ANKARA: Cyprus is back on the international agenda, with leaders of the island’s rival Greek and Turkish communities engaged in intense negotiations to resolve the divided country’s status. But, although new talks are underway, the international community is, not surprisingly, tired of dealing with the issue. After all, the Cyprus conflict has dragged on since 1974, wearing out United Nations Secretary-Generals and special representatives of all sorts, as well as bringing down governments in both Greece and Cyprus.
In 2004, the European Union, the United States, and a good part of the international community invested considerable energy in trying to resolve the conflict once and for all. Then UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and his team drafted a plan, which Turkey’s government took very significant political risks in supporting. The government convinced the Turkish Cypriots to make a leap of faith and vote in favor of the Annan plan in order to reunite the island.
Regrettably, the Greek Cypriot leadership at that time actively campaigned against the UN plan. Consequently, whereas 65% of Turkish Cypriots voted in favor of the plan when it was put to a vote on the island, 76% of Greek Cypriots rejected it. Worse yet, Greek Cyprus joined the EU literally days after it spurned the will of the international community, while the EU reneged on its promises to end the Turkish community’s isolation if it supported Annan’s plan.
Today, many people might think that all of this is water under the bridge. But the fate of the Annan plan remains very much a part of Turkish thinking on the Cyprus issue.
In 2008, the UN started a new negotiation process for Cyprus. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has given his full blessing to a negotiated settlement, and, similar to 2004, Turkey supports the Turkish Cypriots’ willingness to find a viable solution to the division of Cyprus under the UN umbrella.
But it should be clear that the current talks are the last chance for a negotiated settlement on the island. So it is imperative that the transatlantic community recognize that the current talks constitute a historic opportunity. No one – not the US, the EU, Turkey, Greece, or the two Cypriot communities – can afford to waste it. Either the island will reunite under a UN plan accepted by both sides or the status quo will need to change by some other means. The isolation of the Turkish Cypriots, who opted in favor of an internationally acceptable solution, cannot be sustained any longer.
The talks between Turkish Cypriot President Mehmet Ali Talat and Greek Cypriot President Dimitris Christofias are now entering a critical phase. Both leaders need the full support of the transatlantic community.
The US is particularly well situated to contribute to the process in a positive manner, and its engagement at the appropriate level will be needed in the coming months. The US-Turkish partnership, badly strained by the war in Iraq, was reinvigorated by President Barack Obama’s visit to Turkey in June. American participation in resolving the Cyprus conflict would ensure that the relationship remains on a sound footing.
Contrary to many previous rounds of Cyprus negotiations, the issue this time is not confined to the island alone but embraces the wider region. The outcome of the ongoing talks, for example, will have a big impact on how Turkey assesses its relations with the EU. Should the talks fail, the side that behaves in an uncompromising manner will bear full responsibility for dividing the island forever.
Moreover, failure to resolve the Cyprus issue would deadlock already strained security cooperation between NATO and the EU. The recent visit to Ankara by the new NATO Secretary-General, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, only highlighted again how urgent a Cyprus settlement really is. Failure might also have security implications in the Balkans, the Black Sea, and the Eastern Mediterranean – all areas where the US and the EU have vital interests.
It is for these reasons that the transatlantic community should invest its time and energy in the ongoing UN-sponsored talks. Neither the US nor the EU can afford another failure in Cyprus. There is simply too much at stake.
Suat Kinikliogluis Deputy Chairman for External Affairs for Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party and spokesman of the Foreign Affairs committee of the Turkish parliament . This commentary is published by DAILY NEWS EGYPT in collaboration with Project Syndicate (www.project-syndicate.org).
