Cyprus: a European Anomaly

ISBN: 978-605-4233-45-8 CYPRUS: A EUROPEAN ANOMALY Michael Moran CYPRUS: A EUROPEAN ANOMALY İstanbul Kültür University Publications No: 137 ISBN: 978-605-4233-45-8 Prepared for Publication by: Susae Elanchenny Book Design and Cover: Myra Page Layout: Myra Printed by: Mega Basım İstanbul Kültür University Ataköy Campus Bakırköy 34156 / İstanbul Tel : +90 212 498 44 76 Fax : +90 212 498 44 05 www.gpotcenter.org Copyright© IKU, 2010 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced electronically or mechanically without the prior consent of the Global Political Trends Center (GPoT). The views expressed in this book belong to the author, and they may not necessarily concur partially or wholly with either GPoT’s or IKU’s views. CYPRUS: A EUROPEAN ANOMALY How the island first came to be divided and why a negotiated recognition of its present division is the obvious way to solve the ‘Cyprus problem’ Michael Moran Contents GPoT’s FOREWORD 1 CYPRUS: A EUROPEAN ANOMALY 3 Introduction: A Perspective on the ‘Cyprus Problem’ the International Community Has Tended to Neglect 3 How the Turkish Cypriots Were Deprived of Their Constitutional Rights in 1964-65 14 Part A: Manoeuvring at the UN in 1964 14 Part B: Cyprus and the International Community in 1965 49 BIBLIOGRAPHY 81 APPENDIX 85 Two Speeches at the UN Security Council 85 Speech Delivered by Spyros Kyprianou on 18 February 1964 85 Speech Delivered by Rauf Denktaş on 28 February 1964 97 Two Legal Documents 116 The Three Cyprus Treaties of 1960 116 UN Security Council Resolution 186 124 GPoT’s Foreword 1 GPoT’s FOREWORD Global Political Trends Center (GPoT) is honored to publish another remarkable book by Michael Moran, an academician and expert on the Cyprus issue. This time we present with great pleasure a compilation of the author’s thought-provoking texts, which narrate the unique story of the first resolution on Cyprus adopted by the UN Security Council in 1964. While providing the readers with a solid amount of hard data, Michael Moran also takes them to the couloirs of the UN and unveils in detail the background discussions that led to the final approval of Resolution 186. As many readers interested in the Cyprus issue would know, the resolution consequently became one of the most controversial legal documents on Cyprus, and its wording has been disputed by the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot sides for many years. Resolution 186 lies at the heart of many legal documents adopted by international entities after 1964. As a key source of both legal and political references it has significantly influenced key developments in the history of the Cyprus issue. Republication of Michael Moran’s books, which were first penned and printed a decade ago, comes at a time of intensive negotiations between Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot leaders. While these leaders are fully engaged in finding a comprehensive solution for the divided Mediterranean island, discrepancies in the understanding of the legal basis of the problem consistently emerge and prevent progress from being made at the negotiating table. The status quo on the island also directly influences Turkey’s accession process to the EU. GPoT Center believes that Michael Moran’s book will reveal important details about the past and present of the Cyprus conflict; shed light on the legal aspect of the problem; contribute to a better understanding of the positions of both Cypriot sides; explain the existing links between Cyprus and Turkey’s accession process to the EU; and serve as the source of vivid discussions. Even though the book is a publication of GPoT, it does not necessarily correspond with the views and opinions of both the staff and the advisors of the Center. GPoT has been actively supporting reconciliation between the two Cypriot sides ever since it was established in 2008 and believes that Michael 2 GPoT’s Foreword Moran’s outstanding manuscript will enrich the variety of the Center’s activities related to Cyprus. Besides the author himself, many other people were involved in making the publication of “Cyprus: A European Anomaly” happen. Meltem Abalı, Susae Elanchenny, Nigar Hacızade, Narod Maraşlıyan, Lenka Peťková and Can Yirik have contributed to the realization of the idea. We owe special thanks to Ayla Gürel for her time and the enormous amount of energy she invested in the endeavor. We wish to thank MYRA for the cover design and formatting of the book, and, last but not the least, we would like to express our gratitude to Dr. Bahar Akıngüç Günver, Chairman of the Board of the Trustees, Prof. Dr. Dursun Koçer, Rector, and Özkan Gül, Head of the Financial Office at Istanbul Kültür University, for their support in the realization of this project. Sylvia Tiryaki Deputy Director, Global Political Trends Center (GPoT) Cyprus: A European Anomaly 3 CYPRUS: A EUROPEAN ANOMALY Introduction: A Perspective on the ‘Cyprus Problem’ the International Community Has Tended to Neglect I have published most of the items in this booklet before. Denktaş’s speech before the United Nations (UN) Security Council in 1964 was included in my edition of Rauf Denktash at the United Nations: Speeches on Cyprus (The Eothen Press, Huntingdon, 1997); and except for a few small changes, my opening essay here differs little from the first chapter of my book Sovereignty Divided: Essays on the International Dimensions of the Cyprus Problem (CYREP, Nicosia, 1998; third enlarged imprint, 1999). These earlier works are now out of print and will probably remain so. But given the current stage of the seemingly interminable negotiations for a settlement in Cyprus, I thought it might be useful to make certain items available once more for the benefit of those diplomats, government officials, European Union (EU) parliamentarians, academics, journalists and other persons interested in Cyprus, many of whom may have only recently become concerned with the extraordinary intractable problems of the ‘divided island.’ More especially, this booklet should help those who are tempted to accept a largely Greek account of what is at stake in Cyprus to realise that such a one-sided conception will never lead to the just, equitable and permanent reconciliation between the two Cypriot communities that the international community has been seeking for so long. Let me give just one recent example of the kind of misconceptions that still prevail, even in international organisations supposedly vitally concerned with Cyprus. In the British newspaper The Guardian, on 5 March 2010, an article by Robert Ellis appeared under the heading, ‘The Scandalous History of Cyprus’. A smaller heading read: ‘After decades of botched interferences, the EU should practise what it preaches and ensure that Turkey withdraws its troops.’ This last assertion was an echo of a resolution passed by the EU parliament three weeks earlier which called upon Turkey, inter alia, to immediately start withdrawing its troops from Cyprus. Now, such a request shows a remarkable misunderstanding of why the Turkish army came to Cyprus in the first place and of what would need to occur before it could sensibly be withdrawn. I sent a 4 Cyprus: A European Anomaly letter to The Guardian with the aim of reminding its readers about something the EU has consistently chosen to ignore: To the Letters’ Editor, The Guardian, 5th March 2010 Dear Sir, Robert Ellis’s and the EU parliament’s belief that the Turkish army should withdraw from Cyprus shows that he and they have still grasped only one half of the problem on the divided island. There are in facttwo anomalies in Cyprus. One is the strong presence of the Turkish army in the north, protecting the Turkish Cypriots; the other is the existence in the south of a purely Greek Cypriot administration claiming to be the legitimate government of the whole island, even though that government is plainly unconstitutional under the 1960 Cyprus Accords. For the Cyprus problem to be solved, not just one but both of these anomalies need to be rectified. Yours, etc. As I rather expected, my letter wasn’t published – no doubt editors have an almost impossible task deciding which letters to print from the vast numbers they receive. Still, the point I am trying to make here is that Robert Ellis’s article and the EU’s recent request alone show that there is still a great deal of misunderstanding about Cyprus where it should least exist: misunderstandings about why that small country is divided; about why only part of it is effectively in the EU; about the role there (very different roles, as things actually turned out) of the 1960 guarantor powers, Britain, Greece, and Turkey; and about what sort of new arrangements, involving some agreement between all the interested parties, would be most likely to effect a long overdue reconciliation. Needless to say, a solution in Cyprus is not going to be found until the whole international community listens a little less to Greek Cypriot propaganda about Turkey’s ‘invasion and occupation’ of an innocent Greek island for no good reason, and a little more to the Turkish side’s real concerns. How in fact did Cyprus first become ‘divided’, to some extent even geographically? And why has it proved so very difficult – indeed so far impossible – to obtain a mutually agreed settlement between the two Cypriot sides? An essential part of the answer to both these questions is contained in this booklet, and I hope it will be found useful. Cyprus was first divided in 1964, as Rauf Denktaş explained, clearly enough, in a speech he delivered before the UN Security Council in February of that Cyprus: A European Anomaly 5 year.

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