Talks to overcome the division of Cyprus

The Society for Threatened Peoples (STP) warns that the talks to overcome the division of Cyprus – which are supposed to take place in Switzerland from Monday until January 12 – might fail again. So far, a possible option had been a two-state solution for Cyprus. “The Turkish government under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan does not seem to be interested in finding a solution to the Cyprus question. On the contrary, Erdogan is not only trying to push the Turkish people in northern Cyprus onto a Turkish nationalist course, but also to Islamicize them,” criticized Kamal Sido, the STP’s Middle East consultant, in Göttingen on Monday. The human rights activist pointed out that there has been an attempt to install as many Erdogan-loyal imams in mosques of the Turkish part of the island as possible. This could help radical Islamic groups, thus posing a serious threat to the process of reconciliation. “On the other hand, right-wing extremist Greek groups such as the ‘Ethniko Laiko Metopo’ (ELAM) are represented in the southern Cypriot parliament with 3.7 percent. They rejected a reunion from the beginning,” Sido noted.

As a basis for lasting reconciliation, it would be necessary to pay sufficient compensations for the 162,000 Cypriots who were displaced from their home in the north of the island by the Turkish army in 1974, Sido emphasized. But the situation of the 48,000 displaced Cypriot Turks must be acknowledged as well – including adequate compensations. In addition, the Turkish government must ensure that the fate of up to 1,800 Cypriots who disappeared in the course of the Turkish military invasion will be clarified.

Cyprus, the third largest Mediterranean island after Sicily and Sardinia, had been a British colony until it became independent in 1960. The population had consisted of about 77 percent Cypriots and 18 percent of Cypriot Turks. The Greek Cypriot population had been in favor of forming a united Cypriot state, but the Turkish population had wanted to divide the island – and the conflict resulted in a division of the island. Here, the protective powers, Turkey and Greece, had actively intervened, playing a questionable role. In 1974, the Turkish army had occupied northern Cyprus. 80 percent of the inhabitants of the northern part – the Greek Cypriot majority and members of the smaller Armenian, Maronite, and Latin minorities – were forced to leave their homeland, and at least 30,000 Turkish soldiers have been stationed in Cyprus since then. Even ten thousand Turks from the mainland were resettled in the north. Now, a demarcation line separates the two parts of the island. The Turkish Republic of North Cyprus, which was established in 1983, is still only recognized by Turkey, while the Republic of Cyprus (South Cyprus) is a member of the EU (since 2004).