http://www.cyprusweekly.com.cy/default.aspx?FrontPageID=304_1
Cyprus denounces UK-Turkey pact
But Britain denies bid
to upgrade pseudostate
By Menelaos Hadjicostis
NICOSIA angrily denounced a new UK-Turkey pact that it said sacrificed
Cyprus's hoped-for re-unification for the sake of appeasing Ankara.
London insisted "there is nothing new" in the controversial Strategic
Partner****p to suggest a ****ft to a pro-partition policy or that it's
working to upgrade the status of the illegal Turkish Cypriot regime.
But President Tassos Papadopoulos said that's been London's policy all
along
and the only difference now is that it's come out in the open.
"Indeed, it was (London's policy) always the same, now it's been
revealed,"
Papadopoulos told re****ters after a Diko dinner in Nicosia.
Papadopoulos conceded the pact to be a "very negative development" that is
a
"grave and sensitive" issue.
He said the government would "calmly and seriously" work to head off any
"negative consequences".
Government Spokesman Vasilis Palmas condemned what he called "the logic of
division" that pervades the Britain-Turkey Strategic Partner****p do***ent
regarding Cyprus.
Separation
"The main thrust of its key provisions is to systematically promote
separate
relations between the breakaway Turkish Cypriot entity in the occupied
areas
and the rest of the world," Palmas said in a written statement.
"The conclusion that can be drawn is that yet again, Cyprus is being
sacrificed to foreign interests that are irrelevant to the island and its
people."
Palmas said London "appears to fall in line with Turkish policy on Cyprus"
as articulated by the country's President Abdullah Gul on his recent visit
to the occupied north.
Gul had said that a Cyprus settlement would have to be based on a
two-state
model.
What's more, the pact is in breach of UN Security Council Resolution 550
that calls on all nations to not recognise the illegal Turkish Cypriot
regime and to "not facilitate or in any way assist the secessionist
entity".
The Spokesman said Nicosia would use all diplomatic and legal means at its
disposal to protect its interests and issued a veiled warning to London
that
it would "re-examine long-held policies when need be".
Palmas also said the do***ent flies in the face of a Nicosia-London
agreement on engaging in a structured dialogue designed to further
strengthen relations.
Cypriot High Commissioner to Britain George Iacovou told London Greek
radio
that under the structured dialogue agreement, London was obliged to inform
Nicosia of the contents of its pact with Turkey.
Cultural
What upset Nicosia were references in the do***ent to promote "direct
commercial, economic, political and cultural contacts between the UK, the
EU
and the Turkish Cypriots".
Moreover, London pledged to maintain "high-level contacts" with the
Turkish
Cypriot authorities and to continue helping the "'TRNC'
authorities/universities" to gain EU recognition for a multitude of
colleges
in the occupied north.
London also said it would "uphold the right to representation" of Turkish
Cypriots in the European Parliament.
Nicosia saw the do***ent as essentially codifying Britain's
post-referendum
efforts to upgrade the status of the illegal regime and to lift Turkish
Cypriots out of their pur****ted 'isolation'.
Palmas said such moves undermine reunification efforts because they
eliminate any incentive for the Turkish side to negotiate under the banner
of a unitary state.
The spokesman said Britain's High Commissioner to Cyprus Peter Millett
received an earful from Foreign Minister Erato Kozakou-Marcoullis.
Greek Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyianni said she hopeful London makes all
the
appropriate clarifications and revisions to the pact so as not to harm a
renewed bid to kick-start settlement efforts.
The Greek Foreign Ministry said it had called in Britain's Ambassador
Simon
Gass to lodge a protest.
«The meeting...was a strong demarche from the Greek side,» a source close
to
the meeting told Reuters.
Desperate to put the fires out, Millett issued a written statement saying
that the Strategic Partner****p do***ent has changed nothing as regards
British policy on Cyprus.
"Our policy on the non-recognition of the so-called "TRNC" is unchanged.
We
do not and will not recognise a separate entity in the northern part of
Cyprus.
Nor does anything in the do***ent reflect an attempt to upgrade the status
of the north or promote partition," said Millett.
We are fully committed to the reunification of the island and sup****t the
UN's efforts to implement the 8 July process."
Millett said "it is only by engaging with Turkey in a constructive and
strategic way" that the reunification process can move forward.
Political leaders, however, saw the pact less "constructive and strategic"
and more kowtowing to Ankara to keep the peace in northern Iraq and
beyond.
Redundant
And paying the price of this appeasement is Cyprus.
"It's redundant for me to say how much we criticise (the Britain-Turkey
pact), under no cir***stances can we agree to the provisions of the
agreement," said House Speaker Demetris Christofias.
"This is a significant warning and a challenge for unity in countering
these
matters."
Christofias also appealed to British MPs in writing to use their influence
and halt London's bid to upgrade the illegal regime.
Disy Chief Nicos Anastassiades called the partner****p "completely
unacceptable", but also scolded Papadopoulos for allowing this to happen.
He said the pact is just the "tip of the iceberg" and suggested other
nations may follow suit in embracing a pro-Turkish policy at the expense
of
Cyprus.
Anastassiades asked Papadopoulos to seek counsel from political leaders to
head off the worst.
Presidential hopeful Ioannis Kasoulides said he saw no reason for the
references to Cyprus to be included in the Britain-Turkey pact and
criticised the government for allowing Turkey to score such a diplomatic
victory against Cyprus.
In a written statement, Diko leader Marios Garoyan dismissed the pact as
an
"unprovoked and unacceptable act" on the part of London that is trying to
let Ankara and Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat off the hook with
regard to the July 8 agreement.
Edek chief Yian****is Omirou called the pact "an outrage and a provocation"
coming from a country that has sworn to uphold and defend the sovereignty
and territorial integrity of the Cyprus Republic under the Treaty of
Establishment.
UK National Federation of Cypriots Peter Drou****otis expressed
disappointment at the pact and said the substance of the Cyprus issue that
lies in the Turkish occupation of its northern third is being ignored.
http://www.greece.org/cyprus/
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