The Cyprus Problem

We never intended to cover politics in the blog but it’s nigh on impossible, and rightly so, to live here and not be aware of ongoing rumblings regarding the Cyprus problem.

Today the UK Foreign Secretary has, again, backed entry to the EU by Turkey. As part of his statement he welcomed fresh talks for peace on the divided island of Cyprus.

“I understand that there are talks opening today that are potentially very important for the Cyprus issue”

For clarity, the Republic of Cyprus is a country in its own right and has full EU membership. The northern part of Cyprus is currently occupied by Turkey who declared the area to be the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC). This is recognised only by Turkey and North Korea.

Mr Papadopoulos, the Republic of Cyprus President, said of the talks starting this week;

“our purpose is to break through the deadlock and expeditiously move forward with the implementation of the 8 July process.”

Mr Talat, the Turkish Cypriot leader is quoted as saying;

“Turkish Cypriots have ruled themselves since 1963. Today, they are the owners of a state, a fully functioning administration. They will not sacrifice this,”

He also warned that Turkish Cypriots would not accept the removal of Turkey’s right to intervene militarily on the island from any potential agreement between the two communities, contesting that “apart from marginal groups… not a single Turkish Cypriot sees the Turkish army as an invader”.

So, the odds of any progress seem somewhat slim to say the least.

This previous blog post has some links to the background on the issue.

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