IN A perfect solution to the Cyprus problem, all refugees would be allowed to return to their homes; Turkish troops and settlers would leave Cyprus; no one would have the right to forcibly intervene under the guise of restoring order and there would be a truly egalitarian democracy.
This view, perhaps best described as a Greek Cypriot utopia, is actively being promoted in a booklet entitled ‘Proposal of the Correct YES’, written by a group calling itself the Movement for Freedom and Justice in Cyprus.
According to the booklet, which has been circulated in English and Greek inside some local newspapers in recent weeks, the group was founded on May 11, 2008 by “Greeks of Cyprus … their signatures witnessed by his Beatitude the Archbishop of Cyprus Chrysostomos B.”
The Movement is the brain-child of businessman Panos Ioannides and has also published a book on the history of Cyprus called The Bloody Truth – also in English and Greek – which reportedly aims to put the record straight regarding the intercommunal fighting and the role of the British in Cyprus. It is widely believed that the Archbishop himself has been funding these publications.
The proposal has as its fundamental axiom that the “Republic of Cyprus must not be abolished, because this would mean the abolition of the existence of an EU member-state and the expulsion of any new structure from the EU and the Eurozone.”
It supports this by saying that Turkey – in the framework of a bizonal, bicommunal federation – aims to create two states, with two people and two sovereignties under a weak federal structure. These two states will be equal and only a small number of refugees will be able to return.
The booklet also says Ankara intends that all Turkish settlers will remain, that a separate relation will exist between the two states and the EU, and that Turkey will keep hold of most of the territory it’s occupied since 1974.
If what Turkey seeks is included in the “new solution plan” that is approved by the Cypriot people, it would be a major violation of the Treaty of Accession because the state that joined the EU in 2004 will be abolished and the provisions of the new structure would be in violation of the fundamental principles of the EU, the proposal argues.
“… the current European member-state, the Republic of Cyprus, will voluntarily place itself outside the EU, at the same time rendering useless the only real weapon it has today.”
The booklet claims that the immediate consequences would be economic collapse, insecurity and governmental chaos which would lead to the Turkification of Cyprus.
The Movement says that for six decades the British and the Turks have been planning the abolition of the Republic of Cyprus, aiming in turning it into a Turkish protectorate under the permanent custody of Britain.
The booklet, which runs to 18 pages, contains arguments and suggestions on all the major aspects of a future solution such as governance, education, security, and the economy.
The Movement urges the government to adopt its proposal, saying that after drafting a detailed plan it should be submitted to the United Nations and backed “as the correct and inviolable course towards a solution”.
The Movement admits instituting its plans will be a laborious process and the “time needed for the prevalence of the proposal is unknown”.
At no time does the Movement in its booklet suggest how the Turkish side would ever agree to such a solution, and thus how the Greek Cypriot side can stop the continued division, arrival of settlers, sale of Greek Cypriot property and Turkish military presence.
Far from being realistic, many observers will argue, what the Movement essentially propagates is a continued division of the island that would eventually become irreversible.
