Occupied Cyprus votes against Georgia refugees right of return

CYPRUS is the only European Union member-state which did not vote in favour of a UN resolution that recognised the right of return of all internally displaced persons and refugees and their descendants to their homes throughout Georgia, it emerged yesterday.

Cyprus was among 78 countries which abstained from voting – 48, including all EU countries voted in favour, 19 voted against.

“Following extensive debate … the General Assembly today adopted a resolution that recognised the right of return of all internally displaced persons and refugees and their descendants to their homes throughout Georgia and that underlined the urgent need for unimpeded access for humanitarian activities to peoples residing in all conflict-affected areas in that country,” a UN media statement said.

The total number of people displaced by the August 2008 war between Russia and Georgia over the South Ossetia breakaway region stood at 192,000, according to the UN refugee agency UNHCR.

In the aftermath of the conflict, South Ossetia declared independence from Georgia and was recognised by Russia and Nicaragua.

The opposition criticised the government’s decision to abstain, saying it went against EU policy and effectively making Cyprus the black sheep of the bloc.

Quoted in daily Alithia, DISY deputy chairman Averof Neophytou said the issue was linked to the Cyprus problem since it concerned the efforts of South Ossetia and Abkhazia to break away after the invasion of Russian troops in 2008.

Neophytou said the Cyprus was trying not to annoy Russia, considered a traditional friend of Cyprus.

“I want to say that a large number of countries took the same stance as the Republic of Cyprus and I think, through this position, everyone is satisfied,” government spokesman Stefanos Stefanou said. “The two issues must not be put on the same level.”

LAST WEDNESDAY, the UN General Assembly passed a resolution, condemning the forced displacement of people from Georgia’s territories of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. The resolution also underlined the right of all displaced people to return to their homes in these territories, which it recognised as part of Georgia, and stressed the need for property rights to be respected. All this must sound familiar to the Cyprus government which, for 35 years, has been demanding the return of all displaced persons to their homes in the occupied north and full respect for their property rights.
Given the similarities with Cyprus’ experience at the hands of Turkey, it was a big surprise to hear that Cyprus’ permanent representative did not back the resolution, abstaining instead.
Perhaps they will also have noted Turkey’s decision to abstain. International analysts claimed that Ankara had “bowed to its strategic partnership with Russia, in preference to her traditional strategic partnership with Georgia.” Russia-Turkey ties have become much closer since they signed a series of energy deals. And that may well mean us not being able to depend on Russia taking a principled stand on the Cyprus problem, when it is discussed at the UN Security Council, for much longer. - cyprus-mail.com

Might Turkey be the Next Country to Recognize Abkhazia?
September 15, 2009
Despite a year of intense effort, Moscow has secured recognition for the breakaway republics of Abkhazia only from pariah states like Nicaragua and Venezuela and then only by extending aid packages to them so large that even Russian commentators have suggested they represent little more than bribes.
But now, there appears to be a chance that Turkey, despite denials by its officials, might break the embargo against recognition because of Ankara’s desire to play a greater role in the Caucasus region, its own long-standing experience as the only country to recognize the Turkish Republic of North Cyprus, and the influence of its own Abkhaz and Circassian communities.
A week ago in Tbilisi, Turkish Foreign Minister Akhmet Davutoglu said that he intends to visit Abkhazia in order to “get acquainted with [that republic] and attempt to regulate its relations with Georgia,” thus potentially positioning Turkey to play a role paralleling the one it has offered to play between Azerbaijan and Armenia (www.day.az/news/politics/171473.html).
Two days later, Unal Cevikoz, deputy undersecretary of the Turkish foreign ministry, visited Sukhumi and met with Abkhazian Foreign Minister Sergey Shamba. While Turkish officials said that Ankara had informed Georgia about the visit and had not changed its policy of supporting the territorial integrity of Georgia, Cevikoz’s visit raised hopes in Sukhumi.
In a telephone interview, Shamba told Turkey’s “Hurriyet” newspaper that “we certainly hope that Turkey will recognize Abkhazia,” adding that “there are some positive signals” that this might happen in the wake of the decisions of Nicaragua and Venezuela to do so (hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=is-turkey-to-recognize-break-away-abkhazia-2009-09-10).
According to “Hurriyet” journalist Dondu Sariisik, an additional factor pushing Ankara to explore opening a channel to Abkhazia was the seizure of the Turkish vessel “Buket” in international waters by Georgian naval forces, which accused the ship of being involved with smuggling oil to Abkhazia.
Shamba said that Abkhazia “wants Turkey to make its position clear that the capture of a Turkish ship in international waters is not admissible. It is in the interest of regional stability to prevent any escalation from taking place.” (Davutoglu apparently did just that: Tbilisi released the ship’s captain from prison as a result of the Turkish foreign minister’s visit.)
“We’d like to develop economic and humanitarian contact with Turkey,” Shamba continued, including “the opening of communications and passenger transport.” Abkhazia is especially interested in doing so, he said, because there are some 500,000 Turkish citizens of Abkhazian origin, many of whom “have been lobbying for the recognition” of Abkhazia.
Burka Ozugergin, spokesman for the Turkish foreign ministry, said despite the visit of Cevikoz, “there is no policy change in the Caucasus,” something that Shamba acknowledged when he said that “it is difficult to say now” when Turkey might take that step, something Turkey’s closest allies very much oppose.
But Shamba said that he very much hopes that Turkey will play a mediating role with Tbilisi concerning the Georgian shipping blockade and indicated that he expects to visit Ankara to push this agenda. “We have constant contacts at different levels,” he told “Hurriyet.” “If it is needed we can visit. It is possible in the near future, but it’s not yet fixed on the agenda.”
Such contacts, which Turkish officials say are entirely “natural” given Turkey’s geographic and political position in the world and its own Abkhaz population, do not necessarily point toward recognition, but they do provide yet another avenue for Abkhazia to play on the diplomatic scene, something that is likely to strengthen its cause.
And while Moscow would not seem to be in a position to offer the kind of financial incentive that would lead Ankara to recognize Abkhazia, the Russian government could dangle another possibility: a shift in Russia’s position on North Cyprus, which one Russian analyst on Friday called “the elder brother of Abkhazia” (www.polit.ru/analytics/2009/09/11/turkey.html).
Any such moves on the political chessboard of the South Caucasus seem extremely implausible – but perhaps no more implausible than Turkey’s rapprochement with Armenia, a development that has not only reordered relations in that region but underscored Ankara’s new interest in playing a broader and more independent role there.

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