UN, EU must back new Cyprus peace talks, says ICG

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The United Nations and the European Union must urgently throw their weight behind a resumption of stalled Cyprus peace talks after Greek Cypriot elections next month, a respected think-tank said on Thursday.

In its report “Cyprus: reversing the drift to partition”, the International Crisis Group (ICG) said tackling the Cyprus issue was in the interests of both Greek and Turkish Cypriots, would boost EU effectiveness and improve Turkey-EU ties.

“Leaving the Cyprus problem unsolved is no longer a comfortable status quo. New dynamics are poisoning domains far beyond Cyprus, from EU import policy to Afghanistan,” the ICG’s Hugh Pope said in a press statement.

Partition would be the likely alternative if a new U.N. bid on Cyprus failed, the report said. “All sides need to focus much more sharply than they have to date on the downsides of this,” it said.

Cyprus has been divided into an internationally recognised Greek Cypriot south and a smaller breakaway Turkish Cypriot north since 1974, when Turkey invaded the north following a Greek Cypriot coup backed by the junta then ruling Greece.

Numerous U.N.-led efforts to reunite the island have failed, most recently in 2004 when Greek Cypriots rejected a plan prepared under the aegis of then-Secretary General Kofi Annan.

A week later, Greek Cypriots joined the EU as the sole legal representative of Cyprus, leaving the Turkish Cypriots — who had backed the plan — out in the cold.

“The events of 2004 have rendered obsolete the comfortable belief that the relatively tranquil status quo can be preserved indefinitely,” the ICG said.

The continued division of Cyprus is a major obstacle to Turkey‘s EU membership bid. Ankara has no diplomatic ties with the Greek Cypriots, who have blocked EU efforts to trade freely with the Turkish Cypriots, fearing this could lead to de facto recognition of the breakaway enclave.

The Cyprus dispute has also hampered closer cooperation between the EU and NATO in conflict zones from Afghanistan to Kosovo. Turkey is a NATO member but Cyprus is not.

The ICG said the United Nations should build up its team on the island and send a senior official on an assessment mission.

By accepting a bicommunal, bizonal federation, the Greek Cypriots would gain security, access to Turkey‘s dynamic economy and receive a big boost to their services industry, it said.

Turkish Cypriots would gain the benefits of full EU membership and Turkey‘s own accession drive could move forward.

Turkey‘s President Abdullah Gul this week urged U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon during a trip to New York to revive the Cyprus peace talks. Ban has said in the past the two sides must first show a firm commitment to a solution.

Cypriot President Tassos Papadopoulos, who led his community into rejecting the 2004 ‘Annan plan’, is seeking a second term in next month’s election.