ATHENS, 17 February 2004 — Greek foreign policy experts yesterday praised a decision by leaders of long-divided Cyprus to restart talks on reunifying the island, but analysts warned the breakthrough was only the first step on a long, hard road.
The next few months will be critical not only in resolving the Cyprus question so that the entire island can be admitted into the European Union, but in satisfying Turkey as regards its own EU aspirations, according to Greek analyst Theodoros Kouloumbis.
“If a solution on Cyprus is not found by May 1, we have in my opinion time until November or December, said Kouloumbis, head of ELIAMEP, Greece’s respected foreign policy institute. “If the problem is not solved by then, then all hope is lost. Turkey will not get a date for accession negotiations, if the (Cyprus) issue is not resolved,” he added.
One analyst who did not wish to be named said he thought this would spur Turkey on to find a solution to the 30-year division of the Mediterranean island. Because of Ankara’s determination to get the European Union to agree to accession talks in December “Turkey has every reason to remove that thorn (Cyprus) from their side,” he said.
New talks on Cyprus will now be held in Nicosia from Thursday after UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan brokered a landmark deal in New York on Friday, with the two sides agreeing to let him rule on any disputes they cannot settle.
This has led many commentators to believe that the island’s long division is now closer than ever to being resolved.
Turkey has held the northern third of Cyprus since 1974, when it seized the region in response to an Athens-engineered Greek Cypriot military coup aimed at uniting the island with Greece.
Since Friday’s announcement, Greece’s main political parties have played up the fact that talks will take place within the context of the UN plan for Cyprus, and that the European Union is fully implicated.
Former Greek Foreign Minister George Papandreou, now leader of the country’s ruling Socialists, emphasized on Sunday that “the decisions taken in New York are not the end of a difficult process, but rather the beginning.” He said Athens had “made it certain that any solution will be based on the Annan plan” under which Cyprus would become a loose bicommunal federation in a decentralized single state.
For Kouloumbis the perfect solution has not yet been invented. However he said the EU’s involvement is in the long-term interest of all the people of Cyprus.
“Even a compromise solution which does not entirely satisfy everyone will work much better within the framework of the European Union,” he said. The announcement of new talks comes at delicate time in Greece as the country’s political parties jostle for position and favor ahead of general elections scheduled for March 7. This means there will be a new Greek government taking part in an extra round of Cyprus talks arranged for March 22 and March 29 — if they are needed — with Greece, Turkey and the European Union all expected to take part.
