Armenian, Assyrian and Hellenic Genocide News

Future of Cyprus depends on the UN
by Ilnur Cevik - ilnur.cevik@tdn1.com
Posted: Monday, December 11, 2000 01:33 am CST

Will the UN accept the Turkish Cypriots as a separate entity on Cyprus and act accordingly or will the world body pretend the Turkish Cypriots do not exist?

The time has come for the U.N. Security Council to decide once and for all whether the world body recognizes the existence of an entity called the Turkish Cypriots or not.

No one has to recognize the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (KKTC) at this stage. It is clear that there are technical and political difficulties at the world body so the Turkish Cypriots are not pushy on this issue. Yet, the Turkish Cypriots rightfully demand some form of recognition and it seems the formula found to make the Palestinians a party in the Middle East peace process is the best solution.

The Palestinians, who once did not even have any land were accepted by the Israelis as a counterpart and thus were even received at the White House. Now they have their land but not a state. The Turkish Cypriots have the land and their state but do not have international recognition.

Thus we feel the time has come for the Turkish Cypriots to gain some form of recognition where they are accepted as the counterparts of the Greek Cypriots and thus a party with which the United Nations has to deal.

The Greek Cypriots can pretend that the Turkish Cypriots do not exist. The world body can also do the same. But at the end of the day they all have to deal with the Turkish Cypriots some way or another and that brings us to the point where the Turkish Cypriots can openly say they do not want the U.N. peacekeeping force operating on their territory.

Then the realities start hitting hard. There is a Turkish Cypriot entity on the island and it is alive and well. The United Nations has to realize that in an eventual solution on Cyprus the Turkish Cypriots will have a substantial say on how the whole island is run and not only their territory in the north. So it is time that people recognized this fact and started treating the Turkish Cypriots accordingly.

If the United Nations continues to bow to Greek Cypriot blackmail and pretend the Turkish Cypriots are not even a party on the island then there is really no point in sitting down at the negotiating table and trying to hammer out a solution.

If the Security Council really wants to listen to the sides on the island then it has to treat them as sides and on an equal footing and declare this. Then the path for a solution will really be opened.

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