In divided Cyprus, new leader Christofias energizes unity bid

The Greek Cypriot president meets Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Talat Friday to discuss the renewal of reunification talks.

from the March 20, 2008 edition

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Christofias was elected on a swell of public dissatisfaction with the hard-line policies of Papadopoulos, who insisted the blueprint, known as the Annan plan, would satisfy Turkish demands at the expense of Greek Cypriot rights.

The plan was backed by the Turkish Cypriots in a separate referendum, but they effectively were left out in the cold a week later when Cyprus, which is internationally represented by the more prosperous Greek Cypriots, entered the EU as a divided state. Peace talks have been deadlocked since.

This year's window of opportunity

This year represents a narrow window of opportunity for advancing those talks: There are no elections pending in northern Cyprus, Greece or Turkey, and the EU isn't due to assess Turkey's obligations to Cyprus until 2009.

The patience of the UN, weary of its Sisyphean role in Cyprus, has also worn thin, but it is now clearly committed to putting its muscle behind another big – and possibly last – push for a settlement.

"Leaving the Cyprus problem unsolved is no longer a comfortable status quo. New dynamics are poisoning domains far beyond Cyprus, from EU import policy to Afghanistan," said the International Crisis Group, a Brussels-based think tank, in a recent report.

Popular support for peace

Last month's election suggests that a majority of Greek Cypriots, who rejected the UN reunification plan four years ago, are eager for a solution.

Papadopoulos was unexpectedly defeated in the first round. The run-off vote a week later was contested by Christofias and a right-wing politician who also promising an early resumption of reunification talks. In other words, more than 60 percent of the Greek Cypriot electorate backed moderate candidates, vindicating their assertion that in 2004 they rejected a particular plan and not a solution itself.

Papadopoulos's opponents had successfully argued that his uncompromising stance in the past four years was entrenching the island's partition and isolating Cyprus in the EU.

Yet new negotiations will again face a huge task in resolving substantive issues such as the redistribution of territory, property rights, the return of displaced people, constitutional aspects of the federation, and security arrangements.

"We want a workable solution as soon as possible," Christofias told reporters Wednesday, cautioning this could not be achieved in a month "when there is a deep chasm of differences." But he insisted: "This time we must succeed. A new failure will be devastating for the future of our people, Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots."

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