{"id":1548,"date":"2017-01-14T22:14:42","date_gmt":"2017-01-14T22:14:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.plymouth.ac.uk\/dcss\/?p=1548"},"modified":"2017-01-14T22:14:42","modified_gmt":"2017-01-14T22:14:42","slug":"erdogan-turkish-troops-would-remain-in-cyprus-forever","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.plymouth.ac.uk\/dcss\/2017\/01\/14\/erdogan-turkish-troops-would-remain-in-cyprus-forever\/","title":{"rendered":"ERDOGAN : \u201cTURKISH TROOPS WOULD REMAIN IN CYPRUS FOREVER\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Cyprus_big\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Sourced : NY Times<\/p>\n

By Nick Cumming-Bruce and Andreas Riris<\/p>\n

Turkey\u2019s president declared on Friday that Turkish troops would remain in Cyprus \u201cforever,\u201d complicating hopes of reuniting the island nation, which has been effectively partitioned since 1974.<\/p>\n

\u201cGreece is fleeing again from a solution to the Cyprus problem,\u201d the president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, told reporters in Istanbul on Friday. \u201cTurkey will be in Cyprus forever.\u201d<\/p>\n

That said, Mr. Erdogan often takes a firmer line with domestic audiences than with foreign ones, and diplomats said they remained cautiously optimistic.<\/p>\n

In 1974, a coup sponsored by the military junta that controlled Greece at the time ousted the government of Cyprus, and Turkey invaded, arguing that the Turkish Cypriots needed its protection. The nation has been largely stable and peaceful for decades, but this is one of the world\u2019s thorniest and longest conflicts.<\/p>\n

Since the late 1970s, leaders of both the Greek Cypriots and the Turkish Cypriots have agreed in principle on a \u201cbizonal, bicommunal federation\u201d as the basis for reunification, but have different understandings of that term.<\/p>\n

The latest round of negotiations, sponsored by the United Nations, has been promising. On Thursday, the foreign ministers of Britain, Greece and Turkey \u2014 the three countries that are designated as \u201cguarantors\u201d of the nation\u2019s sovereignty under a 1959 treaty \u2014 met in Geneva, prompting the new United Nations secretary general, Ant\u00f3nio Guterres, to observe that Cyprus could be \u201ca symbol of hope\u201d this year.<\/p>\n

Among the key issues in dispute are the return of displaced Cypriots and the handling of their property, repatriation of Turkish settlers, demilitarization of the island, and the future role of Greece, Turkey and Britain.<\/p>\n

Mr. Erdogan on Friday said firmly that Turkey would not withdraw from the island as long as Greek troops were also stationed there. \u201cFull withdrawal of Turkish troops from Cyprus is not possible,\u201d he said. \u201cIf this is being discussed, then both sides must withdraw.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Turkish foreign minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, maintained the Turkish position while also leaving room for negotiation.<\/p>\n

\u201cTaking into consideration the current situation in our region, the continuation of the security and guarantees system, which has been the solid basis of the 43-year-long security and stability on the Island, is a necessity,\u201d Mr. Cavusoglu said in the statement, referring to the system of guarantors, which Turkey used as its rationale for the 1974 invasion. \u201cWe expect this issue to be discussed in line with the realities on the island.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cypriot leaders held out hope for an agreement.<\/p>\n

The Greek Cypriot leader, Nicos Anastasiades, noted that both sides had submitted maps detailing the redrawing of internal boundaries, a promising first; that Turkey had agreed to discuss the issue of the security guarantees, itself a sign of progress; and that both sides had made progress in discussing areas like governance, the economy and Cyprus\u2019s involvement in the European Union, which it joined in 2004, notwithstanding the divisions.<\/p>\n

Mr. Anastasiades and the Turkish Cypriot leader, Mustafa Akinci, both said that they had agreed that the security of one community should not be perceived as a threat by the other community.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe point is, where can you strike a balance: How can you find the ways and means so that both communities of this beautiful island can feel safe and secure?\u201d Mr. Akinci said, adding that the Turkish Cypriot community \u201cfeels that they need the continuation of some sort of a guarantee coming from Turkey.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is how they feel,\u201d he said. \u201cAll the polls, more or less, say the same thing. How can we deal with this issue so that it\u2019s acceptable by the other party?\u201d<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cWe are here to discuss all these issues. There are no taboos.\u201d<\/p>\n

The last time a peace deal was close at hand, in 2004, it was accepted by the Turkish Cypriots in a referendum but rejected by the Greek Cypriots. All sides are trying to avoid a repeat of that experience.<\/p>\n

Mr. Akinci said that reunification would lead to major economic benefits, including the possibility of channeling natural gas deposits through Cyprus to Turkey and Europe, and distributing water that is currently piped to northern Cyprus from Turkey across the whole island.<\/p>\n

Turkish Cypriots are estimated to make up about one-fifth of the island\u2019s population, and the Greek side had proposed a rotating presidency, but how it would be carried out remains in dispute.<\/p>\n

Asked about Mr. Erdogan\u2019s remarks, Espen Barth Eide, the United Nations secretary general\u2019s special adviser for Cyprus, said he did not think the talks were in trouble.<\/p>\n

Negotiations on technical matters have been scheduled for Wednesday, and Mr. Eide said, \u201cWe\u2019re close to completion\u201d on five areas of agreement \u2014 not including the issue of security and guarantees. \u201cNot easy, but the will is there,\u201d he said, while reminding both sides that \u201cwe must not lose any time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr. Eide added, \u201cIt will be hard.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sourced : NY Times By Nick Cumming-Bruce and Andreas Riris Turkey\u2019s president declared on Friday that Turkish troops would remain in Cyprus \u201cforever,\u201d complicating hopes of reuniting the island nation, which has been effectively partitioned since 1974. \u201cGreece is fleeing again from a solution to the Cyprus problem,\u201d the president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, told reporters… Continue reading ERDOGAN : \u201cTURKISH TROOPS WOULD REMAIN IN CYPRUS FOREVER\u201d<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1549,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[419,120,10,1195,90,1196],"class_list":["post-1548","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-conflict","tag-britain","tag-cyprus","tag-greece","tag-greek-cypriots","tag-turkey","tag-turkish-cypriots","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.plymouth.ac.uk\/dcss\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1548","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.plymouth.ac.uk\/dcss\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.plymouth.ac.uk\/dcss\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.plymouth.ac.uk\/dcss\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.plymouth.ac.uk\/dcss\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1548"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.plymouth.ac.uk\/dcss\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1548\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1550,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.plymouth.ac.uk\/dcss\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1548\/revisions\/1550"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.plymouth.ac.uk\/dcss\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1549"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.plymouth.ac.uk\/dcss\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1548"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.plymouth.ac.uk\/dcss\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1548"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.plymouth.ac.uk\/dcss\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1548"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}