Mary Southcott says Cyprus could be settled this year if Turkey agrees
Rosemary DiCarlo, Deputy Secretary General of the United Nations for Political Affairs was in Cyprus discussing the participation of women in finding a political settlement to end the uncertainty for everyone living in Cyprus.
In December, Keir Starmer visited Nicos Christodoulides as President of the Republic of Cyprus and the British Sovereign Base Areas, the legacy of British colonial rule, as are Diego Garcia in the Chagos Islands. The Starmer visit did not equate the recognised Republic of Cyprus with the unrecognised Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. But Jonathan Powell, of Good Friday Agreement fame, met with Cypriot negotiators, Greek speaking Menelaos Menelaou and Turkish speaking Gunes Oner.
After any conflict there are inconvenient truths, misinformation and propaganda, so in January the Lawyer, Achilleas Demetriades, founding member of Truth Now Cyprus, and Meltem Onurkan-Samani, Coordinator of the Cyprus Peace and Dialogue Centre, and former Turkish Cypriot leader, Mustafa Akinci’s Technical Committees Organiser, launched a Truth Commission, specifically, the stories the Committee on Missing Persons have recorded behind the crimes with immunity for the perpetrators.
Talking of truth, RAF Akrotiri is under a D–notice given to the British media. In Cyprus, the media north and south, but also Declassified UK, comment on its use by the US to support Israel and surveillance by UK, all monitored by Cyprus’ own Air Traffic Control. Jeremy Corbyn and Zahra Sultana have asked parliamentary questions.
The death of Asil Nadir, owner of Polly Peck, reminds us it was the company which kept northern Cyprus going when the Turkish military occupied the north of the island. He ran Greek Cypriot businesses left in the north in summer 1974. He employed the current Turkish Cypriot Leader, Ersin Tatar who destroyed evidence against Nadir when he was on trial in the UK. Tatar recently opposed checkpoints which Turkey, who polices the crossings from north to south and vice versa, was more comfortable with. He demands equality of sovereignty which amounts to recognition.
Cypriots, as they find out whenever they meet, have more in common than outsiders assume. Turkey and both Cypriot communities support the Palestinians. They enjoy the same food and often distinguish themselves from Greece and Turkey and the UK and Trump on his idea of ethnically cleansing Gaza as a real estate opportunity. All this is leading to a 5 +1, two Cypriot leaders, three guarantor powers, Greece, Turkey and UK, and United Nations meeting in Geneva on 17 and 18 March