Derek Halligan
Fortnight, June 2004
Politics

Some time ago I was asked by the editor of this esteemed organ to write an article on the situation in Cyprus. Each time I did, things there changed. There are intriguing parallels with the situation here in Northern Ireland. The Greek Cypriots tend to recognise this fact as well, although their perception of our problem is much like our perception of theirs, it is based on ignorance.

Having lived and worked in the south of Cyprus for many years, it always amazed me that when locals found out I was from this part of the world they would grin broadly and offer what they assumed was some kind of international fraternal greetings, usually along the lines of, “Eh! Bobby Sands” or “IRA, Boom Boom”.

I often found it ironic, to say the least, that the Greek Cypriots compared their EOKA fighters with the IRA. Then I went to the North of the island for the first time a few years ago and things began to fall into place. While there may be similarities, there are differences that are immense.

We are both small islands, each with two communities with their own distinct culture and religious outlook. Neither wants to be ruled or dominated by the other but are quite happy to live alongside one another as neighbours with open and friendly borders. Both have been in conflict since the mid-sixties. While the Turkish Cypriots had no intention of forcing their Greek neighbours into a Turkish dominated unified island, the Greeks and their EOKA fighters were determined to have a Greek controlled island with no Turkish Cypriots left alive, if possible, or failing that, with reducing those that did remain to an unprotected minority. Both have had outside forces brought in to restore order and reduce the death toll.

Turkey sent 40,000 troops to Cyprus in 1974 to protect the Turkish Cypriots from their Greek neighbours and their terrorist organisations, in much the same way as the British sent their troops here in 1969, initially to protect the Catholics from Protestants. Unlike the British, the Turks did not get involved in an urban guerrilla conflict.

The result of the Turkish intervention was to create a situation whereby the Greek Cypriot population, all but a tiny handful, moved to the southern part of the island and the Turkish Cypriot state was declared in the north. Since then they have had peace, free from attacks.

Now compare our scenario. We had the British army intervene here in ’69, followed by 30 years of carnage and destruction. We now have the perpetrators of that carnage entitled to sit in government and use democracy to further their aims, while their “armies” continue to terrorise their local communities. Maybe we should have called in the Turkish army! It would seem to me that the Turkish Cypriot cause is very akin to that of those who wish to live in Northern Ireland.

Up until now things in Cyprus have been moving so fast on a daily basis that any viewpoint was out of date by the time it got to print. However, the recent referendum on the re-unification of the island gives one a chance to examine the present climate in an attempt to understand what is an even more complex scenario than our own.

The vote taken was on the Annan Plan, devised by Kofi Annan of the UN. Basically this was to establish two separate states on the island, Turkish and Greek, within a united island, to the benefit of both. Sure it wasn’t perfect. There were compromises and sacrifices to be made on both sides. Again we could think of a Northern Ireland living as a separate state within the rest of the island of Ireland with both working together for common interests.

The result of the Cyprus referendum on the issue has produced a more ludicrous situation.

The Turkish Cypriots in voting for the Annan Plan have been praised by the British, the European Union, the Untied States and the UN for doing so. The international embargo that has been in place for the last forty years, making a mockery of international law and basic human rights, is to be reconsidered. EU funds are to be allocated, an EU office is to be opened in the TRNC and yet the Turkish Cypriot state will not be allowed to become a member of the EU.

The Greek Cypriots on the other hand have voted no.

They have been allowed to join, in the face of overwhelming condemnation by the very people who praised the Turkish Cypriots and they have been rewarded by being officially recognised as the only government of the whole island.

By voting yes, the Turkish Cypriots have put themselves in a corner. Now more concessions will be offered to the Greeks in an effort to make the Annan Plan acceptable to them.

One of these concessions will be the repatriation of Greek refugees to parts of the north. This will increase the Greek population in the north to such an extent that the Turks will become a minority in their own state. While a reciprocal agreement will exist as regards Turks relocation to the south, so few will want to move that those that do will be in a minority in the south as well. So, by careful manipulation, the Turks will once again become an isolated and scattered minority dispersed across the island. The Greek Cypriot administration’s reputation as the legitimate government will be enhanced and that presents an all too familiar scenario for the Turkish Cypriot people.

That will realise the Greek dream of enosis, the Hellenisation of Cyprus. something akin to the fear northerners here have of the nationalist ideal of a united Ireland.

There are wider issues at stake here. Turkey is a big player and is seeking membership of the EU. Its human rights record is well known and will have to be addressed if such an application is to be considered; no bad thing, but there is great opposition in Europe to Turkey’s entry. The Vatican and some Catholic European countries do not like the Islam connection.

With the entry of the Greek Cypriots along with Greece itself, the Orthodox church will have an influence as well.

Turkey is a secular state. It is not expansionist and does not pose a militant Islamic threat. Indeed it has come down hard on those factions but it is being squeezed unfairly, especially on the Cyprus issue, as it was the only one of the garantor powers that did lawfully intervene to stop the genocide that was taking place at the time. If squeezed too hard it could become a hotbed of fanaticism, not something Europe wants on its doorstep.

Speaking of Europe’s doorstep brings to mind Bertie Ahern’s cringingly awful “begorrah, cead mille failtes” and “big family of brothers” welcome speech at the big party in Dublin for the new members. Was any thought given to the Turkish Cypriot people who are now in but not in, represented by a government that is not theirs?

Imagine if you will this scenario. Britain and Ireland join the EU. Northern Ireland and its people are disqualified. An international embargo is imposed. There are no direct flights or ferries, no trade. No recognition by any international bodies including sport and the EU only recognises southern Ireland as the sole government of the island. Some would say, “good thing”, but a crazy idea none the less. This is in fact what has been happening to the Turkish Cypriots for the last forty years.

The EU attitude towards these people seems to be like that of the townspeople in the Mel Brooks movie, Blazing Saddles. The scene where the folks of Rock Ridge are recruiting help from the railroad workers to build a replica town; “we’ll take the niggers and the Chinks, but no Irish”.