Turkey must withdraw from Cyprus, says former EU commissioner

Markos Kyprianou, the new Cypriot foreign minister, has said that it’s time for Turkey to withdraw its troops from Cyprus.

Writing exclusively in the latest issue of the Parliament Magazine, Kyprianou, former EU commissioner for health, writes:

“Though the settlement should be reached and agreed upon by Cypriots themselves, the importance of Turkey in the efforts for the reunification of the island cannot be ignored.

“It is time for Turkey, a country aspiring to join the EU, to end the occupation and withdraw its troops from Cyprus.”

Speaking just days after the leaders of the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities met in Nicosia on 21 March, Kyprianou reaffirmed his government’s commitment to find a lasting solution to the so-called Cyprus problem – but reiterated the need for such commitment on both sides.

“As repeatedly declared, we will work in good will and spare no effort so that we can proceed to substantive negotiations that will lead to a comprehensive settlement. We anticipate the same spirit on the part of the Turkish Cypriot side.”

Kyriacos Triantaphyllides, a Cypriot MEP and member of the ruling AKEL party of president Demetris Christofias, agrees in principle, and thinks it’s the international community that should be pleading the Cypriot case with Turkey.

“We should not forget that any kind of solution cannot be found unless the international community exerts pressure on Turkey. The support of the EU is also important.”

At the 21 March meeting, Christofias and Mehmet Ali Talat, the Turkish Cypriot leader, agreed to prepare the ground for negotiations under UN auspices by setting up working groups and technical committees.

They also agreed to open up the symbolic Ledra Street crossing in Nicosia, the so-called ‘green line’ that essentially divides the island in two.

For Talat, writing in the Parliament Magazine at the beginning of March, the election of Christofias signals a desire for change on the island of Cyprus.

But while the view from Brussels is generally optimistic on this point, some MEPs have sounded a note of caution.

As Cypriot MEP Adamos Adamou told the Parliament Magazine, “It wouldn’t be thoughtful to rush to conclusions or prejudge the results of the initiatives to be taken up during the following months.

“There is still a long way to go and many difficult, core issues to be discussed.”

One of the sticking points in previous negotiations has been the foundation on which talks should proceed.

In Kyprianou’s view, a lasting solution can only be based on an agreement signed in 2006 by both sides of the divide, rather than the plan put forward in 2004 by then-UN secretary general Kofi Annan before Cyprus joined the EU.

“The vehicle to achieve this goal is the implementation of the 8 July 2006 agreement reached between the leaders of the two communities and endorsed by the UN security council,” said Kyprianou.

But however negotiations proceed, for Panayiotis Demetriou, MEP and member of the Democratic rally of Cyprus, the end goal is simple: reunification.

“The constitutional structure should be that of a federal state of a bicommunal and bizonal nature, which will reunite Cyprus politically, economically and geographically in the frame of a single sovereign state.”

Kyprianou agrees: “Cyprus is too small to remain divided.”

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