By George Psyllides
TASSOS Papadopoulos’ election has sent the foreign ministry scrambling to refute numerous reports in the international media presenting the President elect as a hardliner whose past could spell the end of talks to reunify the island.
Foreign Minister Yiannakis Cassoulides has already ordered Cyprus’ diplomatic missions abroad to work to refute any report, which could hurt the island’s national interests.
“No one is allowed to judge the elected President of the Republic, apart from through his acts from the moment he assumes his office and afterwards,” Cassoulides said.
The Guardian on Monday after the elections run an article headlined “’Turkish-basher’ who might just reunify the country”.
In the article, Papadopoulos was described as a controversial figure who had rejected all previous UN attempts to reunify the island.
“The 69-year-old conservative is a hardliner who has rejected all previous UN attempts to reunify Cyprus…Mr Papadopoulos came down firmly on the side of the rejectionists,” the Guardian said.
“A prominent member of EOKA, the guerrilla group that campaigned in the 50s against British rule for union with Greece, the UK-trained barrister has rarely tried to dispel his reputation as a diehard nationalist.
“In the early 60s he was second in command of the Akritas organisation, whose avowed aim was to rid the island of Turkish Cypriots – a goal that ignited much intercommunal fighting and eventually led to the Turkish invasion in 1974.”
According to the daily, Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash has already said he could not do business with Papadopoulos because of his “Turk-bashing” past.
In a second article headlined ‘Hardliner’s win threatens Cyprus deal’ on February 20, the Guardian commented that prospects for a solution had taken a blow with the election of Papadopoulos.
“Citing Mr Papadopoulos’ tough track record as a rejectionist, seasoned Cyprus observers worry that as the island’s new president he will not only be a much tougher negotiator than his predecessor but may refuse to sign the historic agreement altogether,” the Guardian said.
The same line was followed by the Financial Times, which commented in an editorial that Papadopoulos’ victory “casts an uncertain shadow” over plans for reunification.
“Those on the prosperous Greek side of the island who are against a settlement have been stalling, safe in the knowledge they will get into the EU anyway,” the editorial said,
Its writer even suggested that if “Greek Cyprus refused to compromise, EU member states should seriously consider whether to ratify the entry of a country that had the chance to make itself whole again, but whose leadership wilfully frittered away the chance to make peace”.
Under the headline “Annan attempts new effort to unite Cyprus after hardliner wins election”, the Independent said Papadopoulos had in the past opposed all efforts to end the 29-year-old division of the island.
“Mr Papadopoulos wants improvements to the plan despite warnings that little can be changed without sparking counter-demands from the other side, which would plunge the process into disarray,” the daily said.
Quoting Denktash, the Independent said Papadopoulos’ win threatened to deadlock the UN efforts to reunite the island.
“It is the intransigent stance of the Greek Cypriot people which won,” Denktash said.
The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.
