Greeks reject Annan’s UN planEnding the plight of the Turkish Cypriots [Archives:2004/735/Opinion]

Hameed Abbas Fari
For the Yemen Times
The Turkish and Greek communities in Cyprus went to the polls on April 24, to vote on the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan's plan designed to bring a comprehensive and permanent settlement to the Cyprus issue.
The results were clear: while an impressive majority of the Turkish Cypriots showed that they approve the Annan Plan, the Greek side overwhelmingly rejected it. The outcome will definitely have further ramifications for the future of the island and its peoples.
The United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan initiated efforts in 1999 for a comprehensive settlement for the Cyprus problem. The plan stipulated that two politically equal constituent states would form a united Cyprus. The plan received substantial support from the United States and the European Union as well as from many other countries.
The immediate ramification of the rejection by the Greek side was the annulment of the Annan Plan. The plan is now off the table in accordance with its stipulation that both sides had to give their approval before it could become a legally binding document.
As a result of the Greek Cypriot vote against the plan, an opportunity for a comprehensive and permanent settlement on the island is now lost.
With this, the Greek Cypriots have shown that they are not ready to form a partnership with their Turkish counterparts. The rejection has created a highly paradoxical situation for the EU. On one hand the EU has admitted the party which has voted against a solution and unification of the island, while on the other leaving out in the open the party that worked hard towards the goal of permanent peace and settlement.
The Turkish Cypriots have expressed their will to live peacefully in a unified Cyprus that would become a member to the EU and have effectively proven wrong those who, for years, contended that the Turkish side was an obstacle to peace on the island.
With the results, it has become clear that the Greek Cypriot policy of blaming the Turkish side through distortion of facts, as well as accusing Turkey with intransigence, has now gone bankrupt. With their support to the plan, the Turkish Cypriots also demonstrated their orientation as a European entity, declaring that they want to break free of the isolation imposed on them with long years of sanctions and embargos.
The Turkish side has expressed that they respect the will of both peoples but regret that the UN Secretary General's proposal for a comprehensive settlement was rejected by the Greek Cypriot side. The Turkish side has always been in favor of a just and lasting solution in Cyprus. The Turkish Cypriots and Turkey worked very hard to come to a compromise on the final version of the plan during the last rounds of negotiations held in Switzerland in late March.
In sum, the results of the referenda – the first in the island after the negotiation process of almost 30 years backed by the UN – have created a new situation in Cyprus. The international community should analyze and assess this situation accurately. The peoples of the island must draw the necessary conclusions from this new situation and live side by side in peace and security.
Ideas, such as renegotiating the plan or submitting it to a new referendum in the Greek side, are not on the agenda. However, the plight of the Turkish Cypriots who have been living for decades under international embargos should be effectively dealt with. The international community needs to think about how to assist the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus to boost their economy and how to close the gap between the two economies of the South and the North.
Achieving these objectives are now of utmost importance and should constitute priorities for the international community – especially for Britain, the US and the EU – to facilitate the realization of these objectives.
Working towards integrating the Turkish Cypriots with the world, ending their isolation, and granting their long deserved rights as a people is not a difficult task. Turkish Cypriots have showed their courage by voting in support of the Annan Plan. Their sincere efforts must not be reciprocated by continuing the unjust and illegitimate sanctions and embargoes imposed on the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus and its people.
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