Britain’s Foreign Secretary Jack Straw could pull out of his planned visit to Cyprus over a row with the government about where he plans to meet the Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat, according to British High Commission sources. However, he may be prepared to insist that flags and emblems be removed during any visit.
The row began when the Republic of Cyprus government made it clear in public that it would object to Straw meeting Talat at Talat’s offices along with the ‘symbols of occupation’, since these are also his offices as the president of the unrecognised Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.
The government has also suggested that if Straw insists on upgrading Talat’s status to anything else from Turkish Cypriot community leader, then President Tassos Papadopoulos will probably refuse to meet with the British official.
Greek Cypriots have been highly sensitive about anything seen as implicit recognition or ‘political upgrading’ of northern Cyprus, ever since April 2004, when they rejected the UN-backed plan for reunification which was accepted by a majority of Turkish Cypriots.
However, Britain insists that the government’s objection is a new obstacle, since British ministers, including Malcolm Rifkind, Keith Vaz and Peter Hain, as well as EU officials such as Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn, have always called on ‘the Turkish Cypriot community leader’ (as opposed to any other title, or official in the north) at his offices.
British High Commissioner Peter Millett said in a statement “such a meeting would not represent any change to the UK’s firm policy of non-recognition of the regime in the north. Quite the opposite. Britain does not and will not recognise the “TRNC”.”
Wider implications for GCs if cancelled
A cancellation of the meeting–the first visit to Cyprus by a British Foreign Secretary for a decade–could have a serious impact on the UN’s willingness to help re-start negotations over the Cyprus problem, according to our sources.
The UN Security Council in its report late last year noted that there have been no official contacts between the two communities since the referendum in 2004, while other remarks suggested that the UN would not re-engage until there had been official contacts between the two communities.
In a hint that Britain supports this view, the High Commissioner said “Dialogue with (and between) all sides is vital if we are ever to see a meaningful resumption of the settlement process.”
“The international community is ready and willing to assist, but it can only do so if it is able to engage with all sides.”
Straw initiated the meeting as part of the ‘structured dialogue’ between the two countries that was launched last year.
This includes bilateral issues such as illegal immigration, hooliganism and road safety, as well as attempts to move forward on the Cyprus problem.
Millett said the the visit “demonstrates the government’s strong desire to reinforce our countries’ bilateral relationship and help in the pursuit of a Cypriot settlement to which both communities can agree.”
Do as Prescott did
Speaking in his capacity as acting president, leader of the main coalition party Demetris Christofias, said that the Republic and its sovereignty must be respected during the visit.
“We would like to see Britain behaving the way it did when Britain’s Deputy PM John Prescott visited Cyprus,” he said.
Prescott, who had contacts on both sides of the divide in late October last year, met with the premier Ferdi Sabit Soyer at the offices of the British High Commission in the north.
Last week Government Spokesman Kypros Chrysostomides said “we have no objection to meetings of officials with representatives of the Turkish Cypriot community but we do not agree with visits to so-called official bureaus or the display of symbols of the breakaway regime, something which is contrary to the UN Security Council resolutions.”
Fiona Mullen