Tue, Feb 09 2010

Greece, Cyprus reject Turkey’s call for five-party summit on Cyprus

Wed, Nov 25 2009 10:35 CET 2211 Views 9 Comments
Greece, Cyprus reject Turkey’s call for five-party summit on Cyprus

British minister for Europe Chris Bryant, left, with Cypriot president Demetris Christofias in Nicosia, November 23 2009. Bryant was on the island for talks on Cyprus's slow-moving peace process.

Greece, Cyprus reject Turkey’s call for five-party summit on Cyprus

Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat, right, and British minister for Europe Chris Bryant in Nicosia, November 23 2009.

Exchanges between Greek prime minister George Papandreou and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan are raising some hopes of a new dynamic in negotiations on Cyprus, but Athens and Nicosia have made it clear that they do not accept Ankara’s call for five-party talks on the future of the island.
 
Cyprus has been divided since the 1974 invasion by Turkey, which continues to maintain a military deployment in the part designated "Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus" which Ankara is alone in recognising.
 
Two factors have given potential impetus to engagements between Athens and Ankara on a number of vexed bilateral issues, including Cyprus – the election of George Papandreou as prime minister, seen as having a track record of making progress when previously foreign minister in negotiations with Turkey; and Ankara’s stated aspirations to EU membership, an issue due for discussion when the European Council meets on December 7 2009.
 
On October 30, Erdogan wrote to Papandreou with a series of proposals on solving bilateral disputes including Cyprus and the long-standing row about air space in the Aegean.
 
Media reports said that Papandreou had composed a reply, underlining that he welcomed Ankara’s readiness to solve the problems but, among other things, rejecting the idea of a multilateral summit on Cyprus outside the existing UN-backed process.
 
Turkish media said earlier that Ankara wanted a summit involving Greece, Turkey, Cyprus, the "Northern Cyprus" state on the future of the island, with some reports saying that Ankara also wanted the United Kingdom to participate.
 
On November 24, quoting Greek and Turkish media, Bulgarian news agency said that Turkey wanted to arrange a meeting of Greek and Turkish ministers to discuss Cyprus.
 
Ankara wants referendums to be held in Cyprus in early 2010 and in northern Cyprus before presidential elections there in April 2010, while the negotiations process would continue.
 
While there had been a positive sign in the October 9 meeting between Erdogan and Papandreou, Greece’s alternate foreign minister Dimitris Droutsas has made clear that Athens wants to see Turkey make genuine progress on a number of reforms if it wants to make progress in its EU hopes.
 
 "(Turkey) must fully respect international law and Greece’s territorial integrity; it must respect human and minority rights; it must protect the rights of the Greek minority in Turkey;
it must respect religious freedoms and protect the Ecumenical Patriarchate rather than obstruct its operation; it must cooperate effectively on tackling illegal migration; it must contribute constructively to the resolution of the Cyprus issue. it must have good neighbourly relations with everyone; it must normalise its relations with the Republic of Cyprus and of course, since we’re talking about December, it must implement the Protocol on the Customs Union vis-a-vis the Republic of Cyprus. At the European Council, we will judge Turkey based on the actions it has taken or not taken – rigorously and objectively. All the options are on the table and no one should take us for granted," Droutsas said in a November 20 interview.
 
Meanwhile, talks between Greek Cypriot leader Demetris Christofias and northern Cyprus leader Mehmet Ali Talat have involved a review of issues discussed so far and areas of agreement and disagreement, Turkish media said on November 20. Talks between the two are expected to resume in early December.
 
Christofias has rejected the Turkish proposal for five-party talks, saying that it would mean an effective downgrade of the status of Cyprus at such talks.
 
Meanwhile, against a background of Cypriots being unable to access their property in the Turkish-occupied north, one of the several key elements of the dispute, the Greek Orthodox Church of Cyprus has announced court action because of inability to access and worship at churches and monasteries in the occupied north.
 
 

Comments

Anonymous ASENA Thu, Dec 03 2009 11:05 CET
Inappropriate comment?

A woman with three kids of my relatives were killed in the bath by Cyprus Greek before Cyprus Greek-Turkish War! Two nationed and equal conditions/rights are necessarary for the peace on the island ...

Anonymous Valeri Sat, Nov 28 2009 01:18 CET
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Why not keep the island divided forever? It's like any other place where two nations share geographical location and share a border.
Why would UK and the US even be part of any discussion there?
If the issue is of such imporance as to involve such far away countries, why not invite say Brazil an Japan?

Anonymous TERENCE SNOW Thu, Nov 26 2009 21:40 CET
Inappropriate comment?

THE GREEK CYPRIOT MUST FIRST GET OFF THEIR HIGH HORSE.FORGET GREECE AND STOP THINKING OF THE TURKISH CYPRIOT AS A GOAT HERDER BUT AS AN EQUAL. ONLY THEN CAN THEY LIVE TOGETHER.

Anonymous Aries. Thu, Nov 26 2009 18:59 CET
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I firmly support Capt's Frangelakis
analysis except for the ones referring to Turkey's well being
Frangelakis hopefully forgot and not ignored the fact that Turkey is ruled according to the kemalist diction and its political decisions are scrutinized by the
board of Generals.

Anonymous Andreas E. Alexandrou Thu, Nov 26 2009 13:04 CET
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Turkey desires a five party summit over Cyprus because it has the support of both the US and the UK. It also knows that Greece is susceptible to pressure from both those two countries. A five party summit in reality means a gang of 4 attempting to bully Cyprus into giving up its territory and sovereignty to its neighbour who has illegally occupied the northern third of that island for over 35 years in complete disregard to international law, UN resolutions, and human rights.

Anonymous MP Thu, Nov 26 2009 04:55 CET
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the turkey is indeed the big problem of this area. Greek and Turkish Cypriots should UNITE and demand that the EU demilitarise all of Cyprus and form a 'one country' power sharing government and let the people eat olive and cheese and enjoy their lives without Ottoman aspirations getting in the way.

Anonymous Greek Macedonia Supremacy Thu, Nov 26 2009 00:18 CET
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Just received the information that Cyprus will veto Turkey in december. The one option to avoid it would be for Ankara to open its ports and aiports to Cyprus according to the protocol they signed 5 years ago... This time Turkey will be punished.

Anonymous Capt. Leonidas Frangelakis Wed, Nov 25 2009 21:14 CET
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Turkey's FM Davutoglu wants Ankara to play a strong regional role in the area, not dissimilar to that played by the old Ottoman Empire. Good for our friends in Ankara, but they should do it in a way that promotes the long-term interests of the Turkish people rather than the short-term interests of the US and Britain. America wants Turkey to influence Iran and to work together with Israel on defence issues such as air strikes (something any Muslim country worth its salt should think twice about, given that training the Israeli air force to strike targets in the West Bank and Gaza may not be considered very Islamic). The United States is also pushing France and Germany to accept Turkey as a full EU member, and the UK, which believes that it can best promote its interests by acting as America's can-do ally, is attempting to use its influence to force Athens and Nicosia to solve the Cyprus issue and remove an obstacle to Turkey's EU entry. Britain and the United States should know better, however, than to force solutions that do not reflect justice and fairness, because they won't last. The best way to solve the Cyprus issue is to let the Greek and Turkish Cypriots hammer out a solution without interference from Ankara or Athens. Turkey however wants to maintain a presence in Cyprus for a number of reasons and is calling for a five-side peace conference. Although the security of Turkish Cypriots is paramount, letting outsiders decide the future of Cyprus is not the way forward and won't be accepted by the Government in Nicosia, which whether our American, British and Turkish friends like it or not, has a say in the future of Cyprus and also has the right to veto Turkish entry into the EU (not that it want to, as good relations with a stable and prosperous Ankara are in its interests) but it doesn't make sense trying to bully Nicosia into something that won't ensure future stability and contentment for all on the island. Any ideas that Turkish officials may have of allowing colonists to remain permanently on Cyprus seems to go against the grain of achieving a permanent peace on the island as it will upset not only the Greek Cypriots but also the indigenous Turkish Cypriots, who grateful as they may be to Ankara for its help and support since 1974, don't want to see themselves flooded with colonists from eastern Turkey. In short, therefore, and I hope our Turkish friends appreciate that I am speaking as a firm friend and admirer of the Turkish people and their history, a stable peace on Cyprus and the Aegean will allow Turkey to reach its diplomatic and trade potential in other areas such as the Caucasus and in the south-east. The strange thing is that Greece and Cyprus actually welcome a strong, stable Turkey playing a positive role in the region -- but the quid pro quo must be a fair settlement in Cyprus and the Aegean, and allowing the tiny Greek minority in Istanbul (it was their city before after all) freedom to flourish (Greeks from Turkey can be very loyal Turkish subjects if they are treated fairly). Of course, the Greek and Cypriot sides will listen to any reasonable and fair Turkish requests but it seems to me that at the moment, despite the positive noises coming from Mr Papandreou and Mr Erdogan, the wills of the Turkish and Greek people for lasting peace should be respected by war-mongers because they are (believe it or not) in Turkey's interest as well as Greece's. May God inspire our political leaders so that the people of the region can focus on economic development, cooperation and environmental issues, while also reducing their ridiculously high defence bills. May God the peace maker inspire us all.

Anonymous OTSALAN-PKK Wed, Nov 25 2009 16:16 CET
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the turkey is the big problem of this area.

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