FEATURE: The deal that never was – Cyprus limps into Europe
By Masis der Parthogh, dpa =

Deutsche Presse-Agentur
April 20, 2005, Wednesday
05:12:23 Central European Time

Nicosia (dpa) – Many Cypriots saw their life-long ambition of belonging
to Europe finally realised on May 1, 2004, when the tiny Mediterranean
island joined the 25-strong enlarged family that comprised the new
European Union.

Despite the pomp and cheer, however, Cyprus has remained isolated
from the rest of the Union, not least because large bodies of sea
water separate it from the Old Continent.

The date of accession came and went with little if any significant
change in the day-to-day lives of the 800,000 souls “stranded” on
the island. Being the easternmost fort among the ten new members,
Cyprus should have kick-started a celebration, but the mood was muted.

A week earlier, the island’s two main communities – the Greek Cypriots
majority living in the south and the Turkish Cypriots in the north –
had failed to agree to a United Nations reunification plan to end
the 30-year divide caused by Turkey’s invasion and occupation.

A successful outcome would have seen both communities signing the
accession agreement in Athens, evolving into a federal state with equal
political rights, under one flag, two languages and two religions.

Instead, activity on both sides has now reached a standstill, where the
economy was expected to boom and part of the occupied land should have
been returned to the Greek Cypriot refugees, with other humanitarian
issues on their way to a resolve.

As a result, trucks with goods have not rolled to either side,
services have not boomed and structural aid remains tied in accounts
in Brussels due to stubbornness from both sides to give in a little.

The Greek Cypriot President Tassos Papadopoulos, who urged his people
to outright reject the U.N. agreement in a tear-jerk public appearance,
has shown little enthusiasm to resume talks on the basis of the Annan
plan that has been modified five times in as many years.

The new status of the unrecognised statelet in the north, however,
has attracted hundreds of thousands of visitors from Cyprus as well
as foreign tourists, who have so far pumped some 150 million dollars
to the Turkish Cypriot economy.

The north’s vague legal status has not prevented German and British
vacationers from spending half as much as they would in the south for
fish and ‘meze tavernas’ while spending their reserves in the many
casinos and gambling houses, mostly operating with Ankara’s blessing.

This is where Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots sit together around
a roulette table or black jack, as if no conflict had ever divided
their people.

Serving them are waitresses from eastern Europe seeking a better
fortune who have strayed and are often abused by pimps in what amounts
to white slavery.

Turkish Cypriot Dervis (pronounced Dair Veesh) and his Armenian friend
George, both resident in the south and classmates from the century-old
English School decades before division, want all these to disappear.

“We want our children and our grandchildren to move freely and become
friends, as we were some 60 years ago,” say the old gentlemen, in
the old market of the Turkish part of the capital Nicosia.

Despite all the changes on the Turkish side, however, there is little
hope of any progress towards reviving the stalled talks, with die-hard
veterans such as pro-Ankara Rauf Denktash still clinging to power.

Even U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan, whose name adorns the ill-
fated peace plan, wants a firm commitment from both sides in order
to return and offer his kind offices for negotiation.

Elections in the north have seen major upheavals, but they turned
out to be nothing more than cosmetic.

The real decision lies in Ankara, where a power struggle between the
secular generals and Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Islamist society must
first be fought to see how genuine Turkey is in its wishes to join
the E.U. in a decade or so from now.

The nationalists on the Greek Cypriot side, fearful of sharing power
with whom they call their “Turkish Cypriot brothers”, are willing
to stand this one out, waiting on the sidelines, blaming Turkey’s
intransigence.

They have convinced their people that Brussels will solve their
problems from them.

Whatever the outcome, Dervis and George are patient and happy to have
finally gained the partial freedom to cross over to each other’s side
and see old friends and revive old memories.

But their grandchildren do not know if they will live in a unified
country based on European values. At least not very soon. dpa mdp
emc ct