The second part of the interview with Mustafa Akinci, available here and originally published in the Turkish Daily News.
KANLI - You said the people of Guzelyurt voted for your pro-settlement group of parties knowing that they would be uprooted if you came to power and delivered a settlement...AKINCI - Precisely. The people of Guzelyurt voted for an end to uncertainty. We did not go to Guzelyurt during the campaign period and pledge to the people, "Vote for us. We will work not to give back Guzelyurt." On the contrary, we pledged to the people we would work for a settlement that could uproot them but also told them that we would do our very best to minimize their sacrifice. This did not mean we would try to keep them in Guzelyurt. It was a pledge that they would not be moved from their houses before they were offered new habitation, a rehabilitation program and new employment opportunities. We pledged to them that we would work until to the end to achieve this. These people voted knowing that they would have to abandon their residences. This is very interesting and important.
KANLI - But the plan does not provide a clear-cut program on how the re-settlement and rehabilitation of these people would be financed. The EU, as well, is not putting forward anything tangible.
AKINCI - We have been talking these issues over with EU officials, and we opened up this subject at our meeting with Verheugen on Feb. 19. I opened up the issue for the donors' conference. Unfortunately, nothing is clear yet on that issue [after the TDN interview it was clarified that the donors' conference would be meeting on April 15], and there have been discussions as to whether it should convene before the referendum or after. There are worries that if the donors' conference does not come up with a satisfactory and substantial pledge, it could have an impact on the outcome of the referendum. For us, such worries are wrong. It should be held before the referendum, and the outcome should be a very positive one so that it can have a positive impact on the referendum results. Furthermore, interested parties should clearly understand that if we are to have financial difficulties in the implementation of the Annan plan, that means the settlement plan will not be implemented. Our people should not be made to suffer. This issue must be behind us by the referendum date.
I believe it will be in the best interest of all Cypriots, Turks and Greeks to have a settlement in which they would have a true identity based on sovereignty, a strong economy and a healthy currency.
When a friend of mine asked this question to Verheugen he gave this answer and told us, "Your real chance to bargain was at Copenhagen [summit of the EU in December 2002), but you missed it." To some extent this was correct. It would have been much better for us had we been the side pressing harder for a settlement and saying yes to holding a referendum in the process leading to Copenhagen. That's in the past. Now, if we could be the side forcing a settlement and saying "yes" to the settlement plan in the referendum and if the Cypriot Greek side says "no," there are things that are going to happen. The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus may still not be recognized, but a process starting from a lifting of the embargoes and which may expand to a future recognition of the KKTC would be suspended in the air like the sword of Damocles for the Cypriot Greeks. It is of great importance that the international community start sending these messages to the Cypriot Greeks. For the sake of getting a "yes" result in the Cypriot Greek referendum, this is of great importance. At the end of the day, despite the fact that we appear to have lost substantial bargaining power since the Copenhagen summit, there are still reasons for the Cypriot Greeks to say "yes" to this plan in the referendum. For us, we have more than enough reasons to say "yes" because if we say "no," we would lose not only the benefits of a settlement but would also lose also the opportunities offered by EU membership. Therefore, there is no benefit for either side in saying "no," but there are promising results with a "yes" vote for both.
KANLI - We also have another problem. There is no sound big or medium-sized industry in KKTC territory. The small industry there already has very serious problems because of the embargo and for other reasons. Nothing is at EU standards.
AKINCI - In what area don't we have a problem?
KANLI - From the structuring of the state -- and in all fields -- there are serious problems in coping with EU standards.
AKINCI - We ought to have a transformation period and to overhaul everything. We must take measures to keep our economy alive. A period of transition is a must.
KANLI - Of course, no one is going to bring money in trucks and distribute it with shovels.
AKINCI - No, no. I believe the first input the Cypriot Turks would receive from a settlement would be to eliminate uncertainty. As I just said, planning the future is very important for everyone. People go to bed and plan what they will do the next day. It is same for communities. You must have an idea of what you would and would not do. We just mentioned Guzelyurt. In recent years the people of that region were burying their dead in Nicosia rather than in cemeteries in the area.
KANLI - Can you explain why?
AKINCI - They were neglecting the maintenance of their houses because there was uncertainty. On every map, discussion of their area was included in the territory to be handed over to the Cypriot Greeks. Sometimes the common sense of the public can be healthier than the words uttered by those administering the state, and developments can prove that to be the case. Now, at the point to which we have come, the atmosphere of uncertainty would end. This provisional land ownership and such things would end and people would receive a title deed recognized all over the world. That is, our land would come under the jurisdiction of international law. At the end of the day, we would be able to call our title deed a valid title deed.
KANLI - But this plan does not call for a global exchange and compensation scheme, and individual settling of the land problem could result in very dangerous consequences.
AKINCI - I get your point, but so far, after so many years of discussion, we have not been able to convince the other side to agree to a global exchange and compensation system. Therefore, an in-between formula needs to be found. With that in-between formula this problem would be solved, but at the end of the day, when these problems are eradicated, everyone would know what property he has and would be able to say, "This is my property." We cannot say that now.
Our state has been stressing that it is sovereign, but no one is recognizing it. Even with Turkey, within that framework, we were unable to develop relations. Now, within the limits of our executive powers, we would have a region in which we would defend our rights with sovereign powers similar to those that the Cypriot Greeks would have in their region.
In the new era, various sectors -- particularly tourism -- will rapidly develop. Today, 2.5 million tourists visit southern Cyprus every year; however, only around 250,000 tourists come to northern Cyprus. Some 60-70,000 of this figure come from third countries, while the bulk is from Turkey. And Turkish tourists, you know, are coming for the casinos, but northern Cyprus has a paradise-like nature. We have great potential for all sorts of touristic activities. If we manage to prevent the "concrete pollution" of our shores, we could convert northern Cyprus into one of the corners of paradise for European tourists.
In the manufacturing sector we ought to concentrate on agro-industry.
Apart from these, perhaps more important than anything else, we would acquire European standards in democracy and human rights.
In short, we are moving into a new lifestyle. In this new life, I believe we will be able to set a very good example for the Middle East and make substantive contributions to the development of Turkish-Greek relations. When Turkey knocks on the door of the 25-member European Union, it will not find Papadopoulos holding a red card, and it will be saved from the danger of being obliged to develop commercial and political relations after May 1 with the Papadopoulos administration. It will be saved from the threat of Papadopoulos knocking on its door demanding to open a Cypriot Greek Embassy in Ankara. There are lots of benefits for all in having a Cyprus settlement.
KANLI - Well, as an individual, Mustafa Akinci, don't you have any worries about whether or not the Greek Cypriots really have abandoned the old, hostile approaches towards your people? Do you think they would stop seeing you as an enemy? And, similarly, do you think as a community the Turkish Cypriots will manage to overcome viewing the Greek Cypriots still preoccupied with past hostilities?
AKINCI - The doors [border gates] were opened on April 23 [2003]. The opening of the doors showed us all that friendly relations between the two peoples and at an individual level could develop much faster than anticipated. Excluding some small, negligible incidents, there has not been any violence since the doors opened. I do not think such hostilities will happen again.
We already have people employed in the south. Tomorrow, people from the south will come and work here, and we will start developing a common new culture. I do believe in that. Besides, there would be a new understanding emanating from the fact of being in the EU. The Cold War era has ended. In the past there were powers trying to keep us apart, and those powers saw a benefit in keeping us apart. Now those powers are forcing us to come together. The huge European continent is uniting. Cyprus will be reunited, in this context, and the two motherlands will try to contribute to these two peoples uniting. That's what I see on the horizon. That is, there won't be any force encouraging dissent.
Apart from these, we mustn't forget that in the new era the elements providing our security will continue to remain on the island. That is, the two motherlands will each maintain 6,000 troops in the territory of their respective communities that will not be able to cross into the other's territory. Turkey, together with Greece, would guarantee the security of the new united state but would also guarantee the Turkish Cypriot state. Besides, we would have our own police and courts. That is, a full-fledged Turkish Cypriot state with its organs will be maintained.
Now, some people say "We will not agree to the demolishing of the KKTC" and such. Only the name of the KKTC would be changed into the Turkish Cypriot state. There wasn't anyone who recognized the KKTC in the international arena, anyhow. Within a federation governed by international law, you will be a state recognized by the world. It would be sovereign within the limits of the federation. There is no such thing as "demolition of the KKTC" but, to the contrary, consolidation of a sovereign Turkish Cypriot state recognized by the world and part of a Cyprus federal system.
In the new period I believe we will have an advanced new web of relations based on a peaceful culture. In this, a great deal of responsibility rests with our teachers. We have to raise new generations with this new mentality. A lot has been said about it, but nothing substantive has been done so far. But we have to rewrite the textbooks. Again, there was a reconciliation committee within the Annan plan. That ought to be made functional as well.
But, at the end of the day, we must still make sure that all precautionary measures have been taken. It would not be correct to act according to the understanding that everything has been left behind and that everything has been put in order. Time is needed for the development of a common new culture, and I hope we manage to reach a cultural understanding within this process that no longer requires guarantees, police and such and will lead to the full demilitarization of our island.
KANLI - Let's end with this wish. Thank you, Mr. Akinci.
