The prospects of a Cyprus solution rest on the sense of security, normality, prosperity, hope and reduced risk of conflict people will feel on both sides of the island, according to Greek Cypriot negotiator Menelaos Menelaou.
Menelaou raised the prospect of a Cyprus settlement in a panel discussion on Thursday evening at the University of Nicosia.
The negotiator underlined that “the people’s confidence will only be won if a new effort is accompanied with a hopeful perspective.”
“A new process of negotiations which is imperative – and in my view inevitable – will succeed if citizens, Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots alike, feel that the prospect of resolving the Cyprus issue enhances their sense of security, safeguards the normality of their daily lives, strengthens their prosperity, offers a more hopeful future, wipes away any ground for the revival of the conflict of the past,” he said.
On Tufan Erhürman’s election, Menelaou warned against over-simplifying the development. He noted: “If there is however one common denominator, it is the clear rejection of the two-state concept […] as a non-viable choice but as a potentially catastrophic one, even for the Turkish Cypriots themselves.”
‘Not all Turkish Cypriots are the same’
According to Menelaou, “just as it would be wrong to assume that the path towards a federal solution now lies wide open, it would be equally wrong to consider that nothing has changed regardless of who leads the Turkish Cypriot community.”
“Without denying Turkey’s decisive role – to do so would have been naïve and unrealistic – we must recognise that not all Turkish Cypriots are the same, the inter-relation between Turkey and the Turkish Cypriot community is multi-faceted and cannot be reduced to a simple relationship between a ruler and a subject.”
It is important to see things as they are, not as we would have wished them to be, he said.
Identity and autonomy
He highlighted a key issue in this regard, the Turkish Cypriots' quest for the preservation of their identity and autonomy. They demand and expect autonomy from Turkey, but also not to be subjected to a majority-minority relationship with the Greek Cypriots, he noted.
The negotiator argued that this issue has been “settled eloquently” through past convergences on a bizonal, bicommunal federation (BBF) with political equality and effective participation which goes hand in hand with effective functionality.
Next steps
On the road ahead, Menelaou warned against repeating mistakes of the past by setting terms and conditions for the resumption of talks.
“In the period ahead everyone’s intentions and political will will be judged in the context of dialogue which is going to hopefully begin soon,” he said.
Menelaou assured that “from our part, we know what we want, what we must do to get there.”
“We remain firmly committed to shaping a positive path ahead, a vision where we will be partners not rivals, a new paradigm where the interests of Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots are not perpetually antagonistic but mutually reinforcing,” he said.
“The EU as a leverage and a space within which this vision will flourish is instrumental and catalytic and we will continue to take initiatives and work hard in this regard,” he added.
Mistrust and heavy baggage
Head of the university’s Cyprus Centre for European and International Affairs, Professor Andreas Theophanous argued that Cyprus constituted “a litmus test for the credibility of the EU as well as its ability to move forward as a global power.”
He pointed to the “mistrust and heavy baggage” between the two communities, calling for an evolutionary process to address the Cyprus conflict, rather than an effort to reach a solution from one day to the next.
“Under the best circumstances you need a process.”
Theophanous proposed a revision of the 1960 Constitution based on certain elements "which would make it a normal federal state."
He referred to a series of Confidence-Building Measures or actions involving the two communities, but also the guarantor powers, the EU and perhaps other powers including the United States, that can create mutual benefits and “gradually cultivate a new culture”.
No return to status quo
Former Turkish Cypriot negotiator Ozdil Nami spoke of the convergences achieved just before the Crans-Montana conference, noting they were in line with the EU.
“Looking ahead, we now have a new window of opportunity with a new leader in the north who is a very strong pro-EU leader and a strong proponent of a federal settlement and ready to resume negotiations from where they left off which is something that I often hear from President Christodoulides as well,” he said.
The question that Erhürman asks is why the sides couldn’t finish the job in Cran-Montana, said Nami.
“This time the Turkish Cypriot leader is totally fine to resume negotiations where they left off with the aim of establishing a BBF in line with the principles on which the EU is founded,” he said.
However, what he wants is “a new serious negotiation process whereby we will not be asked to have negotiations in an open-ended fashion and if my community says yes and the other community once again rejects, I have to know what will happen to my community.”
“I think the main challenge ahead of us is to agree on a new negotiation process which will deliver this results-oriented, time limited approach,” he said. “Once that is done, I think we have a bright future ahead of us,” he concluded.
Meaningful grassroots engagement
Amanda Paul, Senior Policy Analyst at the European Policy Centre, referred to the need for effective civil society engagement and “having grassroots all involved in this new process when it starts to build”.
Paul noted that in the past, trust was lacking between the people. Previous civil society engagement was small, underfunded and faced too many obstacles. On the Bicommunal Technical Committees tasked with building trust, many “lacked funding, had limited mandates and limited impact on reconciliation”.
“There must be a much bigger focus on bringing ordinary people into this process to bring a much stronger climate and to remove the fragilities that have been there now for many years,” she said.
Unlike previous efforts, the sides need to show effective political will to bring people into the process this time, added Paul.
Source: CNA