EU in Cyprus reunification plea

[Truth Bearer]

EU in Cyprus reunification plea
The European Commission has urged the new president of Cyprus to "grasp the chance" to negotiate a settlement for the divided island.
Left-wing leader Demetris Christofias won the presidential election on Sunday and pledged to work on reuniting the Greek- and Turkish-Cypriot communities.

Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso urged him to "grasp this chance and without delay start negotiations".

He called for fresh talks under United Nations auspices.

Mr Christofias defeated rival right-winger Ioannis Kasoulides in a second round of voting.

Long-running dispute

Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey sent troops into the north after a coup by Greek Cypriots designed to produce union with Greece.


Tomorrow is a new day and there will be many difficulties before us
Demetris Christofias



Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat telephoned Mr Christofias to congratulate him on his victory.

The two men agreed to meet "at the earliest possible date" for discussions on the status of Cyprus, a spokesman for Mr Talat said.

The island's partition along ethnic lines has long stood as an obstacle to Turkey's bid to join the EU, and remains a source of contention between Nato allies Turkey and Greece.

Reunification talks have been deadlocked since Greek Cypriots rejected a UN peace plan in a referendum in 2004. Turkish Cypriots accepted the plan.

Mr Christofias told a stadium full of exuberant supporters on Sunday that he extended "a hand of friendship to my compatriots the Turkish Cypriots and their political leadership".

"I call on them to work together for our common cause, a country of peace," said the 61-year-old president-elect.

Cypriot hopes

The defeated Mr Kasoulides congratulated his rival and offered to help find a solution to the division of Cyprus.


The two men had emerged neck-and-neck from the first round of the election, which saw the defeat of President Tassos Papadopoulos.

Official figures showed Mr Christofias, who heads the communist Akel party, won 53.36% of the vote to Mr Kasoulides' 46.64% in Sunday's second round.

Akel supporters celebrated victory outside the party headquarters in Nicosia, chanting slogans and waving flags. Car horns could be heard across the city.

"Tomorrow is a new day and there will be many difficulties before us," Mr Christofias told supporters.

"We need to gather our strength to achieve the re-unification of our homeland."

Sensitive issues

The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus is only recognised by Turkey.

UN forces patrol a buffer zone across the island.

Mr Christofias is likely to find that any progress on re-unification will be slow and difficult, says the BBC's Tabitha Morgan in Nicosia.

Many sensitive issues remain unresolved, including the return of refugees, security and the constitution.

The president-elect has already made an alliance with the party of the defeated Mr Papadopoulos - the man who firmly rejected the last UN plan to solve the Cyprus problem.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/h...pe/7262534.stm

Published: 2008/02/25 10:14:30 GMT

© BBC MMVIII

[Truth Bearer]

Can Christofias heal the Cyprus divide?
By Tabitha Morgan
BBC News, Nicosia


A new era in the political history of Cyprus has begun with the victory of left-winger Demetris Christofias in presidential elections.
It was the first time that a leader of the Greek Cypriot communist party (Akel) had entered the presidential race.

Mr Christofias fought off a challenge from Ioannis Kasoulides, the right wing leader of the Disy party. When news of his victory reached Akel headquarters in Nicosia a cacophony of cheering and car horns rang out across the city.

The election may have been presented as a contest between left and right. But the campaign was ultimately all about the Cyprus problem and the candidates' proposals for reuniting the divided island.

In the first round of polling the previous Sunday, Mr Christofias and Mr Kasoulides edged out the incumbent President, Tassos Papadopoulos.

Resuming talks

In 2004, Mr Papadopoulos had advised Greek Cypriots to reject a UN-backed reunification plan. Since then there have been no direct negotiations between the Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders.

In the first round of voting, 60% of the Greek Cypriot electorate backed either Mr Christofias or Mr Kasoulides, both of whom promised the early resumption of reunification talks.

Mr Christofias, a builder's son, educated in Soviet-era Russia, prides himself on having the common touch.

He has also established strong ties with the Turkish Cypriot labour movement and is one of only a few Greek Cypriot politicians to have crossed to the Turkish-occupied north of the island to visit Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat.


According to Mr Christofias' party spokesman, Andros Kyprianou, the new president's links with Turkish Cypriot leaders "will make it relatively easy to have bilateral talks with them".

Confidence undermined

During the election campaign Mr Christofias called for a solution to the Cyprus problem that would "reunite the state, the people, the institutions and the economy."

But any future negotiations may not go as smoothly as Mr Christofias would wish. Turkish Cypriot confidence in the left-wing leader was undermined when, in 2004, as a junior coalition partner he joined with then president Tassos Papadopoulos, in calling on Greek Cypriots to reject the UN re-unification plan.

Academic Niazi Kizilurek, one of a handful of Turkish Cypriots who live in the mainly Greek Cypriot south, believes that "the 'no' vote of Christofias created considerable disappointment amongst the Turkish Cypriot community".

At the time, Mr Christofias argued that this was a tactical decision. But the votes of his left-wing supporters in effect perpetuated the island's division, leaving the Turkish Cypriot community internationally unrecognised, while their Greek Cypriot compatriots joined the European Union.

Complications

The new president has said that he will immediately request meetings with Mr Talat and the UN secretary general, with a view to resuming negotiations.


There is another possible complication. In order to secure victory, Mr Christofias revived his partnership with the party of the defeated president, promising it the influential foreign ministry in exchange for support in Sunday's poll.

In addition, there are still major issues to be resolved, like territorial claims, the return of property to Greek and Turkish Cypriot refugees, the presence of Turkish troops in the north of the island, and the constitution of a unified state.

Selling a solution

Nevertheless the hope of many European governments will be that the Cyprus problem can be solved in order to clear the way for Turkey's EU accession.

With Turkish troops remaining in Cyprus and the island still divided, Ankara has little hope of being accepted into the union.

In seeking a settlement Mr Christofias will also need to take into account the overwhelming Greek Cypriot rejection of the UN plan.

Hubert Faustman, a political analyst at Nicosia University, says Mr Christofias "has to sell any solution to a population that considers the rejected plan to be unjust, unfair and one-sided in favour of the Turkish Cypriots. He has to come up with something substantially different".

Diplomats in Cyprus had hoped that the Greek Cypriot negotiator in future talks would be Mr Kasoulides, a strong supporter of European co-operation and a former MEP.

Mr Christofias, by contrast, has in the past sounded ambivalent on Europe. "He has a track record of being a Euro-sceptic," one diplomat said, "we will be watching carefully."

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/h...pe/7262050.stm

Published: 2008/02/24 23:45:15 GMT

© BBC MMVIII

[Truth Bearer]

Cyprus leaders seek fresh talks
The leaders of the divided Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities have voiced optimism that they can make progress towards reunification of the island.
The Cyprus President-elect, Demetris Christofias, said he had asked the UN to arrange a meeting with Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat.

Mr Christofias was speaking just hours after his election victory.

Decades of diplomatic efforts have failed to reunite the communities, who are separated by a UN buffer zone.

Mr Talat congratulated Mr Christofias on his election triumph and said "I believe that it won't be a surprise if we solve the problem by the end of 2008".

Mr Talat also called on Mr Christofias, a left-wing leader, to resume negotiations as soon as possible.

Decades-old division

The Greek and Turkish Cypriots have been divided since 1974, when Turkey sent troops into the north, after a coup by Greek Cypriots who wanted union with Greece.


Greek Cypriots rejected a UN peace plan in a referendum in 2004, while Turkish Cypriots accepted it.

The BBC's Tabitha Morgan in Cyprus says significant issues that have scuppered all previous diplomatic initiatives remain to be tackled. These include the Turkish troop presence in the north of the island.

Mr Talat said he did not want a repeat of 2004, when the Greek Cypriots "hid their real agenda until the last minute".

Speaking to Reuters news agency, Mr Christofias said: "I've already contacted the representative of the United Nations in Cyprus... the very first step will be an exploratory meeting with Mr Talat."

Earlier, the European Commission urged Mr Christofias to work towards a deal.


The very first step will be an exploratory meeting with Mr Talat
Demetris Christofias


Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso called on him to "grasp this chance and without delay start negotiations" under United Nations auspices.

The island's partition has long stood as an obstacle to Turkey's bid to join the EU, and remains a source of contention between Nato allies Turkey and Greece.

The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus is only recognised by Turkey.

Support for talks

Mr Christofias defeated rival right-winger Ioannis Kasoulides in a second round of voting on Sunday.

Mr Kasoulides congratulated his rival and offered to help find a solution to the division of Cyprus.

The two men had emerged neck-and-neck from the first round of the election, which saw the defeat of President Tassos Papadopoulos.

Official figures showed Mr Christofias, who heads the communist Akel party, won 53.36% of the vote to Mr Kasoulides's 46.64% in Sunday's second round.

Mr Christofias is likely to find that any progress on reunification will be slow and difficult, our correspondent says.

Many sensitive issues remain unresolved, including the return of refugees, security and the constitution.

The president-elect has already made an alliance with the party of the defeated Mr Papadopoulos - the man who firmly rejected the last UN plan to solve the Cyprus problem.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/h...pe/7262534.stm

Published: 2008/02/25 18:05:35 GMT

© BBC MMVIII

[Truth Bearer]

A great photo from Christofias win a lot of flags but no Greek flags??!!


Supporters of Dimitris Christofias celebrate his election victory.
Photo: AFP

Poll win raises hopes for a united Cyprus
David Blair
February 26, 2008

Advertisement
THE logjam preventing the settlement of one of Europe's most intractable conflicts has been broken.

Ever since Cyprus was divided almost 34 years ago, the island's politicians have defeated every attempt to resolve the dispute. Either hardline presidents in the Turkish north and the Greek south would sabotage any agreement, or one half of the island would elect a moderate leader — only for him to face a hawkish opponent.

All this changed on Sunday. With the victory of Dimitris Christofias, the Republic of Cyprus now has a moderate president, committed to reuniting the island.

The self-styled "Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus" has been ruled by the moderate leftist Mehmet Ali Talat since 2005.

Thanks to this development, international efforts to resolve the conflict are likely to resume. Turgay Avci, the foreign minister of Turkish Northern Cyprus, said that negotiations should open as soon as the new president takes office. "We cannot wait another 34 years to solve this conflict," he said.

The central question is whether there is any life in a plan devised by Kofi Annan, the former UN secretary-general, to reunite Cyprus as a loose federation.

In 2004, this scheme was put to a referendum on both sides. The Turkish north said "yes", but the Greek south answered "no".

As the island's recognised government, Greek Cyprus was allowed to join the EU while the Turkish north was shut out.

The north has been a backwater ever since, forbidden from trading directly with the EU.

When talks open between Mr Talat and Mr Christofias, the two men will have to grapple with complicated issues that have defeated all of their predecessors.

How will the central issue of Greek property in the Turkish north — and Turkish property in the Greek south — be resolved?

Once again, the leaders might fail. But the chances of success are higher now than for many years.

TELEGRAPH


This story was found at: http://www.theage.com.au/articles/20...788243863.html

[Paulos Melas]

It seems that all major national affairs are on the table.
Skopje s name, Cyprus reunification, and of course an approach between Greece and Turkey.
It seems that US has great plans for the Balkans and makes haste to settle all differences that could distabilise the area before proceed further.

[Truth Bearer]

It's a worry because the left has always pushed for a Cyprian separate consciousness than a Greek one.They don't like Greece medling in their affairs and have always pushed a form of slight anti Greek sentiment.