Under the auspices of the Goethe Institute in Cyprus the ‘German Experience on Aspects of Reunification’ was the subject of an important inter-communal meeting organised on the ‘green line’. About 80 to 100 Cypriots and others heard important contributions on themes relating to problems experienced in re-unifying Germany, with a particular emphasis on property issues. The third post in this series concentrates on this aspect, here we confine ourselves to the event as a whole and comments exchanged with audience and speakers alike. The second post examines the parallels between the German and Cypriot experience.
While many of the participants have had a long-term commitment to inter-communal events there were a significant minority of ‘new faces’ who appeared motivated to clarify their own position in relation to the Annan Plan, in part, through the German experience. I arrived late to the event and found an unusually attentive audience listening to one speaker. A coffee break provided an opportunity to listen to the way Cypriots were reading current events.
• One prominent Turkish Cypriot revealed that Denktash was now making claims that almost all the banks in the north would close following the implementation of the Plan. This was judged to be an assertion explicitly intended to help create the atmospherics within which a ‘No’ majority might be secured.He went on to suggest that ‘we have heard’ that Erdogan will publicly recommend the Annan Plan at the conclusion of negotiations. An act which was judged to potentially have a significant impact on the floating vote, particularly amongst many settlers who have not made up their minds. This group was perceived to be critical and not to be underestimated. He suggested that not as many voted for pro-solution parties in the recent elections as had been anticipated. The evidence to support this was reported to be the fact that only one deputy, out of a total of five elected from the Karpas region represented the pro-solution camp. He reiterated, ‘this outcome had not been expected’.
• Another Turkish Cypriots expressed deep-seated concern about any reconstruction plans following a solution and accession. This concern was focused on the absolute need to ensure that reconstruction proceeds holistically, not in an uncoordinated, piecemeal or non-strategic form.
• A Greek Cypriot made two pertinent observations about the current period. She reported that almost all those she had come into contact with over the past 10 days, in the south, had raised issues about the economic viability of solution.
Secondly, she judged that what was also at play more recently was a fundamental difference of attitude, expressed by the two communities, in relation to the UN. For her, the Greek Cypriots ultimately see the UN as an authority to be wary of, to be supported in relation to UN Security Council resolutions which cite Turkey’s illegal occupation of the north, but its representatives on the island to be treated with utmost caution.
