If you are a fan of traditional Cypriot coffee shops, and if you love listening to old people’s stories about the “old good days”, then you will love this video!! ‘Voices from Coffee Shops’ is a short clip featuring the regular customers of two coffee shops recently restored by UNDP and thanks to EU funds, in the villages of Kalyvakia/Kalavac and Tremetousia/Erdemli in the northern part of Cyprus.
Why restoring traditional coffee shops? Listen to them and they will explain you why these places are worth being preserved! Thanks to EU funds, another similar project is being completed by UNDP Partnership for the Future in the villages of Louroukina/Akincilar. All four projects were realized in the framework of a broader EU funded, urban upgrading programme for villages and small towns in the northern part of Cyprus aiming at supporting and ensuring the preservation of Cyprus cultural heritage and traditional way of life. The works entailed repairing walls and roofs, the provision of new equipped kitchenettes, characteristic furniture and training in hygiene standards. Photographic exhibits are also being organized in these coffee shops to showcase traditional village life. Photos: Kerim Belet. Video Editing: Yetin Arslan
Hopes of a breakthrough in reuniting Cyprus are diminishing after a year of talks and little progress, but the United Nations will host a second round of negotiations Thursday in Geneva. Failure of the talks could result in a permanent partition of the island, which could also end Turkey’s European Union aspirations.
A Turkish Cypriot police officer, right, stands at the Ledra Palace border crossing, a passage between Greek and Turkish Cyprus, February 4, 2008 (file photo)
Time is scarce
U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki moon is due to sit down in Geneva with the leaders of the Turkish and Greek Cypriot communities to map out a schedule for efforts to reunite the divided island. These latest U.N. efforts started more than a year ago and have made little progress, according to observers.
But Carnegie Institute visiting scholar Sinan Ulgen, who heads the Turkish-based research group Edam, warns that time maybe running out to reunite the island.
“This will be the last attempt of the international community to settle the issue,” said Ulgen. “Already [in] 2004 there was such an attempt, which ended up a failure, and now [in] 2011 we see a renewed attempt. If this also fails Turkey’s position will shift on Cyprus, to actually, on the basis of its growing soft power in the region, to lobby for the recognition of the Turkish republic of northern Cyprus and basically seal the division of the island.”
Only the Greek side of Cyprus is recognized internationally. The island has been divided since Turkey invaded in 1974 following a Greek-inspired coup. The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, which is subject to an international economic embargo, is only recognized by Turkey.
But the latest efforts by U.N. Secretary General Ban are facing an uphill struggle. Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou who supported the previous U.N. secretary general Kofi Annan’s attempts to reunite the island is no longer in a position to offer such support.
“Although Papandreou is the person who took enormous personal risks to support the Annan plan and never backed off from his position, I cannot see much of initiative coming from him given the very difficult domestic position in Greece,” noted Greek scholar Ioannis Grigoriadis of Turkey’s Bilkent University. “I do not think he will be an obstacle to a solution if a solution comes. But it will be very difficult for him to make more enemies in his party and the country overall by launching a very ambitious Cyprus agenda at this point.”
The U.N. Annan plan was also strongly supported by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. In a 2004 referendum it was accepted by the Turkish side of the island, but rejected by Greek Cypriots.
Old divisions remain
With the Greek Cypriot side of the island being an EU member, Turkey’s membership aspirations are seen as tied to reuniting the island. But according to Senior Turkish diplomat Selim Yenel, Turkey will not make any more concessions.
“It has always fallen on Turkey to give concessions, and we have this is enough, we have given enough concessions,” said Yenel. “We have tried everything, but every time we have done so, the Greek Cypriots have put them in the pocket and have asked for more. If we do it again they will just pocket it and ask for something else. This has been basic policy. They have always relied on the European Union, on other big countries, to put pressure on us. Well it is not going to work anymore.”
Observers say such a robust stance is a reflection of the changing balance of power between Turkey and the European Union. Turkey’s membership bid is at a virtual standstill, in part due to Cyprus as well as opposition from both Germany and France. But with the European Union facing economic disarray and Turkey’s fast growing economy the allure of membership is fading, according to Ulgen.
He says that means Ankara can take a tough stance, even pushing for full recognition of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC).
“Under those conditions Turkey’s EU prospects would come to an end,” Ulgen added. “But the fact the EU has lost its public appeal and the Turkish government has lost is zeal for EU accession changes the frame work for the Turkish government, and makes it more accessible for the Turkish foreign policy to pursue the full recognition of the TRNC.”
But Ulgen argues the real prospect of a permanent partition of the island may yet provide the impetus for the two communities to reach an agreement.
With the Greek Cypriots due to take over the six-month EU presidency on July 1, 2012, it appears that date has become the deadline for a deal to be struck.
via UN to Begin New Cyprus Unity Talks | Europe | English.
At long last, the ATCA documentary will be screened at the House of Lords in Room 4A, First Committee Corridor, on Wednesday 6th April 2011 16.30-18.00
Lord Maginnis is hosting the event and the TRNC FM Huseyin Ozgurgun will also be present at the meeting.
It goes without saying that it would great to have you there in support of Serkan’s & his team’s hard work (ATCA-Australia).
If you have not received an invitation already from Lord Maginnis’ office or the TRNC Representative Office (London), please let me know in order to make arrangements.
We are now at the most important conjuncture since the period leading up to the referendum of April 2004, and as such we feel compelled to issue a very important message that portrays the feelings of Turkish Cypriots both here in the UK , the TRNC and other countries where there is a high Turkish Cypriot Diaspora.
We all wish to see constructive action by the end of January 2011 and in anticipation we have taken this opportunity to show unity, and thereby exert pressure by way of a collective statement to the United Nations & the negotiators.
ATCA would like to formally invite you/your organisation to join us in this action.
IF YOU WISH TO SUPPORT THIS STATEMENT, PLEASE USE THE ONLINE FORM TO ADD YOUR NAME
The closing date to notify us of your wish to be included as a signatory is midday (GMT) on Friday 14th January 2011.
***Many thanks to all those people who have already indicated that they wish to have their names included as joint signatories and who have also helped in the preparation of this statement***
2004 Referandum süreci ve öncesinden beri karşılaştığımız en ciddi kesiş noktasındayız ve bundan dolayı KKTC vatandaşlarının yoğun yaşadığı ve yurtdışında yaşayan Kıbrıs’lı Türk diyasporası hissettiklerini önemle ve büyük bir hassasiyet ile intikal ettirmek ihtiyacı hissetmektedir.
Ocak 2011 sonunda yapıcı bir tavır, olumlu bir gelişme görmek arzusundayız ve buna dayanarak birliğimizi göstermek, haklı bir halk baskısı yoğunlaştırmak maksadı ile ortak bir bildiri yayınlamak istiyoruz.
ATCA sizi ve cemiyetinizi ortak hareket edebilmemiz, birlikte faaliyet gösterebilmemiz için birliğe ve beraberliğe davet etmektedir.
Cağrımızı destekliyor iseniz, aşağıdaki linkden isminizi ekleyebilirsiniz.
133 victims of Bloody Christmas remembered, Greek Cypriot authorities told to recognise and apologise for the attacks
British Turkish Cypriots, Lord Maginnis of Drumglass, representatives from the Turkish embassy and many others tonight braved the severe winter weather to hold a vigil outside the Greek Cypriot embassy in central London. The action, organised by human rights group Embargoed!, recalled the start of the Cyprus Conflict 47 years ago when Turkish Cypriots were murdered and thousands were forced from their homes by Government forces. A candle was lit for each of the victims, while activists demanded the Greek Cypriot authorities ‘tell the truth’ about the attacks. The vigil concluded soon after 9pm following a two minute silence.
The small but poignant vigil, attended by nearly 40 people, marked the brutal assault against Turkish Cypriots between 21 and 31 December 1963, a period dubbed as “Bloody Christmas” by the international media. Embargoed! displayed photos and details of each of the 133 civilians killed or abducted at this time, with a candle dedicated to each victim. The striking display attracted the interest and sympathy of passers-by, while leaflets distributed included details about these attacks including how a further 20,000 people fled for their lives, forced to take refuge in make-shift camps.
Timed to coincide with the Republic of Cyprus’ fiftieth anniversary of independence, the action forms part of Embargoed!’s year-long campaign called 50 Dark Years – Tell the Truth!. The group are demanding the Greek Cypriot authorities ‘come clean’ about the suffering they have inflicted on Turkish Cypriots. Tonight’s vigil is also intended to remind media and political commentators that the Cyprus Conflict started in 1963 and not, as is often stated, in 1974.
Lord Maginnis praised Embargoed! and other British Turkish Cypriots for their dedicated efforts to highlight the past and present injustices in Cyprus, “I have huge sympathy for the Turkish Cypriot people. Their long years of suffering, persecuted by the Makarios regime and living under embargoes since 1964 simply because they refuse to give up their fundamental rights, is totally unacceptable.”
Embargoed! spokesperson Ismail Veli said, “This small and dignified vigil remembered the 133 civilians brutally murdered simply for being Turkish Cypriot. Victims such as 10 year old Ayse and her grandmother Ayse Hasan Buba, who were buried alive in Ayvasil. All we want is for the Greek Cypriots to acknowledge the terrible wrongs they have committed against Turkish Cypriots.” He added, “A few months ago we launched the campaign with just a handful of people. Tonight we are back with far more – our campaign will only get bigger if they (Greek Cyprus) fail to do the decent thing and apologise.”
