Cyprus at a Crossroads

Cyprus is an island boxed in on three sides by Turkey and the countries of the Levant. On the streets of its divided capital Nicosia, silence prevails, except for the tick-tack sounds coming from the tables of the city's backgammon players, who gather every day in the city's coffee shops. The players are mainly old Cypriote. Many of them were once members of militias during the civil war. As they play, they reminisce about their conflict. Both Turks and Greeks populate this third-largest island of the Mediterranean. They hardly ever shared the same coffee shops even in the past when they were living in mixed communities. Now, they are living completely apart as the island is divided between the Turkish and Greek sections separated by the green line, patrolled by United Nations peacekeepers who first came to the island nearly half a century ago. The game for the future of Cyprus, however, is coming to an end. The island's Turkish and Greek habitants will eitherunite or divorce. BACKGROUND Where is Cyprus? What happens there? Find a rusty boat, tie a Palestinian flag to the mast, as a host of activists have done in the past year, and it is a short journey southeast to Gaza. The news media cannot get enough of Gaza, but they pay little attention to Cyprus. The civil war started in 1 964 and ended ten years later after a Turkish military intervention that divided the island between the Turkish north and the Greek south. This was the last major event. Cyprus does not get into the headlines very often. But drama is not everything. In the days before headlines were invented, Cyprus played an important role in the eastern Mediterranean. Its geographical position, which controls the sea outlets of the Suez Canal, Israel, and Turkey, has always guaranteed a bipolar society and made it a testing ground where Western and Eastern norms come into conflict and are either resolved or erupt in communal violence. Cyprus, like Ireland, is a single island with two state entities and a history of violence between two communities. Only now, after decades of squabbling, war, and civil war, have fresh possibilities come on the horizon. Old hatreds between Greeks and Turks are gradually being superseded by a new source of identity through membership in the European Union. In 2004, U.N. secretary general Kofl Annan advanced an ambitious plan for reunification of the island alongside the option for EU membership. The plan eventually failed. The Turkish Cypriote supported it despite the fact that their leadership did not. Greek Cypriote, in contrast, showed they did not like the plan when three out of four voted against it. Five years later, as hopes of reaching a peaceful settlement seem to evaporate almost daily, there are two crucial questions. First, why did a well-crafted and authoritative plan fail? The answer may lie in the fact that there are more than two sides here: Greek and Turkish Cypriote, each with their own political parties, then their root nations, Turkey and Greece, and now the U.N. and the EU. Everyone has an opinion. The second question is about the fu- ture. Today, for the first time in the island's long, conflict-dominated his- tory, two leaders are in power who have not had any involvement in inter- communal fighting. On the contrary, their politi- cal pasts have been marked by an absolute commitment to a peaceful settlement. They resumed full-fledged talks in September 2008, raising hopes. However, after a series of negotiations, the picture is not bright even though they are aware that this is the last chance to reach a deal. Still, their positions closely resembled those of their nationalist predecessors. The window of opportunity is closing fast. This article is an attempt to analyze the plan and the impact it has had on all the players. It will also examine possible ramifications of the success or failure of intercommunal talks. As Cyprus comes of age, some possible directions for the island have to be discussed. …