By Loucas Charalambous
I HAVE WRITTEN this before, but I think this is suitable time to repeat it: if the Cyprus problem can be solved, it can be solved in 30 days. As long as we want to solve it. If we do not want to solve it we can negotiate for another 40 years.
After 40 years of negotiations, proposals, ideas and plans, it is logical to conclude that everything has been said. Whatever the two sides ever had to say to each other has been said. The interminable meetings and talks cannot offer anything more. They are more like chit-chat to pass the time.
The government spokesman stated last Monday, after the Eroglu-Anastasiades meeting, that “there was a review of the progress or non-progress so far, based on the positions submitted by the two sides.” I wonder what positions the two sides are still bringing to the negotiating table. After 40 years of negotiations, are there still new positions to submit?
There is no doubt that if the two sides carry on submitting positions to the negotiating table, they just re-submitting the same ones they have been submitting for 40 years. It is time we stopped these games and got serious.
If we really want a settlement there is no other way than for the two sides to put on the table the 2004 plan, the most comprehensive plan prepared in the last 40 years, and discuss which and how many changes can be made to it. And by changes I mean those that have been made necessary by the fact that 10 years have passed.
During these 10 years, many things have happened that have certainly changed conditions prevailing in 2004. Apart from the lost time, those who opposed the plan should just consider two things.
First, in 2004 the buildings on Greek Cypriot properties were one tenth of what they are now. Second, in 2004 the number of non-Turkish Cypriots in the north the Turkish side had asked to stay on after a settlement was 41,000. Today, the number of non-Turkish Cypriots, based on the last official census, is estimated to be at least 150,000.
I mention this for all those who are under the illusion that we could secure a more favourable settlement today than the one we rejected 10 years ago. The ‘suffocating time-frames’ that we demonised over the last decade have also played their role.
There are two factors that would facilitate the pursuit of an agreed settlement now. One is the factor everyone is highlighting – the natural gas deposits, possibly oil, which we hope will be in adequate quantities for their profitable exploitation. This provides a very strong incentive for the Turkish Cypriots and Turkey.
The other factor is the continued strong showing of Tayyip Erdogan in Turkish elections. Regardless of his style of government and how good or bad he is for Turkey – that is not our business – nobody can deny that with him in power the chances of a Cyprus settlement are much greater. The need for us seize the opportunity while he is still in charge is an imperative.
I will stress it once again. It is us that should be in a hurry for a settlement. The passing of time is working against us. We should put aside the tactical manoeuvring and filibustering. The stage reached by the Cyprus problem does not require much time or many committees. All it requires is political will.
The Cyprus problem can be solved in 30 days as long as we take the courageous decisions that are necessary. Everything else is fairy-tales. If we are not ready to take the necessary decisions and would rather play with words and slogans, we should have the courage to say that we prefer partition, which is the harsh reality. Sadly, this seems to be the secret choice of most of us.
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