ALL-OUT war has broken out between the rival political camps, with recriminations flying about the past, present and the future.
One of the points of contention regards the protocol signed this week between Turkish Prime Tayyip Erdogan and his British counterpart Gordon Brown. The agreement, which contains a number of proposals to end the so-called isolation of the Turkish Cypriots, has angered Nicosia, which sees it as a blatant bid to upgrade the status of the breakaway regime.
This has soured relations between London and Nicosia, which had been on the mend following the Annan plan’s rejection in 2004, with Government Spokesman Vasilis Palmas even issuing a veiled threat against the presence of the British bases on the island.
Citing diplomatic sources, daily Phileleftheros said yesterday there was a possibility that a Cyprus-UK forum scheduled for November 3, part of what is known as the “Structured Dialogue” between the two countries launched two years ago, might be called off.
In the wake of the criticism hurled at the administration, President Tassos Papadopoulos accused his detractors of “taking pleasure” in Cyprus’ misfortunes.
The remark drew a scathing attack from DISY presidential candidate Ioannis Kasoulides.
“In any other country, these successive blows [in foreign policy] would have made the persons responsible commit hara-kiri,” Kasoulides asserted.
“No one, from the President down to the last official in charge, has a clue about foreign policy,” he added.
Asked by newsmen whether he was being too harsh, Kasoulides offered:
“No, it is these developments against Cyprus that are harsh.”
The former Foreign Minister went on to blame Papadopoulos’ poor handling of the Cyprus problem for the loss of one ally after the other.
“Not long ago, the government made a big song and dance about a Memorandum of Understanding signed between Mr Blair and Mr Papadopoulos. It turns out that we have got the crumbs, while Ankara has got the whole loaf of bread,” he said.
Hitting back at Kasoulides, Giorgos Lillikas, co-ordinator of the President’s election campaign, had this to say:
“Mr. Kasoulides reads too much Japanese history. It would be better if he read more of Cyprus’ history, especially about recent events,” he noted.
“If a leader should commit suicide because he is not liked by foreigners, then I wonder what should someone do for advising the Cypriot people to accept partition via the Annan plan.”
Meanwhile the debate over Papadopoulos’ alleged links to EOKA B cadres persisted yesterday.
According to staffers for presidential candidate Demetris Christofias, in April 2005 Papadopoulos received at the Presidential Palace two known members of the 1970s paramilitary organisation.
Responding, the government camp challenged AKEL to give names and addresses, but the communists did not oblige.
Yesterday AKEL put a new spin on the row. Party spokesman Andros Kyprianou said they would disclose this information on condition that the President first named all those who were implicated in the so-called “ambient atmosphere”.
The phrase, coined by Papadopoulos in the wake of the rejection of the Annan plan, was an allusion to the allegations that supporters of the Annan plan had been in the pay of foreign powers. When asked to provide proof, Papadopoulos had said these kinds of transactions were impossible to prove, adding these things could be “inferred from the ambient atmosphere”.
Kyprianou’s comment has come as a surprise to some commentators, given that AKEL had played an active role in promoting the allegations at the time, with party leader Demetris Christofias standing by Papadopoulos’ side when he made the infamous “ambient atmosphere” statement.
