Former Top UK Cyprus Official ‘Sceptical’ About Any Will for Solution

“At the moment, I don’t think that this objective is very high on his order of priorities. I’m not criticising that, because there are a lot of very, very sensitive issues facing the president of Turkey. Look at his government in Iraq and in Ukraine,” he told Greek newspaper To Vima.

Hannay served as the UK’s special representative for Cyprus between 1996 and 2003 during the tortuous negotiations for the Annan reunification plan, which went through five revisions before being put to the vote in 2004.

“On the Turkish and Turkish Cypriot side, they have now imposed a precondition, which is that the TRNC be recognised as a state participating in the discussions. The Greek Cypriots, the government of Cyprus, don’t accept that, nor does the UN, nor the guarantor powers, at least Greece and the UK don’t accept that,” he said.

He said that it was for this reason that when British Prime Minister Keir Starmer visited Cyprus in December, he was “not able” to visit Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar – “because he insisted on calling himself the president”.

“In previous contacts in my time with [former Turkish Cypriot leader] Rauf Denktash, those contacts were based on his being the leader of the Turkish Cypriot community. Various Turkish governments have participated in Cyprus talks without making that a precondition until fairly recently. That means that prospects of a settlement are stuck,” he said.

Looking to the future, he said negotiations should resume on the basis of a bizonal, bicommunal federal solution, as has been set out in the UN security council’s resolutions on the matter.

Asked whether he believes this position is “quaint”, he disagreed.

“Not particularly. I don’t think UN security council resolutions are normally quaint, and I don’t think these ones are quaint. They exist. They are a ruling by the UN security council voting unanimously. That’s how the talks should be carried out,” he said.

He was then asked about his role in writing the Annan plan, but denied he was a key player in its drafting.

“The plan was drafted by [then UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s special advisor] Alvaro de Soto and his legal advisor and his team. I was in very close touch with him on a daily basis. We exchanged views and I never found any fundamental disagreement with the way the UN was handling things, and my government of course supported the Annan plan,” he said.

He then praised the Turkish Cypriot side for voting “by a substantial majority” in favour of the Annan reunification plan when it was put to a referendum in 2004. The plan was was supported by 65 per cent of Turkish Cypriots, but only 24 per cent of Greek Cypriots.

“I think [the Turkish Cypriots] recognised that the plan was a reasonable way of moving forward with a single Cyprus, with the two parts of Cyprus having a very large amount of authority, as is often the case in federal states,” he said.

On the plan itself, he said it “put forward a structure in which the central government’s powers were fairly modest.

“I think that reflects the reality in Cyprus and would probably be the best place to start in a resumed negotiation.”

Asked about then-President Tassos Papadopoulos’ view that the plan would have effectively allowed Turkey to control the whole island, he said such an assertion was “completely untrue”.

“That was a figment of his imagination. All I can say is that the reasons he gave his electorate in voting down the Annan plan were based on certain statements that were not true,” he said.

He also rejected the notion that the Greek government of the day, under Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis, helped to ensure the Greek Cypriot electorate reject the plan.

“It was a permanent feature that, after the miscalculations made by the military dictatorship when they overthrew President Makarios, that the position of the Greek government was always a position of subordinacy in the formulation of policy. It was for the Cyprus government to make that policy,” he said.

Looking ahead once more, he was asked whether a “very loose confederation” as a solution to the Cyprus problem may gain Turkey’s support, but said it would be unlikely to bring about a solution.

“I don’t think calling it another name is going to get anybody anywhere. It’s been tried several times. Rauf Denktash tried it. It’s not acceptable to the Greek Cypriots, and without them, you do not have a deal,” he began.

However, he said, “if you are asking me are there different variants of a bizonal, bicommunal federation, which give more or less power to the central or federal government, or to the two federated governments, then there is a huge scope there for flexibility.

“One can move in one direction or in the other. You would have to have all parties agreeing to it, which would be the basis of a settlement.”

Then asked whether Turkey may consider annexing the north, he said, “successive Turkish governments over many decades have never shown any inclination whatsoever of going down that road.

“I think it would isolate them from the UN security council and the large majority of countries in the world which recognise the Republic of Cyprus. So, I don’t think it’s a very viable approach, but that is a matter for the government of Turkey.”

Source: Cyprus Mail/To Vima