Irish M.P. Sean Power Explains Cyprus Realities In Irish Parliament

"As I have little time at my disposal, I will use that time to deal with enlargement, in particular the application of Cyprus. I had the honour of visiting northern Cyprus during the summer with two of my colleagues from the House. To my surprise the ambassador chose to object in the strongest manner on my return. It was not my first visit and it was obvious to me that on the island there exists two democracies and two sovereign states representing their distinct peoples.

Turkey has never expressed a wish to make Cyprus a Turkish island or an annex to Turkey, which is only 40 miles away, but the Greeks have continued to press for enosis to make Cyprus part of Greece even through Greece is 500 miles away. The history and settlement of the island would weight heavily towards a Turkish claim as soldiers from the Ottoman Empire captured Cyprus in 1571. They were there until the British arrived in 1878. We do not have time to go into the full history of the island. In 1924, the Treaty of Lausanne was accepted by Turkey and Greece and Britain was then the sovereign ruler of Cyprus. There has been much change since. Gradually the Greek Cypriots made demands for enosis and Britain, playing politics, offered the island to Greece in return for them taking up arms against Bulgaria. Naturally, the Turkish Cypriots opposed enosis.

In 1950 the demand for enosis exploded under Archbishop Makarios. Britain took strong action against the militants and Makarios was exiled to the Seychelles. Turkey took a keen interest and was obviously anxious to protect the Turkish Cypriots, but the partition of the island was suggested and has some appeal in Ankara. However, Mr. Lennox-Boyd declared in the House of Commons in 1956: "Any exercise of self-determination should be affected in such a manner that the Turkish community should be given freedom to decide for themselves their future states." This was reaffirmed in 1958 by Harold Macmillian. At this stage, with a declining empire, Britain realised it did not want Cyprus as a military base but wanted bases in Cyprus. Gradually talks between Greece, Turkey and Britain, with the UN a very interested onlooker, led to a treaty of alliance and a treaty of guarantee being accepted in Zurich. Enosis and partition were banned and the two countries were to work out a system of government among themselves with Britain, Greece and Turkey. These three states were to guarantee the general state of affairs proposed under the treaty. Unfortunately, both the Greek Cypriots and the Turkish Cypriots were suspicious of each other and the details of the shared government were complex and proved very difficult to operate. Harmony and success very much depended on consensus, respect for each side and security for the minority.

With genuine interest and goodwill by the EU, some help can be given to find a lasting peace on the island of Cyprus. Cyprus is an applicant for admission to the EU. This should not be just for part of the island. This would only perpetuate problems as Greece is a member and Turkey is unlikely to be accepted as a member in the next draft for enlargement. We continue do drive wedges between the two parts of the island. There are not direct flights to northern Cyprus. There are grants galore for the Greeks side for the restoration of ancient sites, among other things, yet we continue to deny northern Cyprus a market for its produce and access to it by tourists.

Since Cyprus applied to become a member of the European Union all negotiations have been carried out by the Greek Cypriot Government, which does not and cannot represent the people of the entire island. The European Union has never sought a resolution of the problem as a condition of Cyprus becoming a full member and as a result, the talks between Mr. Clerides and Mr. Denktash are unlikely to prove fruitful. There is no incentive for Greek Cypriots to find a solution.

If a divided Cyprus is allowed to become a member of the European Union, serious problems will arise. The south is recognised by all states except Turkey as the Republic of Cyprus while the north is recognised only by Turkey, whose forces there for the defence of northern Cyprus may be accused of occupying the territory of an EU member state. This scenario is very likely despite the fact that Turkey has a customs union with the European Union and also been accepted as a candidate for future membership. It is time we asserted our independence in order to do what we think is right and just, rather than go along with what our wealthier neighbours advise."

The Turkish salient is too poor to be a member of the EU as a separate entity. It will never happen. For the salient to get in the EU, it needs to work out some sort of union with some autonomy with the Greek salient. That is the only solution to this matter and has been for a long time. But one only gets a solution when there is the will to do so on both sides, and the will is apparently still lacking. That is how I see it.

Thanks for the ping, the fact is that Cyprus is a major problem for the EU, and to ignore the Turkish Cypriots in negotiations is not only wrong, it is stupid.

Cyprus should be officially recognized as a 2 state island, the Greek State and the Turkish state. Then those 2 states can decide what they wish to do themselves and for themselves.

To force these 2 groups together is not the way to go about this, and never has been. There is still WAY too much distrust of the Greek Cypriots by the Turkish Cypriots, and for good reason.

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