MILLIYET- Columnist Sami Kohen comments about the latest developments on Cyprus. A summary of his column is as follows:
Let me end the suspense and answer my column’s title question straight off: Although a lot has been changed on Cyprus, still everything remains almost the same!
In order to understand what I mean by this apparently contradictory answer, let’s take a look at what has really changed on the Turkish side:
The most important change in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) is the Turkish Cypriot public’s ever-growing opposition to the ‘no-concession’ policy of their government. Nearly 50,000 people recently came together to hold a demonstration in Lefkosha, shouting slogans in favor of an immediate peaceful solution for the problems of the island. Isn’t this a sign of recent significant changes on the island?
Some might belittle this opposition, or even claim that manipulative foreign powers are the true moving force behind this movement. Or one could argue that these people haven’t read the UN Cyprus plan carefully and so are unaware of what sort of future the plan truly entails for the TRNC.
However, the Ankara and Denktas administrations should try to calmly and rationally understand the reasons and possible consequences of this opposition movement, one coming from people in every sector of society, such as the families of martyrs and even politicians. They need to see that these people, frustrated and impatient over the lack of a solution on the island, perceive the Turkish government’s wrongheaded policies looming large in the decades-long political impasse on Cyprus.
In addition, nobody can expect people to know every single detail of a 150-page plan. In democracies, governments have to take into consideration the people’s expectations and wishes.
There has also been an important change in Turkey. Members of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and many political circles have already begun to argue that Turkey should adopt a more flexible Cyprus policy for the sake of a permanent solution. Well, what hasn’t changed in our country? Ankara is still a little confused. The Foreign Ministry has been issuing contradictory statements on the Cyprus issue. Everybody is talking about a change in our policy, but the institutions involved have yet to put any official changes before the public. It seems to me that in terms of strategy -- meaning if a settlement is not reached on Annan’s plan by Feb. 28 (the UN-set deadline) -- Turkey is planning to continue negotiations instead of annexing the TRNC. However, other pillars of our official policy won’t be changed.
What about the Greek Cypriot side?
Most of the Greek Cypriots oppose Annan’s plan, since they believe it makes too many concessions to the Turkish side. However, their leader Clerides thinks the plan suitable for further negotiations. That is to say, the situation on the Greek side is a reverse image of the one in the TRNC. One can claim that Clerides doesn’t want to change his policy since he’s sure that no matter what happens with the UN plan, his country will join the EU anyway.
I hope that these changes will help the politicians adopt more constructive policies. If the two leaders of the island fail to take more productive stances, everything will really remain the same on the island this time!
SOURCE: OFFICE OF THE PRIME MINISTER, DIRECTORATE GENERAL OF PRESS AND INFORMATION