If the Greek and Turkish Cypriots can’t work it now, they may never be able to. The stars seem to be coming into alignment for an agreement. Here’s the evidence:
- The Ledra Street border crossing was reopened in March. The crossing is in the divided city of Nicosia, and it had been closed since 1964 (Turkey invaded in 1974).
- The Republic of Cyprus has a new Prime Minister. Demetris Christofias, of Cyprus’s communist party, is a moderate on the reunification issue. What’s more, he’s a friend of the Turkish Cypriot president Mehmet Ali Talat.
- Turkey wants to get on Europe’s good side. The closure case against the AK Party has forced Turkey to turn to the European Union for support. Giving the Northern Cypriots an extra push would do a great deal to boost the AKP in the eyes of Europeans. If any power than the AKP comes into power, we can rest assured that Cyprus negotiations will die.
A negotiator from the Turkish side put things this way: “It is clear that for the first time ever, they [the TRNC and ROC) share a common vision and are determined to have a partnership.”
Will this spurt of good will be enough? Stay tuned.
June 12, 2008 at 6:21 pm
Actually, an agreement is hardly needed. The seats in the Cyprus parliament reserved for the Turkish minority are still available the day the choose to return.
I think the Cypriots can manage, bit by bit, to reunite without grandiose UN schemes.
June 22, 2008 at 9:02 pm
[...] June 22, 2008 Cyprus situation getting gloomier Posted by turkofile under Cyprus, EU Politics, EU-Turkey Negotiations, France | Tags: Cyprus, Northern Cyprus, TRNC, Turkey | The positive momentum between the Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots may be coming to a screeching halt (background: click here). [...]