Greek Cypriot plans for a revival of negotiations to solve the Cyprus problem were given the kiss of death on Wednesday as the Greek Cypriot President of Cyprus Tassos Papadopoulos cancelled a planned peacemaking visit with Britain’s Foreign Secretary Jack Straw because the President objected to the venue at which Straw would meet the Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat.
Papadopoulos objected to Straw meeting Talat at his offices as president of the unrecognised Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. However, policy on such visits as been mixed in the past. Although the Belgian foreign minister did not meet Talat on his recent visit because, reportedly, the proposed venue was the presidential offices, other foreign dignataries, including the president of the European Parliament and several British ministers, have always met the Turkish Cypriot leader there before.
The government has admitted to changing its policy but Britain says it was unaware of the policy change.
The fact that the Greek Cypriots brought the diplomatic dispute into the open suggestions that the Cypriot government deliberately picked a fight with the British ahead of the parliamentary elections in Cyprus in May.
Blaming everything on foreign powers is a national pastime in a small island that has had the misfortune of passing from one power to another for thousands of years.
The leader of the main coalition communist party, AKEL, has blamed all Cyprus’ ills on the former colonial ruler, for example.
Death knell for a solution
Cancellation of the visit has probably sounded the death knell for Greek Cypriot hopes that talks would be revived in 2006, before Turkish elections in 2007 and the Cypriot presidential election in 2008.
Last year the UN said that the time was not yet ripe for the resumption of negotiations.
However, the visit by Straw was meant to be the first in a series of visits by big players, such as the US, to try to prepare the ground for a solution.
Papadopoulos led the Greek Cypriots in voting against the UN-backed solution put to referendum in April 2004.
Since then no formal talks have taken place.
The visit was also meant to be the most significant step in attempts to improve British-Greek Cypriot relations after Greek Cypriots accused Britain of siding with Turkey in the drafting of the UN peace plan.
“Let anyone judge if we wanted mediators for this job”, the President said, saying that “those who come here and impinge our sensitivities and sovereignty” are not good mediators.
Straw is expected to continue with his trip, visiting Talat in northern Cyprus, as well as Turkey and Greece beforehand on January 24 to 26.
