Divided island set for historic compromise as UN wins support

Date: 14/11/02

By David Cronin and Kirsty Hughes

GREEK and Turkish Cypriots are signalling they will accept the main thrust of the UN's new blueprint for the island's future, allaying fears that a divided Cyprus would be a source of instability in an enlarged EU.

Attention will focus on the reaction of Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash to the plan, which UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan presented to both administrations in Cyprus this week. Glafcos Clerides, the Greek Cypriot president, said this week he is ready for a 'historic compromise' on how the island, divided since 1974, should be run.

Denktash, 78, is recovering from heart surgery in New York, but hopes to return home tomorrow (15 November), 19 years to the day since he became president of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, which is recognised only by Ankara.

His Brussels envoy Hilmi Akil said Denktash would 'evaluate the proposal with a constructive attitude'. The Turkish Cypriot deputy leader Salih Cosar welcomed Annan's proposed guarantee of political equality between the two main communities as 'great progress'.

The EU is hoping the outlines of a Denktash-Clerides accord can be thrashed out before the Copenhagen summit (12-13 December), when the Union's leaders are expected to confirm Cyprus as one of the ten states due to join the EU in 2004.

Although the Union has stated it would admit Cyprus without a political settlement, its preference has been for one to be reached, in a bid to prevent volatility in the eastern Mediterranean. If things go well, Denktash and Clerides would sort out the finer details of a settlement by next April, when they would jointly sign an EU accession treaty. Both it and the settlement deal would be put to a referendum.

Annan's plan draws from the government structures in Belgium and Switzerland. It provides for two separate 'component states' on the island, linked by a 'common state'. The latter would handle Cyprus' foreign policy, including its relations with the EU institutions. The island's overall presidency would rotate every ten months, with a proviso that neither a Greek nor a Turkish Cypriot could hold the post of president for more than two consecutive terms.

The UN document includes a map, demarcating the borders of the Greek and Turkish Cypriot states. The most sensitive issues in the plan concern the property seized during the 1974 Turkish invasion, when 168,000 Greek Cypriots were forced from their homes.

The UN recommends that 'dispossessed owners' should have their property returned to them if the houses are in areas affected by territorial adjustments. Either financial compensation or the prospect of returning to their former homes will be offered to those who lost property in other parts of the island.

One Turkish Cypriot source said there is a fear in his community that it could be 'swamped' by Greek Cypriots. However, the UN plan sets out conditions under which authorities in the state controlled by Turkish Cypriots can place a limit on the number of Greek Cypriots living there and vice versa.

Despite hints that Denktash could accept most of the blueprint, the foreign minister in his government has remained hardline in recent days. 'We find ourselves being told by the EU and everyone else 'hurry up, time is short',' said Tahsin Ertugruloglu. 'Basically, that's tough luck. Cyprus has not applied [for EU membership]. Greek Cyprus has applied and is not entitled to speak on behalf of Turkish Cyprus.'

Insiders say, though, that Denktash will follow whatever line Turkey takes on the UN blueprint. Javier Solana, the EU's foreign policy chief, is expected to discuss the plan when he visits Ankara today (14 November) for talks with Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whose Justice and Development party (AKP) won the general election two weeks ago.

Greek and Turkish Cypriots are signalling they will accept the main thrust of the UN's new blueprint for the island's future, allaying fears that a divided Cyprus would be a source of instability in an enlarged EU.