Policy Focus

EU urged to help resolve Cyprus problem

The EU has been pressed to encourage the Greek Cypriot leadership to find a solution to the long-standing Cyprus problem.

Mehmet Ali Talat, leader of the island’s Turkish Cypriot community, made the appeal in Brussels on Wednesday.

While the two sides have “different views” on several issues, Talat voiced optimism that these could be overcome and lead to a “comprehensive solution”.

Talat was speaking after his recent meeting with Greek Cypriot leader Demetris Christofias in the UN-patrolled ‘dead zone’ that divides the capital, Nicosia.

Many believe the talks offer the best hope yet of a breakthrough and Christofias, whose election last February as Cyprus’s sixth president injected new momentum into the quest to end the island’s division, said, “There is a common will, a common desire.”

Addressing an audience of NGOs, journalists and civil society representatives, Talat conceded that he’d been unable to convince the Greek Cypriots on the need for a timetable for the negotiations.

He added, “I still hope that a solution could be found by the end of this year or, at the latest, by next June’s European elections.”

He said that the EU, whose traditional role is limited to providing technical assistance, could guide the Greek Cypriots on the importance of resolving the dispute between the two sides.

Cyprus has been split since 1974 when Turkey, in response to an Athens-inspired coup aimed at uniting the island with Greece, sent in troops and seized its northern third. Turkish Cypriots proclaimed independence in 1983, although their impoverished breakaway republic is recognised only by Turkey.

The talks between Talat and Christofias, which resume in Nicosia on Thursday, aim to end a deadlock of more than four years after Greek Cypriots overwhelmingly rejected a UN peace plan for the island. Turkish Cypriots supported the blueprint.

The current negotiations, which cover such thorny issues as power-sharing, security and the presence of an estimated 40,000 Turkish troops on the island, will be open-ended. When concluded, the agreement will be put to both communities in separate simultaneous referendums.

Talat once again expressed hope that UK military bases on the island would be shut down and also criticised the Greek Cypriot Orthodox church for “not doing much” in efforts to find a solution.

During his two-day visit to Brussels, Talat met EU enlargement commissioner Olli Rehn, the Belgian foreign minister and the French ambassador.