Oya Tuncalı
Originally published 18 December 2014
I am writing in reference to the interview with the Londra Gazete of Mr. Euripides Evriviades, the Greek Cypriot high commissioner in London, which was published on 11 December 2014.
There is an obvious discrepancy between the interpretations of the two sides in Cyprus regarding historical events. In his interview, Mr. Evriviades conveniently blames the unsettlement of the Cyprus issue on Turkey and the Turkish troops for “occupying the northern part of Cyprus”. It is important to note in this regard that none of the United Nations Security Council resolutions describe the presence of the Turkish troops on the Island as “occupation”. In the absence of a political settlement in Cyprus, the presence of Turkish forces in the North is the only effective deterrent against the repetition of the attacks against the Turkish Cypriot people between 1963 and 1974. It should also be recalled that the gradual withdrawal of Turkish forces from the Island would have now been completed had the Greek Cypriots accepted the Annan Plan on 24 April 2004.
Mr. Evriviades also employs dubious rhetoric while attempting to identify the parties responsible for the resolution of the Cyprus issue. He claims on the one hand, that “peace in Cyprus would have been achieved long ago if it was up to the Cypriots themselves”, but that if President of the Republic of Turkey Mr. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan “wants to solve it, it can be solved”, on the other. I would like to remind Mr. Evriviades that the Turkish Cypriot side is the sole interlocutor of the Greek Cypriot side, as is also confirmed by established UN parameters which clearly indicate that the Cyprus problem is bi-communal both in nature and at the negotiating table. Given the fact that all UN settlement plans tabled to this date, including the Annan Plan of 2004, were rejected by the Greek Cypriot side, it is illogical to attribute the lack of settlement of the Cyprus issue to any other third party.
Read Oya Tuncalı’s column in full online: http://goo.gl/OY62kE