The traditional realism

By Demetrios (Akis) Hadjihambis

There were recently two highly significant stands taken on the Cyprus problem which restore the traditional approach to finding a solution, and are all the more important since they came from the leaders of the two parties which represent the large majority of Greek Cypriots.

First, the secretary general of Akel submitted a written, comprehensive proposal to the President of the Republic in view of the new conference. At Crans-Montana we came very close to achieving a strategic agreement for a solution on the basis of the UN Secretary-General’s framework, however such an agreement did not materialise. More than three years have now passed during which Turkey has taken new initiatives in Cyprus’ EEZ and Famagusta and promoted the idea of a two-state solution. Andros Kyprianou’s  proposal, imbued with political realism, states that the Greek Cypriot side needs to convey a sincere desire for negotiations to continue from the point at which they left off at Crans-Montana, affirming its commitment to a bi-communal and bi-zonal federation with political equality as per the UN resolutions and its readiness for negotiations on the basis of the Joint Declaration of 2014, the framework of the Secretary-General at Crans-Montana and the convergences reached until then. More specifically, it must affirm its commitment to the convergences concerning effective participation and particularly the rotating presidency through cross-voting, the one positive Turkish Cypriot vote in the Council of Ministers and the deadlock resolution mechanism.

Some days later, the chairman of Disy, in a television interview expressed equally realistic positions. He said that after decades of talks the Cyprus problem has been exhaustively discussed with only the political will for a solution still needed. Averof Neophytou stressed the dangers involved, particularly concerning Famagusta, if the present stalemate continues and indicated that the framework of the Secretary-General at Crans-Montana constitutes the best possible framework for a solution since it involves the termination of the Turkish military occupation, guarantees and rights of intervention. He said he believed that at the new conference, the Turkish side would not push for the unacceptable idea of a two-state solution and stated in no uncertain terms that a solution cannot be achieved without acceptance of political equality with effective participation through the one positive vote, to which all UN resolutions refer. Neophytou also suggested that decentralisation at the federal level would facilitate the effective operation of the system, so that the day-to-day administration should be given to the constituent states in accord with the long-standing reality of the separate everyday life of Greek and Turkish Cypriots, leaving to the central government only the functions which are intertwined with the idea of a single state – international personality, citizenship, sovereignty, EEZ, FYR and currency. The new conference should aim at leading to one more final conference to reach a solution.

It is encouraging to see that the views of the two major parties aligned. The key, as the common denominator, lies in the acceptance of the Secretary-General’s framework in its entirety, including political equality as provided in the UN resolutions and affirmed in the Joint Declaration of 2014, the earlier convergences, the Secretary-General’s framework and the Berlin Statement of 2019. Denial of political equality would be a departure from the accepted basis of the solution and give the Turkish side cause to disengage. It is, indeed, due to the failure at Crans-Montana to agree to such a solution that the Turkish side then started putting forward a two-state solution, which, if political equality is not accepted, will inevitably materialise. Considering that a solution based on a bi-communal, bi-zonal federation with political equality is binding upon the UN as much as upon the parties, it is therefore imperative that at the new conference there should be full and unconditioned acceptance of the Secretary-General’s framework. This will lead to the win-win outcome at which it aims.

With political equality within a federal structure there is no argument for two states, since the two equal constituent states would function independently but also together within one state. There would thus be a bi-communal and bi-zonal state with a single international status. Indeed, as time would pass, it could reasonably be expected that co-operation between the two communities would ultimately lead to the collapse of any initial internal separation, considering that economy, like civilization, inevitably unites people.

The aim at the new conference should therefore be to achieve a common understanding of the Secretary-General’s framework, making a strategic agreement for a solution possible thereafter. This would be the realistic approach, as is traditional.

Demetrios (Akis) Hadjihambis is a former president of the Supreme Court of Cyprus