FREEDOM DAY OR BLACK ANNIVERSARY
By Mirjana Aksentijeviç
Politika,
28 July 2006

Nicosia, July -Asked when the Turkish troops would withdraw from the north of Cyprus, where they have been deployed since July 1974, Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat has said without hesitation that it will happen the moment the island question is resolved. Such a position enjoys an equally adamant support from the mainland Turkey claiming to provide every kind of support to the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (seceded and self- proclaimed on 15 November 1983), internationally isolated and unrecognized, except by Ankara.

The presence of 35,000 Turkish troops is literally a thorn in the flash of the Greek Cypriots who see them as classic occupators of their homeland -in contrast to their neighbours who regard them as the saviours on a "peace mission" the 32nd anniversary of which was marked by a military parade in the Turkish part of Nicosia. Precisely on the occasion, one could feel the depth of the gap between the two ethnic communities that have for years been unable to reach an agreement whether to live together again in the future. The Greek Cypriots marked the black anniversary by a long-lasting toll of church bells and loud honking, while the other side paraded, singing songs and rejoicing in the "day of freedom and peace".

The List of Priorities

The recent brief visit by the UN Undersecretary for political issues Ýbrahim Gambari, to both sides of the demarcation line, has been assessed on the island as the first sign that the international community is again willing to deal with the "Cyprus issue". Encouraged by the decision of Secretary General Kofi Annan to send, after two years, an experienced diplomat on an exploratory mission, the President of the Greek Cypriots Tassos Papadopoulos has met with Talat at the UN office in the divided capital. Later on, Talat has said -the only opinion we shared was about the enigma of the "missing persons" in the days of the bloody conflict three decades ago that we, equally soon, wish to resolve. Everything else is still in question. We still don't know what course the talks may take until we sit at the negotiating table after previously forming a kind of joint technical committee. Upon an agreement, in the presence of a UN representative, everyone should come up with his list of priorities; in other words, specify the conditions and concessions one is ready to make. So, while waiting for envoy Gambari to report to Annan and then also to the Security Council about the readiness of the islanders to resume the dialogue, Mehmet Ali Talat has sent a new letter to the UN Secretary General underlining

 that "the Turkish side is determined to seek a quick solution regardless of possible difficulties that may stand in the way".

EU Does not FuIfill its Promises

The gap between the Greek and Turkish Cypriots, despite the most optimistic forecasts, can hardly be bridged over night. Especially if we have in mind that the northerners (Turkish Cypriots) keep underlining that the dispute with the neighbour does not date back to the deployment of the Turkish troops on the island (in response to an attempt of the military leadership from Athens to join Cyprus to Greece) but that it is much older. They insist on the year 1963 (three years after Cyprus won independence from the British crown) when they say they were stripped of all political power -which provoked a strong reaction and who knows what their further destiny would have been had there been no deployment of the "blue helmets". Talat says that as much as they stick to the version of their recent past, they are equally prepared, with a lot of good will and hope, to step towards the future.

For them the Annan Plan, which they supported with enthusiasm while the Greeks refused it in separate referenda in April 2004, is still a good basis for the talk about the unification of the island.

"But, if the Greeks don't want it (and one hears that for them it is history), I am prepared to start from scratch", says Talat.

The hope that the European Union, in the whole negotiating process, could make a major contribution is rather thin, at least among the Cypriot Turks. The Union has forgotten all that it had promised to them before the referendum (the lifting  of the embargo and direct trade with other states) and now, they say, it is even putting strong pressure upon Turkey to recognize Cyprus and open its air and sea ports to it.

Talat (54) whose political career is relatively short, should soon face an experienced veteran Papadopoulos (72) who had taken up state duties in a rather serious manner back during the Macarius era as the youngest minister in that government.

If we have in mind who is determined not to concede about what, there is little chance for a more pleasant good neighbourly wind to soon blow on the island.

by Mirjana Aksentijevic