University of Amsterdam Supervisor: Jana Krause MSc Conflict Resolution and Governance Spring Semester 2017 'Stuck in the middle' A case study of the participation of inter-communal women's groups in the Cyprus peace process Victoria Lecomte 11173173 Word count: 22,978 1 University of Amsterdam Supervisor: Jana Krause MSc Conflict Resolution and Governance Spring Semester 2017 2 University of Amsterdam Supervisor: Jana Krause MSc Conflict Resolution and Governance Spring Semester 2017 Table of contents 1 Introduction......................................................................................................... 7 2 Theoretical framework....................................................................................... 9 2.1 Background to the theoretical framework......................................................9 2.1.1 Liberal Peacebuilding..............................................................................9 2.1.2 Peacebuilding from below.....................................................................11 2.2 'Local ownership' in peace negotiations.......................................................12 2.2.1 The inclusion of civil society in peace negotiations ............................12 2.2.2 The inclusion of women in peace negotiations.....................................14 2.3 Theoretical Principles...................................................................................17 2.3.1 'Decoupling'...........................................................................................17 2.3.2 Who is 'the local'? Who's ownership?................................................... 18 2.4 The 'Third Space' of Cyprus' peace formation ............................................19 2.4.1 Cyprus' peace formation .......................................................................19 2.4.2 The 'Third Space of Conflict resolution' in Cyprus ..............................22 3 Research design ................................................................................................ 24 3.1 Case study design.........................................................................................24 3.2 Operationalization........................................................................................ 25 3.3 Research methods.........................................................................................26 3.4 Research location and population................................................................ 27 3.5 Ethical concerns........................................................................................... 28 3.6 Methodological limitations.......................................................................... 29 4 The Cyprus peace process................................................................................ 30 4.1 The Cyprus conflict......................................................................................30 4.2 The hegemonic national discourses..............................................................31 4.3 The peace negotiations................................................................................. 34 5 Women's groups in the peace process..............................................................37 5.1 Women's groups in focus in this study......................................................... 37 5.1.1 Hands Across the Divide (HAD)...........................................................37 5.1.2 The Gender Advisory Team (GAT).......................................................39 5.1.3 The Technical Committee on Gender Equality (TCGE).......................40 3 University of Amsterdam Supervisor: Jana Krause MSc Conflict Resolution and Governance Spring Semester 2017 5.2 Priorities for a “gender-just” Cyprus............................................................42 5.3 Tensions between women's groups and the TCGE......................................45 5.3.1 Non-transparency of the TCGE.............................................................45 5.3.2 The TCGE: A broken link between the women's groups and the leaders ........................................................................................................................47 6 Reaching Track-I ..............................................................................................50 6.1 International support for women's groups to reach Track-I.........................50 6.2 The TCGE: 'Ticking boxes'.......................................................................... 53 6.3 The leaders' reaction to gender issues ......................................................... 58 7 Reaching the grassroots....................................................................................61 7.1 The 'Usual Suspects'.....................................................................................61 7.2 Explaining the 'Usual Suspects' phenomenon..............................................63 7.2.1 Structural obstacles............................................................................... 63 7.2.2 Political obstacles .................................................................................66 7.2.3 Socio-psychological factors.................................................................. 68 7.3 The importance of reaching the population..................................................70 8 Conclusions........................................................................................................ 75 9 References.......................................................................................................... 78 10 Appendix.......................................................................................................... 83 4 University of Amsterdam Supervisor: Jana Krause MSc Conflict Resolution and Governance Spring Semester 2017 Acknowledgements I would like to extend my sincere gratitude to my thesis supervisor, Assistant Professor Jana Krause from Amsterdam University’s Political Science department, for guiding me through this research process and for having aroused my curiosity on the case of Cyprus. I would also like to thank my family and friends for their encouragement and good insights throughout the research and writing process of this thesis. I would like to thank my dear Arnaud in particular, for supporting me, always. Last but not least, I want to thank from the bottom of my heart all my respondents for their time, kindness, generosity and welcoming. This thesis would not have been possible to write without their precious help. I would like to thank my friend Evren Inancoglu in particular for his kindness and for having showed me around his beautiful country. 5 University of Amsterdam Supervisor: Jana Krause MSc Conflict Resolution and Governance Spring Semester 2017 Map (Ker-Lindsay 2011) List of abbreviations CSO Civil Society Organization GAT Gender Advisory Team H4C Home For Cooperation HAD Hands Across the Divide RoC Republic of Cyprus SASG Special Adviser of the Secretary-General TCGE Technical Committee on Gender Equality TRNC Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus UNFICYP United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus 6 University of Amsterdam Supervisor: Jana Krause MSc Conflict Resolution and Governance Spring Semester 2017 1 Introduction In Cyprus, for over fifty years, in spite of great international attention, the peace negotiations have failed. Despite the United Nations' assistance to the ongoing round of peace negotiations that started in 2008, the peace talks remain elite-led and men-dominated. Indeed, women's participation in peace negotiations have been highlighted as a key priority for the United Nations with the adoption of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security in 2000. Furthermore, feminist researchers have highlighted the effect the inclusion of women in peace negotiations on the stability and length of peace. However, although being supported by international peacebuilders driven by international norms and standards on the participation of civil society and women in formal and informal peace processes, the participation of women in decision- making positions remain low. The island of Cyprus is home to two main communities, the Greek Cypriots and the Turkish Cypriots, physically divided by a UN buffer zone established in 1964 which impedes their interactions. Although Cypriots are allowed to cross the buffer zone from one side to the other since the opening of the first checkpoint in 2003 in Nicosia, the level of interaction between the two communities is low. Indeed, on both sides of the island, nationalism is strongly taught in history books and is reinforced by religious leaders and military services, mandatory in the South as is the North, which fuel ethno-nationalist discourses. However, in the 1990s, a feminist inter-communal movement emerged and stressed the need for having an inclusive peace process and for implementing the gender perspective in the negotiations, relying on the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 (2000). Hands Across the Divide (HAD), created in 2001 and the Gender Advisory Team (GAT) created in 2009 are the major inter- communal women's groups aiming at a solution for the Cyprus conflict. They are supported by the United Nations Good Offices in Cyprus, who assist the peace negotiations. In spite of this international attention driven by the international 7 University of Amsterdam Supervisor: Jana Krause MSc Conflict Resolution and Governance Spring Semester 2017 norms and standards regarding