Cyprus: Alternative Solution Models

Hüseyin Gökçekuş / Hüseyin Işıksal (eds.)

Cyprus:
Alternative Solution Models

Foreword

After more than 50 years of unsettlement, what we need in Cyprus is to produce new ideas apart from the established system. I would like to call upon the Greek Cypriot, Greek, British and other international academicians, thinkers and opinion leaders; I think that they have to put aside the discourses that have been repeated in Cyprus in the form of a memorization for half a century and should produce new ideas apart from the established system and they should also discuss these issues with the Turkish Cypriot or Turkish academicians. The Greek Cypriots who cannot impose their own thoughts, their own wishes, their own preferences and ideals on the Turkish Cypriots, a similar thing will apply to them also, therefore we have to sit and talk about it. These new ideas and this new dialogue process must be compatible with the existing conditions on the island. If some ideas were put forward that ignore the conditions that exist today, those ideas would undoubtedly be condemned to remain unclear.

What are the conditions in the current situation in Cyprus today? What are the points to consider? Firstly, it is not only said by ourselves but also it is said in the reports of the Secretary-General of the United Nations that the Greek Cypriot side has no will to share the administration and wealth with the Turkish Cypriot people. This is a reality that should be taken into consideration.

The two sides have tried to establish partnership through a set of memorized statements for 50 years and have continuously repeated the statement of a bi-communal federal partnership, but in fact we understood completely different meanings from the same statement. It is acceptable in a negotiation process that the parties have different views on details under some subtitles and they can also imply or express different statements under the same subtitle but also there is difference of opinion in the main parameters and the issue of the solution in Cyprus.

The reality is that we understand different things in respect of bi-zonality and also from the political equality which forms the main parameters of a partnership in Cyprus and in addition, we understand different things from the statement ‘the status quo is unsustainable in Cyprus’ that we repeat continuously as supportive, and we also understand different things from the status quo.

A federal partnership based on sharing, remains in the air as a question of how to survive in an environment where there is no confidence. The parties of this conflict have different needs regarding such a federal partnership. Does the Greek Cypriot side really need this partnership? Today, in these conditions this continues to be a question mark. We have to ask ourselves how much the status quo hurts the Greek Cypriot side or we have to ask ourselves whether it hurts. These disputes are important factors to consider in the context of resolution methods and conditions.

Under these conditions the final result is there is no base for a federal partnership. According to the experiences I gained in that long process I do not hesitate to use this sentence. Whether we like it or not the conditions needed for a federal partnership do not exist in this island today.

There was a Cyprus Conference in 2017 which failed. Following that, the United Nations attempted to do something which it had never done in the last 50 years. What is that? It has been said that there is a need for an evaluation mission and it opened a window of opportunity. Consequently, the United Nations said go to your homes and think in detail. There was a very important opportunity and there still is. We are in a period where we need to discuss what is possible and what is realistic. I believe that we must avoid political abuse by not discriminating groups as peace defenders or supporters of the deadlock and what is possible or not must be discussed in academic environments.

The UN Secretary-General appointed Ms. Lute to establish if there is a common base, common vision between the two sides. In this context 8–9 months have passed. Ms. Lute has made many contacts. Do you think she has been able to establish if there is a common base or a common vision between the two sides in the meantime? I think this is the question that must be asked.

It is time for Ms. Lute to expose her report with her findings without delay. I want to make a call to the UN from here for that purpose. We want UN Officials to state clearly if there is no common base. I believe that UN Officials have the capacity to determine and clarify if we are explaining and understanding different things even from the basic parameters. Actually there is no need to be a wise man to see that there is no common base and no common vision, however there is a need for bravery and courage. We don’t want UN Representatives in Cyprus who showed courage only after their retirement anymore.

This can be converted into a different partnership and we should be open to this. But, if the conditions to a share-based partnership are not available, especially we, the scholars, should declare it sincerely and bravely. As the president of a party, I am a person who once bravely said that a share-based partnership is not realistic in Cyprus, however a cooperation-based partnership especially an evolutionary cooperation-based partnership under the present conditions in Cyprus is much more realistic and I do not hesitate to reiterate this.

We have negotiated for 50 years and undoubtedly some things have started to change in these 50 years. Today, in Cyprus, Mediterranean region and in the World there are new important factors and we must consider them. I think we must consider these new factors when we are developing new ideas in addition to the settled ideas. One of the two EU member guarantors is leaving the EU through Brexit and this creates a new situation. This should be considered by everyone. It is a new parameter and a factor which will cause a fundamental change in the conditions. This means that after Brexit, there will be another guarantor country which is not an EU member in addition to Turkey.

In my opinion, with the conditions that I just have mentioned, new and different relationships will arise between the United Kingdom and Turkey in trade and other fields and a potential strategic partnership will be possible and this should be considered and evaluated by everyone with regard to the future of Cyprus. I also think that, today, natural gas is a new and different factor but also water which has come to the island from the Republic of Turkey is another new factor which will cause a change in the balance for the middle and long term and these should be considered in developing new ideas in the future.

There are, of course, the things that do not change. The negative ones are often repeated. One of the important elements which has not changed is the importance of the island of Cyprus in this geography that does not diminish but rather continues to increase. I am of the opinion that this is an unchanged element.

We have to move forward in the struggle of the Turkish Cypriot people to determine their own destiny with more creative and more unusual ideas. In this respect, this timely volume will benefit politicians, scholars and students interested in Cyprus issue. I thank to the editors of the book Prof. Dr. Hüseyin Gökçekuş and Prof. Dr. Hüseyin Işıksal and all the other contributors for this unique contribution.

Prof. Dr. Kudret Özersay
TRNC Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs

Foreword

Once, after our conversation with an American historian, I have been told that he realized the Cyprus Problem is more complicated than the Palestinian one and has deeper roots lying in the history. Indeed, individuals who do not know about details of the problem, tend to believe the side that they had conversation with, is the rightful side and represents the justice. This prevails for both sides.

To be honest, from time to time even Cypriots themselves may fall in a doubt, on deciding the right side, unless they have sufficient knowledge about the background of the problem. But, prior to talk about the history of the problem, we have to emphasize that after all those years; we still do not have a common understanding of the problem that is accepted by all.

Officially, Cyprus Problem is used to be defined as a “conflict” between two communities! But now, we have to ask: Between which communities and what kind of a conflict? For instance, according to Prof. Kizilyurek, this is a competition between two sovereign nationalist ideologies, but in my opinion it is a “national problem” itself. For example, assuming that you have a conversation with a Greek Cypriot, either you have been told that it is a “problem of invasion”, which is the popular belief, or the political assertion about the right of self-determination which is considered as “the majority of Cyprus wants to unite with motherland Greece however they have restrained by a poor, uneducated, and rude minority!”