THE EXISTENCE of the ‘Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus’ does not preclude a reunification of the island, Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat told reporters on the eve of the breakaway state’s 22nd anniversary yesterday.
His statement, marking the start of a one-day ‘national’ holiday, military parades and cocktail receptions, may come as somewhat surprising to those who see the breakaway state as an expression of Turkish Cypriot separatist objectives. But Talat was insistent yesterday that unification of the island along bizonal, bicommunal, federal lines was still his only objective.
“The TRNC is an expression of the Turkish Cypriot peoples’ wish for self-determination,” he said, but added that its existence should be seen as “transitional” and a means for aiding eventual reunification.
Yesterday’s events marking the 1983 formation of the breakaway state began in the morning with a now-traditional military parade in northern Nicosia, and was followed by a Turkish Air force fly-past in Kyrenia in the afternoon and a public reception at Talat’s ‘palace’ in the evening.
Speaking to journalists at the Saray Hotel on the eve of the anniversary Talat sought to explain how the continued existence of the ‘TRNC’ provided the ‘state’ framework which would enable the Turkish Cypriot community to transform into the “Turkish Cypriot State” envisaged by the Annan plan. The organs of the current ‘state’, he said “will take us into the future”.
His view of the ‘TRNC’ differs from that of previous leader Rauf Denktash, who clearly saw the breakaway state as a permanent fixture. Denktash also aspired to eventually unite the ‘statelet’ with Turkey.
Talat emphatically denied that such an approach was still valid, saying, “There is no policy either in Turkey or north Cyprus. Such a move is not a solution. Turkish Cypriots want to run their own affairs. This [annexation with Turkey] is an old policy that has been consigned to history”.
Predictably Talat used his anniversary speech to hit out at the government, who he accused of blocking a solution to the Cyprus problem because it was intent on not sharing power with the Turkish Cypriots in a federal setup.
“The Greek Cypriot side is seeking to change the parameters of discussion on Cyprus, it refuses to negotiate, even to discuss social issues, and rejects every attempt to form links with us,” Cypriot President Papadopoulos, he said, was “working to strengthen the divide while at the same time seeking to assimilate the Turkish Cypriots through a process of osmosis”.
“Even the judges are under the influence of the politicians,” he said in a veiled swipe at a recent ruling by a Nicosia judge that saw a known member of an nationalist group walk free after a spate of attacks on Turkish Cypriots.
This and other incidences, Talat believes, are part of a growing problem of “institutionalised” nationalism taking place in south Cyprus.
Whether or not Talat’s harsh criticism of the Cyprus government is justified, the continued existence of the ‘TRNC’ and celebrations of its existence will cause confusion in the minds of Greek Cypriots who saw Turkish Cypriots overwhelmingly back UN Secretary General Annan’s reunification plan last year.
Twenty-four year old Greek Cypriot Chara Constantinou expressed exactly this confusion yesterday when she told the Cyprus Mail, “I’m not surprised the parades are still happening and the army is still there; we are used to them [the Turks] saying one thing and doing another”.
Confusion also exists in the minds of a generation of Turkish Cypriots who have never lived under anything other that the ‘TRNC’.
As head of the Cyprus Policy Centre at the Eastern Mediterranean University (EMU) Ahmet Sozen said yesterday, “There are young people who grew up only knowing the TRNC… It’s difficult for them to know whether it exists as a means for change or an end in itself”.
