THE GOVERNMENT finally announced its long-awaited measures for the Turkish Cypriots on Wednesday, after much deliberation and prevarication. President Tassos Papadopoulos was so uncertain about his proposed ‘ve’ measures that he had to put them before the National Council for discussion before making them public. This was an indication of the little faith he had in them, and their eventual announcement appears to have been made under duress when it was clear that it could not be delayed any longer.
The measures had been delayed long enough, considering that his predecessor, Glafcos Clerides, had made the commitment to implement measures aimed at helping the Turkish Cypriot community during last December’s Copenhagen summit. There was always some excuse for putting their announcement back, though — first the presidential elections, then UN Secretary-general Kofi Annan’s visit, then The Hague meeting and then the signing of the accession treaty. And if Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash had not decided to lift the restrictions on movement it is doubtful that any measures would have been ready by last Wednesday.
It was all a rush-job, the Council of Ministers approving them on Wednesday morning and the government services putting them together and publishing them in the afternoon. The general impression given is that there was inadequate preparation and that many of the measures have been examined superficially without their practical implications being fully explored. The government will allow the purchase of agricultural produce, but what if the lemons and oranges come from fields belonging to Greek Cypriots? It is almost as if the government does not expect its measures to come to very much: there is a hidden assumption — not entirely groundless — that the Denktash regime will not allow any of this to happen.
Take the employment of qualified Turkish Cypriots, for example. There has been no contact between the government and interested parties such as employers’ organisations, unions and large companies to work out ways how this would be facilitated. The practicalities of all these measures will be the responsibility of the soon-to-be established office for Turkish Cypriot Affairs, which may not begin operating for several months yet. And once it is, if it works at the usual bureaucratic pace, we cannot expect a speedy implementation of the measures. In fact most of the measures, unavoidably, are steeped in bureaucratic procedure which drastically limits their appeal and will delay their enforcement.
Perhaps this was the intention. Because despite the rhetoric, the Papadopoulos government has shown that it does not have a comprehensive policy for the Turkish Cypriots. On assuming power, Papadopoulos promised to enforce measures to help Turkish Cypriots, but nothing was done until Denktash’s decision to allow free movement. Then this mish-mash of badly thought-out measures was prepared and rushed through the Council of Ministers. But Denktash had taken the initiative, and the Cyprus government’s measures were inevitably perceived as a reaction to the occupation regime’s decision, rather than as a genuine attempt to establish more co-operation between the two communities. That had already been achieved by the opening of the crossing points.
The government found itself totally unprepared for this move, and its absence of a policy for dealing with it was evident from the first day, with each government minister taking his own line on the issue. The government did not know what to do or how to react, but still it did not learn from its mistake. A few days later Denktash caught it unprepared again, when he announced that Greek Cypriots would be allowed to stay in the north for three nights a week. It is astonishing that the government had not seen this coming, for it was the next logical step after the lifting of the restrictions on movement. This time, a more consistent stand was taken — ministers urging people not to stay overnight — but once again the overall impression was that the government had not foreseen the development and that it was not ready to deal with it.
But the people are not listening to the government anyway, partly because they sense that it is not on top of the situation and partly because they no longer trust the judgment of the politicians. Even after the dramatic developments of the past 10 days, the government has been unable to voice a single coherent position about what has happened, apart from stating the obvious — that free movement is not a solution to the Cyprus problem.
But what has it been doing in the direction of securing a solution? Only now has it said it wants to return to the negotiating table and work towards a settlement based on the Annan plan — now that the two communities have voted with their feet and shown that they want a reunited island. A resumption of negotiations will strengthen, and have the support of, the Turkish Cypriot opposition which has been completely marginalised by Denktash’s decision. It is also the only way to undermine Denktash’s plan to demonstrate to the world that the two-state option is a viable proposition for Cyprus.
But it seems the government is still not too keen on the Annan plan. So far it has been allowing Denktash to retain the initiative, driving things exactly to where he wants. How will President Papadopoulos react if in a few days the Turkish Cypriots announce the opening of the fenced area of Famagusta for the return of its Greek Cypriot residents? Will he leave the decision to individual citizens again or announce a new batch of measures for Turkish Cypriots in response? Or will general confusion reign supreme, reinforcing the view that the government has completely lost the plot?
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.
