CYPRIOTS go to the polls today in a historic referendum to reunite the island after more than three decades of division.
For the first time in the troubled history of the island, the Cypriot people will decide for themselves on the future of their country, through twin referenda on the Annan plan. Separate majorities must be secured in both Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities for the proposal to go through.
If either or both communities reject it, the proposal is null and void.
If both sides say ‘yes’, on the other hand, a new chapter opens in the history of the island, paving the way for a united Cyprus to join the European Union in exactly a week’s time, on May 1. A double ‘yes’ vote today would trigger the signature of the Foundation Agreement by the three guarantor powers, Greece, Turkey and the United Kingdom, by Thursday, April 29 at the latest. The agreement would not come into force until all three guarantors had signed.
Never before have the Cypriot people been called to decide on their own future as they will today. Indeed, the island’s history has been marked by a succession of foreign occupations. Even when Cyprus finally shook off British colonial rule and secured independence in 1960, it was an imposed compromise solution that satisfied neither the Greek Cypriot demand for enosis (union with Greece) or the Turkish Cypriot demand for double self-determination – effectively partition, or taksim.
Today’s referenda are the closest Cyprus has ever come to a solution since the state of affairs collapsed in late 1963, when the Turkish Cypriots withdrew from the Republic following Makarios’ attempt to amend the constitution on 13 points covering constitutional safeguards for the Turkish Cypriot community. The crisis sparked an outbreak of vicious intercommunal violence, which was to flare up again in 1967, with Turkish military intervention only averted by heavy American pressure.
When, however, the Greek junta engineered a coup to overthrow Makarios in July 1974, installing a puppet regime led by extreme right-wing Greek Cypriots, Washington gave Ankara the green light for an invasion that has sealed the division of Cyprus until today, resulting in the displacement of about 180,000 Greek Cypriots from the north and 71,000 Turkish Cypriots from the south.
Efforts to reunite Cyprus since then have been as regular as they have been unsuccessful. The concept of a bi-zonal, bi-communal federation, on which the Annan plan is based, was endorsed by the National Council in 1989, and reaffirmed in 1996. But while all previous efforts to secure a solution have stumbled at the first hurdle, the Annan plan is unique in providing a comprehensive agreement including 9,000 pages of laws detailing everything from fundamental issues such as the return of territory and refugees to the nitty-gritty of weights and measures or the regulation of insurance markets.
A total of 479,551 Greek Cypriots are entitled to vote today as are approximately 141,000 Turkish Cypriots. Polls on the Greek Cypriot side open at 7am, followed an hour later by the Turkish Cypriots. They close on both sides at 6pm, with unofficial results expected within a couple of hours at most. Opinion polls suggest a ‘no’ vote from the Greek Cypriots and a ‘yes’ vote from the Turkish Cypriots.
The last week of campaigning has been marked by growing tension between ‘yes’ and ‘no’ voters on both sides of the divide. Both Greek and Turkish Cypriot police will be on full alert today.
