Generational Dynamics World View

[John J. Xenakis]

*** 13-Jan-17 World View -- Peace conference to reunite Cyprus adjourns without a deal

This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com

• Peace conference to reunite Cyprus adjourns without a deal
  
• History of Cyprus suggests that there is little hope for permanent reunification
  

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**** Peace conference to reunite Cyprus adjourns without a deal
****


A Turkish army tank passes through the Turkish section of Nicosia in 1974. (AP)

Negotiations in Geneva to reunite Cyprus ended on Thursday evening
without a deal, but with plans to resume after January 18.

Almost two years of peace talks between leaders of Greek side and the
Turkish side of the island of Cyprus have led to what Europe and
Turkey will be the final negotiations leading to a united Cyprus.

Cyprus has been bitterly divided since a 1974 war, with Greek Orthodox
Christian Greeks governing the south, and Muslim Turks governing the
north. The two sides are partitioned by a "no-man's land,"
a strip that stretches 112 miles across the entire island.

The capital city Nicosia is in the center of Cyprus and is
partitioned as well. While partitions of other cities,
including Beirut, Belfast and Berlin, have disappear in the last
few decades, the partition remains in Nicosia.

It's not known whether Thursday's negotiations brought the two
sides close together, but the two most difficult issues are
these:

• Security. There are 30,000 Turkish troops in northern Cyprus,
  to protect the Turkish population from the Greeks, a vestige of the
  1974 war. The Turks would like them to remain, but the Greeks would
  like them to be gone. At any rate, the question of protect the Greeks
  from the Turks and the Turks from the Greeks would have to be resolved
  for a unification deal.
  
  
• Right of Return. Many people were forced to flee across the
  "no-man's land" border during the 1974 war, and had to give up their
  homes. In most cases, it was Greeks that lost their homes in this
  way. Questions to be negotiated are whether people can reclaim their
  homes, or whether they should be compensated in some way.

According to U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres, the talks on
Thursday showed progress, but there is no "quick fix." Cyprus Mail and AP and Cyprus Mail

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**** History of Cyprus suggests that there is little hope for permanent reunification
****

Because of its strategic location in the Mediterranean Sea, Cyprus has
been repeatedly conquered throughout history by different groups,
including the Greeks, the Assyrians, the Egyptians and the Persians.
It was annexed by the Ottoman Empire in 1571, but was conquered by
Britain in 1878 and annexed in 1914.

Cyprus gained independence from Britain in 1960 under a power-sharing
agreement between the Greeks and the Turks. Three countries --
Britain, Greece and Turkey -- would be responsible for
guaranteeing security in the new country.

Violence erupted soon after. In 1974, Greece's military junta backed
a coup against the president of Cyprus, leading to a civil war.
Turkey responded by invading northern Cyprus. About 165,000 Greek
Cypriots fled or were driven from the Turkish-occupied north, and
about 45,000 Turkish Cypriots left the south for the north.

Since ancient times, at least as far back as the time around 1200BC
that the face of Helen of Troy launched a thousand ships, Greece and
Turkey (Anatolia) have been at war repeatedly, in one of the most
violent ethnic fault lines in history. Turkey's greatest victory over
Greece occurred in 1453, when the Ottoman's conquered Constantinople
(Istanbul) and destroyed the Greek Byzantine Empire. None of these
wars has been forgotten by the participants. Guardian (London) and BBC

Related Articles

• Cyprus gives Russia access to Cypriot ports on the Mediterranean (26-Feb-2015)
  
  
• Russia seeks military air and naval bases in Cyprus (18-Jul-2013)
  
  
• Cost of Cyprus bailout explodes upward to 23 billion euros (12-Apr-2013)
  
  
• President George Bush talks about a 'Third Awakening,' but he has his history wrong (19-Sep-2006)

KEYS: Generational Dynamics, Greece, Turkey, Cyprus, Nicosia,
António Guterres, Helen of Troy

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John J. Xenakis
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