| Author (Person) | Bower, Helen |
|---|---|
| Publisher | ProQuest Information and Learning |
| Series Title | In Focus |
| Series Details | 12.3.03 |
| Publication Date | 12/03/2003 |
| Content Type | News, Overview, Topic Guide | In Focus |
|
Prospects of a reunited Cyprus joining the European Union in 2004 appear extremely small after United Nations sponsored talks on a UN proposed peace plan broke down late on 10 March 2003. The collapse of the talks could also threaten Turkey's future membership of the Union as the European Commission has repeatedly maintained that Turkey cannot be a candidate for EU membership if its troops occupy a part of another EU Member State. The talks, which took place in The Hague, were aimed at resolving ongoing objections from both the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot sides to the United Nations proposal for a peace plan, which was tabled in November 2002. The plan sought to reunite the island, divided since 1974 when a Greek-inspired coup prompted a Turkish invasion of the northern third of the island, by establishing a loose confederation of the two communities with a six-member presidential council proportional to the population of the two states, a 10-month rotating presidency and a two chamber parliament. However, Mr Denktash, The Turkish Cypriot leader, was unhappy with the plan's proposal that some Turkish Cypriot territory should be returned to the Greek Cypriots since he argued that would create refugees. The Greek Cypriots opposed the plan because it restricted the number of Greek refugees that would be allowed to return to their former homes in what is now the Turkish part of Cyprus and because it also committed the Greek Cypriots to sharing power with the Turkish minority. After fifteen hours of talks, it was ultimately the Turkish Cypriot leader, Rauf Denktash, who finally declared that he would not put the plan to his people or even keep talking about it in the immediate future despite tens of thousands of Turkish Cypriots taking to the streets urging Mr Denktash to make peace. Under the United Nations proposal, the peace plan would have been subjected to a public referendum on 30 March 2003 and even offers from the United Nation's Secretary General, Kofi Annan, to postpone the referendum date to 6 April and to continue talks until 28 March failed. The United Nations has now admitted defeat and announced that the UN special envoy office in Cyprus, which has been run by Alvara de Soto for the last eighteen months will be closed. In a press statement read by Mr. de Soto on at The Hague on 11 March 2003, Kofi Annan expressed his disappointment about the collapse of the talks:
Mr. Annan made it clear that the plan remained on the table if the Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots decided to continue working towards a solution but in the meantime it remains up to either side or the European Union to develop a new, more acceptable peace proposal. Yet it seems unlikely that the EU can find success where the UN failed, especially with the date for signing a Treaty of Accession on 16 April looming. As a result, only the Greek Cypriot part of the island would be able to join the European Union in 2004. If the island is not reunited soon, then Turkey's hopes for EU membership will also be threatened since Turkey remains technically an occupying power in a section of what will be an EU country. Commenting on the problem, European Commission spokesman Jean-Christophe Filori said:
Some officials have suggested that the Cyprus issue has become the first casualty in the war against Iraq with the attention of political leaders focussed on the debate in the United Nations about a second resolution. Certainly, the Turkish government have found it hard to make a compromise over northern Cyprus at this time, with the Parliament's decision to block a US request to base 62,000 troops in Turkey, political reforms and negotiations for an International Monetary Fund loan featuring higher on the political agenda. EU governments have also been criticised for concentrating on the Iraq issue at the expense of levying more pressure on Ankara and Athens to find a compromise, which would reunite the island. It seems that not only is the Iraq issue dividing the EU in relation to its foreign policy but it could also have led to half of a divided island joining the EU in 2004, a move that the EU had earlier been doing its utmost to prevent. Helen Bower Compiled: Wednesday, 12 March 2003 UN sponsored talks between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots on a UN peace plan to reunite the island broke down on 10 March 2003, making it unlikely that a renuted Cyprus will join the European Union in 2004. |
|
| Countries / Regions | Cyprus |
