdogan has pronounced the Israeli apology a victory and says he will visit Gaza in April. He should understand that he can’t influence a settlement with Palestinians if he uses the occasion just to lob insults at Israel, as he did in a recent United Nations speech in which he described Zionism as a crime against humanity. Instead, he should lean on Hamas to reverse its position on Israel’s right to exist.

As relations are gradually restored, Erdogan should also include Israel in the annual joint NATO Anatolian Eagle military exercises, conducted in Turkish airspace. Israel was disinvited in 2009, when relations were already deteriorating. That would help re-establish a functional security relationship between the nations.

Turkey’s rebalancing offers opportunities to others, too. The European Union should pull its collective head out of the sand and end its blockade of Turkey’s membership negotiations. Moving the accession talks forward can only help the EU and Turkey, both economically and in security terms, regardless of whether Turkey eventually joins the bloc.

Growth Possibility

Turkey’s shift also creates opportunity for Cyprus. The terms of the Cypriot bailout will destroy the country’s offshore finance business, dooming its economy to years of Greek-style contraction. The only readily available growth substitute lies in the unexploited natural-gas reserves that surround the island.

Israel and Cyprus have begun to explore these reserves, much to Turkey’s fury. The island has been divided ever since Turkish troops occupied the northern, ethnic Turkish part in 1974. That makes exploitation of the waters around Cyprus open to dispute; the uncertainty is one reason that Russia declined to bail out Cyprus in exchange for exploration rights.

Cyprus should have reunified in 2004, when the Turkish north voted for a UN-brokered plan, but the Greek south voted against. Reunification now would bring Cyprus real investment, new tourism and the potential to benefit quickly from gas reserves that the Cypriot government estimates at 60 billion cubic feet. That represents a fortune for the island’s 1.1 million people.

It was Turkey’s conflict with Israel over the Mavi Marmara ferry incident that led Israel to boost ties with Cyprus as well as Greece, Turkey’s old rivals in the Mediterranean. All four have an interest in repairing relations now.

via Turkey’s Promising Shift to the West – Bloomberg.

March 29, 2013
EU – Enlargement – Aid Programme for the Turkish Cypriot Community – European Commission

Aid Programme for the Turkish Cypriot Community

Background

Cyprus joined the EU on 1 May 2004 as a de facto divided island. The EU fully supports the current negotiations (under the auspices of the UN) between the leaders of the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities which aim to reach a comprehensive settlement leading to the re-unification of the island and establish a bi-zonal, bi-communal federation in which the communities would enjoy political equality. Such a settlement is urgently needed to end a conflict that is now more than 40 years old.

The EU will accommodate a Cyprus settlement that allows the country to play its full role as an EU member while respecting the EU’s basic founding principles – democracy, the rule of law and human rights.

Pending a settlement, the European Commission has several specific responsibilities with regard to Cyprus, over and above its normal responsibilities toward a member country:

closely following the negotiation process and providing political and technical support

directly implementing the aid programme decided by EU member countries to help the Turkish Cypriots prepare for reunification.

regularly reporting on the implementation of the Green Line Regulation.

To meet these responsibilities, the Commission’s Directorate-General for Enlargement has set up the Task Force for the Turkish Cypriot community. The task force runs a ProgrammeSupport Office (EUPSO) in the northern part of Nicosia, to act as a contact with the beneficiary community and help deliver the assistance.

The Green Line

The whole of Cyprus is EU territory. However, in the northern part of the island, where the Government of Cyprus does not exercise effective control, EU legislation is suspended in line with protocol 10 of the 2003 accession treaty.

Since 1974 the “Green Line” separates the two parts of the island. The EU’s Green Line Regulation 866/2004 , sets out the terms under which persons and goods can cross this line, which is not an external border of the EU.

The main practical effect is that the northern areas are outside the EU’s customs and fiscal territory – but this does not affect the personal rights of Turkish Cypriots as EU citizens. They are citizens of an EU country – the Republic of Cyprus – even if they live in a part of Cyprus not under government control.

The situation will change once a Cyprus settlement enters into force and EU rules apply over the whole of the island.

While many people move across the green line every day, trade across the line is limited (approximately €400,000 per month).

Aid for the Turkish Cypriot community

In 2006, the EU approved aid regulation 389/2006 to end the isolation of the Turkish Cypriot community and to help prepare for reunification. €259 million was allocated for a 5‑year programme to be implemented by the Commission (DG Enlargement).

Programme objectives:

promote social and economic development in the Turkish Cypriot community (particularly rural, human‑resources and regional development)

develop and refurbish infrastructure (particularly energy, transport, environment, telecommunications and water supply)

foster reconciliation, build confidence and support civil society

bring the Turkish Cypriot community closer to the EU, through information and contacts between Turkish Cypriots and other EU citizens

help the Turkish Cypriot community prepare for the implementation of EU law once a comprehensive settlement of the Cyprus issue is agreed.

From 2011 on, assistance has continued in the form of annual allocations of €28 million, to build on the results achieved and support the ongoing UN process.

For more information on EU assistance to the Turkish Cypriot community, have a look at our brochure or go to the website of the EU InfoPoint.

Brochure : ec.europa.eu/enlargement/pdf/key_documents/2012/20121128_assistance_to_tcc_brochure.pdf

via EU – Enlargement – Aid Programme for the Turkish Cypriot Community – European Commission.

November 29, 2012
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