Brussels, 10/07/2012 (Agence Europe) - Several members of civil society and Cypriot politicians from the part of Cyprus occupied by Turkey told a group of journalists - including Agence Europe - who were in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus at the end of last week that they wanted the EU to be more actively committed in favour of the island's reunification. They trust that the Cypriot Presidency of the EU Council of Ministers will give priority to the problem of reunification so that the Turkish Cypriots, who hold EU citizenship, are no longer “second zone” Europeans. Although the whole island is officially EU territory, the acquis communautaire is suspended for the northern part of the island. Those that live there do not have an MEP to represent their interests either. “We are European citizens but we do not enjoy the rights of European citizens”, a member of the Republican Turkish Party explained. Several Turkish Cypriots fear they will be increasingly forgotten and that they will never benefit from the advantages that come with accession. Turkish Cypriots encountered define themselves as Turkish Cypriots, as Europeans and as Cypriots, rather than as Turks.
A Republican Turkish Party member would also like the Turkish language, his own language, to become an official EU language so that his fellow citizens are better informed about the EU and can communicate better.
The only solution: reunification
Turkish Cypriots believe the “only solution is reunification”. “The solution of a federation is the only solution. The EU has a great deal to do for that solution”, the above politician said, rejecting any appropriation of the northern part of the island by Turkey. Some Turkish Cypriots consider the EU should have waited for Cyprus to be reunified before allowing the Republic of Cyprus to join the EU, and that it should have used reunification as a means of pressure, as they consider the pressure is greater on the occupied part than on the Republic of Cyprus. According to one Turkish Cypriot academic, settlement of the conflict also depends on improving relations between the EU and Turkey. “Each constructive phase in EU-Turkish relations is positively reflected in talks on Cyprus, and vice versa”, he explained.
Missed opportunities.
Turkish Cypriots are beginning to lose hope. “Because of all the promises that have not been kept, people are believing less and less in reunification”, one politician said. “We need there to be political will on both sides”, he underlined, saying he wanted a “State that is shared fairly between the two communities”. Some Turkish Cypriots are not convinced that their Greek counterparts are truly committed to reunification, fearing they will be satisfied with the status quo. According to several Turkish Cypriots, the young Greek-Cypriot generation is not willing to share the island.
In 2010, reunification was a near thing, with a plan setting out all the details. Despite this, the president of the Republic of Cyprus, Demetris Christofias, pulled out at the last minute, the politician said, explaining that the secretary general of the UN, Ban Ki-moon, went to Cyprus prior to the elections. He was ready to say that there was already convergence and that they would continue after the elections. Christofias, however, as the politician pointed out, did not have the nerve to take the final decisions.
A past that is part of the present.
Turkish Cypriots also regret the fact that Greek Cypriots do not go to the northern part of the island due to what they call “psychological inhibition”. Among other things, the Greek Cypriots are still very marked by the fact that they had to leave their homes during the 1974 war and many have never returned to visit their towns of origin. The question of the ghost town of Famagusta, the district of the northern Cypriot town abandoned by the Greek Cypriots in 1974 and which has since become a prohibited zone, is still a very sensitive issue in the Republic of Cyprus.
And yet there are connections between the two parts of the island. Each day, 2,000 Turkish Cypriots go through the seven check points between the two parts of the island to work in the Republic of Cyprus, even if their numbers have declined since the beginning of the crisis and with the competition of workers from eastern Europe. There is not so much movement in the other direction, which can be partly explained by the fact that incomes in the northern part of the island amount to only half of those in the southern part. Turkish Cypriots also benefit from free medical care in the Republic of Cyprus.
Strong external links.
Albeit occupied by Turkey, which they consider as their “big brother”, the Turkish Cypriots are worried about losing their culture to the Turkish culture, while refuting the claim that Turks will soon be more numerous than Turkish Cypriots. Given the financial crisis, the mayor of Famagusta says the Turks are returning to Turkey.
Turkish Cypriots also point out that Greece is very present in southern Cyprus. One Turkish Cypriot journalist explained that several thousand Greek military are on the island, that the Greek flag is everywhere and that the Republic of Cyprus has no official national anthem but uses that of Greece. “It is a provisional anthem pending reunification”, one Greek Cypriot official said by way of explanation. The above journalist also regrets that the football team of Cyprus has no players from the northern part of the island, when a Turkish Cypriot is to participate in the Olympic Games in London under the Turkish flag. (CG/transl.jl)