What Turkey and EU’s conflicting visions mean for Cyprus’ future

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Erdogan’s appearance at a military parade on July 20 in the northern part of the capital, Nicosia, might have passed off without incident had he not reiterated his contentious position on the Cyprus dispute. (AFP)
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Updated 01 August 2021
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What Turkey and EU’s conflicting visions mean for Cyprus’ future

  • Turkish President Erdogan repeated his demand for a two-state solution during a recent visit to the northern part of Cyprus
  • UN Security Council responded by condemning “the further reopening of a part of the fenced-off area” of derelict Varosha town

ANKARA/DUBAI: Europe’s longest “frozen conflict” is once again in the spotlight following a visit to the northern part of Cyprus by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, during which he repeated his demand for a two-state solution and backed moves to rebuild a ghost town that lies within the island’s military buffer zone.

Erdogan’s appearance at a military parade on July 20 in the northern part of the capital, Nicosia, might have passed off without further ado had he not reiterated his contentious position on the Cyprus dispute with remarks that were echoed and elaborated on by his ally, Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar.

If the past is any guide, the Cyprus imbroglio defies ready solution, be it reunification or partition.

Attempts to resolve the conflict suffered a blow in 2004 when Greek Cypriots voted against a UN proposal to reunite the Turkish and Greek sides of the nation, while Turkish Cypriots approved it. Three out of four Greek Cypriots rejected the plan put forward by Kofi Annan, the UN chief, that would have given tens of thousands of Cypriots the right to return to homes they lost in 1974.

The year 1974 was a watershed in the history of Cyprus: Turkish troops occupied the northern third of the country in response to an abortive coup engineered by a Greek military junta that aimed to unite the island with Greece.

As for the ghost town undergoing a controversial reopening with the blessing of Erdogan, it is Varosha, a suburb of Famagusta, once the Mediterranean island’s top coastal resort whose Greek Cypriot population fled with the Turkish invasion.

Budding hopes of a UN-sponsored settlement in the aftermath of the invasion had been nipped by the unilateral establishment in 1983 of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), recognized only by Turkey. While Cyprus has been largely at peace since the de-facto partition of 1974, the “frozen conflict” has proved so intractable, it has come to be known as the “graveyard of diplomats.”

Now, in addition to playing the nationalist card to humor their domestic constituencies, Erdogan and the Turkish Cypriot leadership may well be signaling their loss of faith in time and negotiations to bring the breakaway north’s international isolation and decades-old economic embargo to an end.

For a start, they intend to convert part of Varosha into a resettlement site and to allow people to reclaim properties vacated during the 1974 invasion. In November 2020, Turkish Cypriot authorities reopened a small area of Varosha. Now Erdogan says “a new era will begin in Maras (the Turkish name for Varosha) which will benefit everyone.”

During his latest visit to the northern part of Nicosia, Erdogan, who as Turkey’s prime minister in 2004 had backed the Annan reunification plan, asserted that Ankara does not have “another 50 years to waste.”

On Wednesday, in a video address to members of his AK Party, he said: “We will make every possible effort to ensure recognition of the Turkish Cypriot state as soon as possible. All other offers and proposals are not valid anymore.”




Erdogan vowed to make no "concession" as he pressed for a two-state solution for Cyprus, during a visit to the divided eastern Mediterranean island. (AFP)

Tatar got down to the nitty-gritty of the regeneration plans, saying that an initial 3.5 percent of Varosha, whose abandoned hotels, residences and shops lie under Turkish control, would be removed from its military status.

An earlier version of the buffer zone where Varosha is situated was created in 1964 by a UN peacekeeping force in response to a spate of inter-communal violence. Following the 1974 Turkish invasion, this so-called Green Line became the de-facto line of partition.

While an estimated 165,000 Greek Cypriots fled south, about 45,000 Turkish Cypriots relocated to the north, where they established their own independent administration. Despite a unanimous UN Security Council resolution, Turkey refused to withdraw its troops from Cyprus.

According to the UN resolutions, Varosha should be handed over to UN administration and the town’s vacant properties should be returned to their legal owners. In a statement on Friday, the Security Council condemned “the further reopening of a part of the fenced-off area of Varosha” and expressed “deep regret regarding these unilateral actions.”

THENUMBER

* 1,281,506 - Current total population of Cyprus.

Some analysts think Erdogan’s rhetoric is designed to encourage Greek Cypriots to deal with the Turkish side on an equal footing.

Ahmet Sozen, professor of political science and international relations at Eastern Mediterranean University in Northern Cyprus, says the pressure tactics might push Greek Cypriots to enter into negotiations, albeit gradually.

“This is a game-changing move. It is just a beginning, because Greek Cypriots do not welcome it,” he told Arab News, “But, at the end of the day, there are 300 individual claims by Greek Cypriots to their properties in this area and it should encourage the Greek side to negotiate with the Turkish side over these property rights.”

Sozen believes Turkey intends to use the Varosha issue to launch future rounds of negotiation with a stronger hand with the goal of achieving a two-state solution.

“This move also aims to prevent thousands of applications to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in Strasbourg by those who claim their property rights in Varosha. By opening a part of the military zone to civilian use, it will give Turkish Cyprus’ Immovable Property Commission (IPC) the authority to deal with the compensation issue,” he said.

The IPC is the only Turkish Cypriot institution recognized by the ECHR, which dropped several applications lodged by displaced Greek Cypriots after it was established for redressal of such grievances. If Varosha is partially returned to civilian use, the IPC will likely be in charge of resolving property issues.




People cross the Ledras crossing point in the Cypriot capital Nicosia from the southern part towards the self-proclaimed Turkish Republic of North Cyprus (TRNC), on June 4, 2021, as the country opens its crossing points following the easing of restriction in the divided island amid the COVID-19 pandemic. (AFP)

But as the Security Council condemnation demonstrates, Turkey is facing strong pushback from NATO allies, EU members and even the UN. Antony Blinken, the US Secretary of State, who discussed the developments with his Greek Cypriot counterpart, Nikos Christodoulides, has called the Varosha move “unacceptable and inconsistent” with UN resolutions.

A spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was “deeply concerned” and appealed to “all parties to refrain from unilateral actions that provoke tensions.”

Nicos Anastasiades, the president of Cyprus, described any moves to open up Varosha as “illegal and unacceptable.” If Turkey’s real concern was returning properties to their legal owners, “they should have adopted UN resolutions and handed the city over to the UN, allowing them to return in conditions of safety,” he said.

Dimitris Tsarouhas, an expert at Bilkent University, in Ankara, describes the new approach to the Varosha issue as “strange although not unexpected,” since it is “not really a Turkish Cypriot decision but a Turkish one.”




Derelict hotels, restaurants, and residential buildings remain abandoned at the fenced-off beachfront eastern town of Varosha, in the Turkish-held north of the divided Mediterranean island of Cyprus, on October 14, 2020. (AFP/File Photo)

“The enclave had been abandoned by its Greek Cypriot owners in 1974 and they have lived in hope of returning ever since, not least because Turkey did not send in settlers,” he told Arab News.

“I am guessing that this small reopening aims at enticing Greek Cypriots to move back in, or at least to claim their property through the Turkish Cypriot authorities, thus partially legitimizing the TRNC.”

Noting that the EU and the US “both have been explicit in condemning a move contradicting decades of UN work on Cyprus,” Tsarouhas said: “It seems to me that Erdogan’s goal is to consolidate the nationalist coalition at home and show to the world that he really means the two-state policy he proposed for the first time a few years back.”

Once famous as a playground of Hollywood celebrities, Varosha may yet rise from the ruins of war. But for now, its new lease of life is mainly as a bargaining chip in a geopolitical game.


Trump pauses tariffs on most nations for 90 days, raises taxes on Chinese imports

Updated 22 sec ago
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Trump pauses tariffs on most nations for 90 days, raises taxes on Chinese imports

WASHINGTON: Facing a global market meltdown, President Donald Trump on Wednesday abruptly backed down on his tariffs on most nations for 90 days, but raised his tax rate on Chinese imports to 125 percent.
It was seemingly an attempt to narrow what had been an unprecedented trade war between the US and most of the world to one between the US and China.
Global markets surged on the development, but the precise details of Trump’s plans to ease tariffs on non-China trade partners were not immediately clear.

Pressure builds on Afghans fearing arrest in Pakistan

Afghan refugees sit on a loaden vehicle at a holding centre ahead of their departure for Afghanistan.
Updated 09 April 2025
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Pressure builds on Afghans fearing arrest in Pakistan

  • According to the UN refugee agency, more than 24,665 Afghans have left Pakistan since April 1, 10,741 of whom were deported

KARACHI: Convoys of Afghans pressured to leave Pakistan are driving to the border, fearing the “humiliation” of arrest, as the government’s crackdown on migrants sees widespread public support.
Islamabad wants to deport 800,000 Afghans after canceling their residence permits — the second phase of a deportation program which has already pushed out around 800,000 undocumented Afghans since 2023.
According to the UN refugee agency, more than 24,665 Afghans have left Pakistan since April 1, 10,741 of whom were deported.
“People say the police will come and carry out raids. That is the fear. Everyone is worried about that,” Rahmat Ullah, an Afghan migrant in the megacity Karachi told AFP.
“For a man with a family, nothing is worse than seeing the police take his women from his home. Can anything be more humiliating than this? It would be better if they just killed us instead,” added Nizam Gull, as he backed his belongings and prepared to return to Afghanistan.
Abdul Shah Bukhari, a community leader in one of the largest informal Afghan settlements in the coastal city, has watched multiple buses leave daily for the Afghan border, about 700 kilometers away.
The maze of makeshift homes has grown over decades with the arrival of families fleeing successive wars in Afghanistan. But now, he said “people are leaving voluntarily.”
“What is the need to cause distress or harassment?” said Bukhari.
Ghulam Hazrat, a truck driver, said he reached the Chaman border crossing with Afghanistan after days of police harassment in Karachi.
“We had to leave behind our home. We were being harassed every day.”
In Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, on the Afghan border, police climb mosque minarets to order Afghans to leave: “The stay of Afghan nationals in Pakistan has expired. They are requested to return to Afghanistan voluntarily.”
Police warnings are not only aimed at Afghans, but also at Pakistani landlords.
“Two police officers came to my house on Sunday and told me that if there are any Afghan nationals living here they should be evicted,” Farhan Ahmad told AFP.
Human Rights Watch has slammed “abusive tactics” used to pressure Afghans to return to their country, “where they risk persecution by the Taliban and face dire economic conditions.”
In September 2023, hundreds of thousands of undocumented Afghans poured across the border into Afghanistan in the days leading up to a deadline to leave, after weeks of police raids and the demolition of homes.
After decades of hosting millions of Afghan refugees, there is widespread support among the Pakistani public for the deportations.
“They eat here, live here, but are against us. Terrorism is coming from there (Afghanistan), and they should leave; that is their country. We did a lot for them,” Pervaiz Akhtar, a university teacher, told AFP at a market in the capital Islamabad.
“Come with a valid visa, and then come and do business with us,” said Muhammad Shafiq, a 55-year-old businessman.
His views echo the Pakistani government, which for months has blamed rising violence in the border regions on “Afghan-backed perpetrators” and argued that the country can no longer support such a large migrant population.
However, analysts have said the deportation drive is political.
Relations between Kabul and Islamabad have soured since the Taliban returned to power in 2021.
“The timing and manner of their deportation indicates it is part of Pakistan’s policy of mounting pressure on the Taliban,” Maleeha Lodhi, the former permanent representative of Pakistan to the UN told AFP.
“This should have been done in a humane, voluntary and gradual way.”


Beijing rejects Ukraine claim ‘many’ Chinese fighting for Russia

Updated 09 April 2025
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Beijing rejects Ukraine claim ‘many’ Chinese fighting for Russia

  • Chinese foreign ministry said it was 'absolutely groundless' to suggest many Chinese citizens were fighting in Ukraine
  • Beijing was verifying relevant information with Kyiv while Moscow declined to comment on the matter

KYIV: China on Wednesday rejected Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s claim that many Chinese citizens were fighting for Russia, calling it “absolutely groundless.”
Zelensky said Tuesday that Kyiv had captured two Chinese citizens fighting alongside Russian forces, and that there was evidence “many more Chinese citizens” were fighting with Moscow.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian told a press conference it was “absolutely groundless” to suggest many Chinese citizens were fighting in Ukraine.
“The Chinese government has always asked its citizens to stay away from areas of armed conflict (and) avoid involvement in armed conflicts in any form,” he said.
He added that Beijing was verifying relevant information with Kyiv.
The Kremlin declined to comment on the matter.
China presents itself as a neutral party in the conflict and says it is not sending lethal assistance to either side, unlike the United States and other Western nations.
But it is a close political and economic partner of Russia, and NATO members have branded Beijing a “decisive enabler” of Moscow’s offensive, which it has never condemned.
“The Chinese side’s position on the issue of the Ukraine crisis is clear and unequivocal, and has won widespread approval from the international community,” Lin said.
“The Ukrainian side should correctly view China’s efforts and constructive role in pushing for a political resolution to the Ukraine crisis.”
Zelensky told reporters on Tuesday that Ukrainian troops had captured the two Chinese citizens fighting with Russian forces in the Donetsk region.
The media outlet Ukrainska Pravda, citing the Ukrainian army, reported that one of the captives had paid $3,480 to an intermediary in China to join the Russian army because he wanted to receive Russian citizenship.
The captive, who is now cooperating with the Ukrainian authorities, also said he was trained in the Russian-occupied Lugansk region as part of a group of Chinese nationals, some of whom had legal issues back home, according to Ukrainska Pravda.
Kyiv released a video of one of the alleged Chinese prisoners showing a man wearing military fatigues with his hands bound.
He mimicked sounds from combat and uttered several words in Mandarin during an apparent interview with a Ukrainian official not pictured.
A senior Ukrainian official told AFP they were captured “a few days ago,” adding that there might be more of them.
The official said the prisoners were likely Chinese citizens who were enticed into signing a contract with the Russian army, rather than being sent by Beijing.


India says PM Modi invited for Russia’s Victory Day parade

Indian PM Narendra Modi has been invited to attend Russia’s annual Victory Day parade in Moscow. (File/AFP)
Updated 09 April 2025
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India says PM Modi invited for Russia’s Victory Day parade

  • Historically close to Russia, India has resisted Western pressure to distance itself from Moscow following its invasion of Ukraine
  • Russia sells India critical military hardware, and has also increasingly emerged as a key energy supplier

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been invited to attend Russia’s annual Victory Day parade in Moscow, India’s foreign ministry said on Wednesday, without confirming the premier’s attendance.
Russia has promised to hold its biggest World War II commemorations “in history” to mark 80 years since the Soviet Union and allied powers defeated Nazi Germany.
The annual Victory Day celebration on May 9 has emerged as Russia’s most important public holiday, one marked with a massive parade of military equipment and soldiers through the Red Square, and culminating in an address from President Vladimir Putin.
Historically close to Russia, India has resisted Western pressure to distance itself from Moscow following its invasion of Ukraine.
Russia sells India critical military hardware, and has also increasingly emerged as a key energy supplier as New Delhi seeks a pipeline of cheap imports to fuel its economic expansion.
“Our prime minister has received an invitation for participation in the Victory Day celebrations,” foreign ministry spokesman Randhir Jaiswal said in New Delhi.
“We will be announcing our participation in victory day celebrations at the appropriate time.”
Modi visited Russia last October for a multilateral summit and Putin is expected to arrive in India for a bilateral later this year.


Never take peace for granted, King Charles tells Italy parliament

Britain's King Charles III and Britain's Queen Camilla arrive to attend a joint session at the Italian Parliament.
Updated 09 April 2025
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Never take peace for granted, King Charles tells Italy parliament

  • “Britain and Italy stand today united in defense of the democratic values we share,” King Charles said
  • He became the first ever British monarch to address a joint session of Italy’s parliament

ROME: King Charles III warned Wednesday that peace can never be taken for granted and hailed Italy for standing by Ukraine, as he made a historic address to parliament in Rome.
“Peace is never to be taken, never to be taken for granted,” the 76-year-old monarch said during his third day of a state visit to Italy with his wife, Queen Camilla.
“Britain and Italy stand today united in defense of the democratic values we share.
“Our countries have both stood by Ukraine in her hour of need and welcomed many thousands of Ukrainians requiring shelter.”
He noted the defense ties between Italy and the UK, through NATO and a project to develop a new fighter jet with Japan.
Speaking in English with some Italian, Charles became the first ever British monarch to address a joint session of Italy’s parliament.
The king also addressed an issue close to his heart, the environment.
“Just as we stand together in defense of our values, so too we stand together in defense of our planet,” he said.
“From the droughts in Sicily to the floods in Somerset, both our countries are already seeing the ever more damaging effects of climate change.”