Cyprus: Can the crisis be resolved?

Cyprus: Can the crisis be resolved?

UN-led peace talks to pave the way for the reunification of Cyprus have collapsed.

It was hoped that a Swiss-style federation of Greek and Turkish Cypriot constituent states could have been created in an attempt to reunite the country before it joins the European Union next year.

However, both sides were unhappy with key aspects of the plan.

Turkish Cypriots felt they were being asked to cede too much land and the Greek Cypriots thought too few refugees were being given the right to return home.

It now looks almost certain that membership of the EU will only apply to the southern, Greek Cypriot part of the island.

Can the crisis in Cyprus be resolved? Will the island ever be reunited?

---

This debate is now closed. Read your comments below.

Your reaction:

The will of the people on the island has and is still largely ignored by the local politicians and by external influences. Until the Turkish establishment comes to realise that a nation of 700,000 is no threat to a nation of 60,000,000 there will never be progress on Cyprus. Perhaps the government and military in Turkey should have taken advantage of the opportunities offered by the UN and Europe now, once enlargement has been completed Turkey will have to pay a heavier price for EU entry. Good luck, the entire region is going to need it.
Andy Georgiou, UK

I can't see the reason for the EU and the UN pressing for a plan for reunification. Since the peace operation in 1974 there has been peace on the island. There have been no mass murders, no race hatred and no crisis. The people of the north have just got on with their lives. The Turkish Cypriots are not keep prisoners by Denktash and the Turkish Military, whoever wants to leave are free to do so. Denktash is the only person looking out for the Turkish Cypriots making sure they don't get a raw deal, and never become in the minority ever again. How can the people of Northern Cyprus make an informed decision on whether to accept the Annan plan if they have been under embargos from the EU from a number of years? It's more of a threat rather than a deal for Nothern Cyprus.
Cem Osman, UK/Turkish, Northern Cyprus

The division between both societies will remain until the day they respect each other as one nation

Peter Pachomiou, UK

As long as the international community and the leaders of Cyprus refer to Greece and Turkey as their motherland countries, there will be no solution. The people of Cyprus, regrettably do not consider themselves as Cypriots but as Greek and Turkish Cypriots. This is wrong! As such the division between both societies will remain until the day they respect each other as one nation. In addition both communities have to realise that in reaching an agreement both motherland countries are looking to resolve their disputes also. I believe, therefore, that the solution will only be reached if the Cypriot people and their leaders decide on their future without any guidance from the motherland countries.
Peter Pachomiou, UK

Cyprus will never be reunited if the politicians do not listen to the will of the people and continue to live with the past. Ordinary Greeks and Turks can live and do live together outside of Cyprus.
Dino Toouli, UK

It is very unfortunate that Turkish Cypriots have lost the opportunity to reunite with the Greek Cypriots and together join the EU next year. It is sad because, unlike other conflicts, religion, ethnicity, civilization and background were never and will never be a major issue in the conflict; the problem is purely political. Hopefully, Turkey will soon realise that the Turkish Cypriots may claim a better future within the EU and change its political behaviour that has been almost unchanged since the 1974 invasion. Turkish and Greek Cypriots can live together peacefully; why don't you give them a chance?
George, Cyprus

I am sick and tired of people living comfortably outside Cyprus, in UK, USA, Canada, Australia and praise Denktash. If he was so wonderful, why aren't they coming to North Cyprus and enjoy this "paradise" with us.
Orhan, North Cyprus

Cyprus will be reunified soon because Greek and Turkish Cypriots want it

Phoebus Symeonides, Greece

R Denktash claims that Annan's plan is not acceptable because it assumes that 100,000 Turkish Cypriots will have to move from their homes. I must underline that Denktash did not worry about moving 130,000 Turkish settlers to leave their homes from Turkey and settle in Cyprus. Cyprus will be reunified soon because Greek and Turkish Cypriots want it, and not because Denktash will be forced to decide anyway.
Phoebus Symeonides, Greece

Denktash is only able to behave the way he does for the last 30 years because the military in Turkey backs him and the US is not willing to pressure Ankara into compromising in Cyprus. Unless these two parameters change there will never be a peaceful settlement in Cyprus no matter how many peace plans are put forward.
Olga Kokkinos, Cyprus

Yes, it can. Let the US and the UK put the same pressure on a "Nato partner" which has occupied a foreign country as they did on France, Germany and Belgium. Turkey should pull out of Cyprus, as asked by UN resolutions.
Jean-Charles, Belgium

I'm currently working in Southern Cyprus with people too young to remember the Greek Junta sponsored coup and subsequent Turkish Army invasion of 1974. These people want the opportunity to vote in a referendum. The politicians have tried. Let the people both side of the Green Line decide.
Mark Smith, UK

There is only one way the island can go forward

Vas, UK

The one positive thing I would say about the recent events is the obvious stance of both the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot people. There is only one way the island can go forward and that is as an island.
Vas, UK

I've just come back from a brief visit to southern Cyprus where I made a conscious effort to go with my Greek Cypriot girlfriend to give blood for this little girl from the north who has only weeks to live. It would have been nice to see both leaders do the same thing as their people through their own choice.
Nick, London UK

I don't understand why they want to unify two different ethnic groups in one country. They have different religion, language, culture, history etc. If they can do this then let's unify Turkey and Greece as well.
Okan Yeginsoy, USA

The UN plan recognises that there are two separate states in Cyprus. However, the EU has spent millions on propaganda, trying to destroy the Turkish Cypriot state. Despite its uncertain status, the TRNC is the best guarantee of security that these people have ever had. Until the EU accepts this reality and starts to treat the Turkish Cypriot people on an equal basis, there can be no solution within the EU.
Frank Thomas, Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus

As a result; here all Turkish Cypriots are very sad. Also I think that Greek Cypriots are too. I want to cry. Now we have to live under occupation of Turkish military forces and for the demonstrations that we have attended our life will not be secure. We are trapped in this part of Cyprus without any human rights and outside of international laws. We must survive. At least we will try. I want to thank the UN, UK, US and EU for this great plan. We will continue our fight for democracy and human rights. Thank you all...
Dogus, Cyprus (North)

A fresh start with new willing representatives is imperative

Lef, England / Greece

It is high time to rid of old politicians on both sides and allow younger generations to integrate and get to know each other. Old personal vendettas, ephemeral political speeches, ignorance and let's not forget international interests have merely increased the rift between the two communities. If there is something we should learn from the last few months of negotiations is that a fresh start with new willing representatives is imperative in order to see a united Cyprus sometime in our lifetime.
Lef, England&Greece

The failure of the reunification talks is a sad day for Cyprus, but even more so for Turkish Cypriots and Turkey's hopes to join the EU. Not only will the Turkish Cypriot people continue to be isolated and impoverished but with (Greek) Cyprus a full member of the EU next year, there is no chance for Turkey to join, no matter how much it progresses on human rights and economic issues. Cyprus will have the right to veto Turkey's application and will certainly do so, unless a solution is found. I certainly hope that the Turkish government (and powerful military) realise this and seek a solution to the Cyprus problem and consequently to all other differences with Greece soon, so that the whole region can prosper.
Panagis Vagenas, London, UK

The re-unification must be spread over time. Turkish and Cypriot component states should co-exist with a limited number refugees being allowed to return home each year. This gradual integration would reduce the differences between the communities.
Mustafa Yorumcu, UK/ Turkey

The EU is not being serious about a Cyprus solution as long as it panders to Turkey

Nicholas, Australia

A united Cyprus would most likely only occur if the EU demand Turkey get her army out and allow all refugees back home. How can Turkey be even considered for EU membership while she violates Cyprus and represses Kurds in Turkey? The EU is not being serious about a Cyprus solution as long as it panders to Turkey and does nothing about Human Rights in Turkey Is the EU scared of her?
Nicholas, Australia (originally Cyprus)

I am a Turkish Cypriot who migrated to the North after the 1974 incidents. I live in the US now. A day doesn't go by without thinking about our home and the dream of returning back to our home but now, thanks to Denktash, I have NO home. Like a mother separated from her child, I have great pain being forced to be separated from my home and from my people.
Cem Hocaoglu, Cyprus

Turkey should withdraw its troops and repatriate all the illegal settlers and their descendants. Only then can the north and south bargain in good faith., and only then should the Turks be considered for membership in the EU.
Mark, USA

There is something very wrong with this "one shot" process.

Chris, USA

It's such a shame that the opportunity was lost with absolutely no progress. There is something very wrong with this "one shot" process. There should at least be some timetable set for future talks or collaboration on peripheral issues between the two sides. I am sorry but not surprised that R. Denktash denied the Turkish Cypriots the right to chose. He has been on top for too long and serves too many interests besides what he thinks is the good of the Turkish Cypriots.
Chris, USA

As long as the UN is involved, nothing will be solved. The UN is a useless group of diplomats who never really accomplish anything and they have no teeth to enforce resolutions that they pass.
Amy, USA

Turkey is a hardball negotiator. They are waiting to trade Cyprus for EU Membership. They don't give anything without getting more in return. They certainly won't solve the problem to gain EU's good graces, and clearly they don't care about the opinion of the Turkish Cypriots, who are held like prisoners.
Steve, Canada

This could have been the ultimate solution

Tarik, UK

Instead of trying to stick two different communities to each other (which would fail anyway) artificially, Annan should have drafted a solution based on a loose confederation, giving sovereignty to both nations of the islands. This could have been the ultimate solution, in my opinion.
Tarik, UK

I served in Cyprus as a peacekeeper in 1989 and I have followed events there closely ever since. Every time there are negotiations and "proximity talks", it becomes apparent that no-one has changed their positions in the last 30 years. There is also enough blame to go around for the failure to achieve a satisfactory resolution. Clearly, Denktash is an obstacle, yet on the eve of a possible solution, the Greek-Cypriot people elect a President who said he would not accept Kofi Annan's proposal. Both sides must realise that any eventual solution will mean that both sides will walk away less happy than they had hoped.
Tom, Canada

I am saddened that the will of the Cypriot people, Greek and Turkish, to have a reunited island has been sabotaged by the dinosaur Turkish-Cypriot leadership. My hope is eventually that the fossils will no longer be in power and will allow the Cypriots to come together in peace, prosperity, as part of the EU family.
Alexander Billinis, Greece/USA

The UN should look at Ireland and the way we resolved 800 years of division. If we can do it they certainly can. People have to realise it takes time and issuing demands like the UN did does not work.
Brian, Ireland

He was doing the right thing in protecting the interests of the people of the North

Yilmaz, North Cyprus

I am one that is for the reunification of the island. However, I do not blame Denktash for the collapse entirely. I believe he was doing the right thing in protecting the interests of the people of the North.
Yilmaz, North Cyprus

The majority of Turkish Cypriots demonstrated in favour of the Anan plan. Dentkash now represents only (some of) the settlers who were brought in by Turkey after the 1974 war to alter the demographics of the island. We Greek Cypriots have learned from (and paid hard for) the mistakes of the past and are prepared for an honest compromise in the Anan plan. I hope that our Turkish Cypriots brothers take now the future of the island in their hands, get rid of the Dentkash regime and join us in the prosperous EU route.
Panos, Cambridge, UK

It was insane to change the entire Greek Cypriot negotiating team after the election of Tassos Papadopulos. The elections should have been made to fit around the negotiating schedule, not the other way round. With Clerides and his team there would have been a real chance, because there is no-one who knows Rauf Denktash's mind better than the ex-President of the republic. He also clearly believed in a united Cyprus under Annan's plan, whereas Papadopoulos' heart never seemed to be in reunification.
Phil, England

Denktash in his culminating speech stated that the relocation of 100,000 people was what made him reject Mr Annan's plan. He is not very good at deception. The greatest problem in mainland Turkey and in Turkish Cyprus is the vast gap between the very few rich people in power and everybody else. As long as the Turkish-Cypriot "leader" is eating well, it just doesn't matter.
Chrysostomos, USA

A united Cyprus would almost certainly prosper as a full member of the EU

Tim, USA

It seems that if the average Turkish and Greek Cypriot were allowed to vote in a referendum, Cyprus would almost certainly be reunited in some form. This stalemate is all the fault of the Greek and Turkish Cypriot leadership on the island, not the Cypriots themselves. It's too bad. A united Cyprus would almost certainly prosper as a full member of the EU.
Tim, USA

Cyprus was divided, and being kept as such, by the force of the Turkish army. The Anan plan was a bad compromise. The island will be reunited if the EU decides to seriously consider Turkey as a member.
Stelios Pneumaticos, Ottawa, Canada

I believe that the Turkish Cypriot leadership will cave under the public desire for economic aid from the EU... but the reunion will not be a happy one. I do not think 'peace' between the Greek and Turkish Cypriots is something that I will see in my lifetime.
Rhiannon, NYC

A united Cyprus may be an economic ideal, but there are other considerations here. Look at Northern Ireland, Palestine and the old 'Yugoslavia'. You cannot have two groups of people with two very different sets of values governed by the same parliament and laws.
Sonia, UK (Turkish Cypriot)

This was also the time in which Cyprus could have been saved

Marios Kountourides, Cypriot in Belgium

In the last few days Greek and Turkish Cypriots have been assembling, not for the first time, to donate blood samples in an attempt to find a donor for a bone marrow transplant for a five year old Turkish Cypriot girl suffering from leukaemia, who has three weeks to live if the right donor is not found. By a strange and sad coincidence, this was also the time in which Cyprus could have been saved.
Marios Kountourides, Cypriot in Belgium

Why must they be reunited? If these two peoples cannot get along, leave them separate. However, if the UN must get involved, yet again, then tell them they will get a certain amount of money from the UN if they work things out and reunite but if they don't, they get nothing.
Beth, USA

I praise Denktash for his efforts and resisting the pressure to agree to a bogus plan. I also think those Turkish Cypriots who urged him to sign the plan should be ashamed of themselves. It appears they can be bought off with a promise of a few bucks. They have no honour. If they want to be a part of the EU so much why don't they move to Greece?
Mehmet Turkoglu, Canada

The only way a settlement can be reached is if the two parties negotiate directly

Peter, UK

This is another example of the failure of the UN to resolve a longstanding dispute by superimposing a solution, if the opposing parties are unhappy with the terms. The only way a settlement can be reached is if the two parties negotiate directly, perhaps with the EU and Turkey acting as brokers. If a compromised settlement can be reached, all the people in Cyprus will be winners and reap the benefit of EU membership.
Peter, UK

This cannot be resolved until the Turkish Cypriots find a leader with vision for their community, instead of one who is stuck in the past. A reunified Cyprus as a EU member state, comprising Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities and free of outside forces, can progress and become a viable financial and tourism hub of the Eastern Mediterranean and the Middle-East, and a linkage between that region and Europe.
Peter Panayiotou, Australia

The island will be reunited if the Turkish-Cypriot leadership and, alas, certain parts of the Greek Cypriot leadership and public opinion make the very important political decision to work for a united Cyprus, leaving the past animosities behind, and looking forward to a common European future. Division is not only unacceptable but justifies extremists in both sides
Nikos Mandalas, Greece

Cypriots, both Greek and Turkish, want a solution

Paul, USA

It was so close but so far away. For nearly three decades talks have always ended as a heartbreaker. Cypriots, both Greek and Turkish, want a solution. Until the Turkish leader Denktash is no longer in power and all Greek Cypriots allowed to return to their homes taken by Turkish forces in the '74 invasion, there will be no solution.
Paul, USA (of Greek-Cypriot descent)

I hope Denktash is pleased with himself. He'll now get the dubious honour of seeing Greek Cyprus get even richer as they join the EU, while Turkish Cyprus languishes further into the abyss.
Bernard, Belgium

It will now never be united because of the recent action taken by the Turkish President. The citizens too will now take serious offence.
Neeraj Pant, Nepal

It's scandalous that the politicians didn't even let a referendum take place. What are they doing representing the people?
Oli, Scotland