INTERNATIONALIZED ETHNIC CONFLICTS: THE CASE OF CYPRUS

Cyprus: A General Perspective

• Top unresolved protracted social conflict

● Actors:

● Two communities of Cyprus: Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots

● Three guarantor powers: Turkey, Greece, and the United Kingdom

● International actors: the United Nations and the European Union

Cyprus: A Historical Perspective

• 1950s: first intercommunal clashes under the British rule

• 1960: independence from the UK, the establishment of a bi-communal, unitary Republic of Cyprus

• 1963-74: intercommunal conflict, armed violence between two sides, social partition of communities

• 15 July 1974: coup d'état by Greece

• 20 July 1974: Turkish military intervention

● August 1974: physical partition of the island - North and South

Intercommunal Negotiations

• UN-led negotiation process lasting more than 50 years now

• Began in 1968, between communal leaders Denktaş and Clerides

• High Level Agreements (1977 and 1979):

● Main parameters of the future settlement in Cyprus

● Bi-communal in its constitutional aspect

● Bi-zonal in its territorial aspect

● Importance: mention of a federation as a type of solution

• UN-proposed Confidence Building Measures (CBMs) in 1993

• To bridge the lack of trust between two communities

• 2003: opening of the checkpoints (crossings) between two sides, first contact in 30 years

• The Annan Plan (2004):

● Two simultaneous, separate referenda in April 2004

• Peace and solution plan based on BBF (bi-zonal, bi-communal federation) - United Republic of Cyprus
• The name comes from UNSG back then, Kofi Annan

• Was the very first comprehensive solution plan

• Turkish Cypriots voted YES with 65%

• Greek Cypriots voted NO with 76%

● Only one 'yes' - failure of the plan

● "Missed opportunity" "great disappointment"

● May 2004 - Divided Cyprus becoming member to the European Union - only Greek Cypriot
represented Republic of Cyprus (South)

• 2008: Talat and Christofias restarted the negotiations

• Based on six working groups - division of matters into dossiers:

1. Governance and Power Sharing

2. Economic Affairs

3. European Union Affairs

4. Property

5. Territory

6. Security and Guarantees

• Agreements made almost in all dossiers except two

● Two matters that were not agreed upon were:

● Territory - how the territories of new federated states will be shaped

• Security and guarantees - issue of guarantor powers and foreign troops in the island

● Negotiation reverted back to track-one level process

● Traditional communal leaders level

Current Round of Talks (2017 onwards)

• Resumption in May 2015 - Akıncı and Anastasiades who were both pro-Annan Plan back in 2004

● Addition to Six Dossiers from 2008, they also implemented new round of CBMs

● CBMs: uniting electricity grids of two sides and having a mobile phone roaming agreement between
two sides

● Akıncı and Anastasiades failed in Crans Montana in 2017 due to the issue of security and guarantees
Perspectives of Sides

• The UN: BBF, political equality, the Security Council as the main body involved

● Greece: does not accept any guarantee system in the new system and does not want to be a
guarantor anymore

● Turkey: wants to maintain legal status in Cyprus, have intervention rights, and stationing of troops on
the island-wants a guarantee system

● Greek and Turkish Cypriots hold opposite views and are polarized on hard security issues

● Turkish Cypriots:

• Two separate state as solution is favorable (similar to today)

• accept federation but not without some guarantees from Turkey (intervention right) and some
number of Turkish troops

• Greek Cypriots:

• Unitary state is favorable (like 1960)

• accept federation but not accept Turkish intervention rights and Turkish troops in the future
federation

• BBF as a mutual point to meet!