Conflict
on the island of Cyprus began in 1974, when the Turkish and Greek Cypriots
began fighting over a possible union with Greece. Turkey sent troops into the
northern half of the island in order to aid and protect the Turkish-speaking
minority. Ever since the Turks brought their troops on to the island, Cyprus
has been separated, with the Turkish-speaking minority to the North, and the
Greek-speaking majority to the South. The United Nations has sent peacekeepers
to the Green Line which separates these two factions for security purposes.
The
United Nations has also mediated several talks between the two sides, but so
far has been unable to reunite the island. In 2008, the United Nations once
again started talks between the Turkish and Greek Cypriots with the “aim of
setting up a federal government with a single international personality in a
bi-zonal, bi-communal country, with Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot constituent
states of equal status,” (President of Cyprus and Ban Exchange Views on
Reunification Talks). This month, the president of Cyprus, Demetris Christofias,
met with Ban Ki-moon to plan more talks with the Turkish Cypriots so that they
can move ahead in their search for the reunification of the island (President
of Cyprus and Ban Exchange Views on Reunification Talks).
In 2004, the Republic of Cyprus became a full member of
the European Union although because of the split, the North is unable to
benefit from the membership. This has complicated the peace talks, but has also
opened the door for a new influence to bring about the end of the separation on
the island.
In 1999, Turkey applied to become a member of the
European Union, and their acceptance has been delayed for a variety of reasons,
including the question of Cyprus. Even Greece, which has been a rival of Turkey
in the conflict, supports the Turkish bid for membership, so long as the island
can be reunited. After so many years of
conflict, it seems that peace may be brought about by the influence of a
liberal institution. Turkey would gain a huge economic advantage by becoming a
member of the European Union, mainly in economics, since most of its trade is
with the European Union (European Commission). The European Union would also
benefit from Turkey being a member state, such as creating a lasting connection
with a Muslim nation, and therefore with the rest of the Middle East.
What will happen in future talks cannot be known, but it
is clear that the institutions (the United Nations and the European Union) are
playing a large role in the future of Cyprus. The European Union will not admit
Turkey as a member state unless the nation helps to bring about the
reunification of Cyprus. For the Turkish Cypriots, they are only recognized by
Turkey, while the Republic of Cyprus is a full member of the European Union as
well as to the United Nations. The benefits of being a member of these
institutions has not come to them because of the separation and will only come
to them if they reunite with the Greek Cypriots.
The conflict took another turn this month when Cyprus
announced that it would begin to drill for oil in the surrounding area. In
International Law, their drilling is perfectly legal; however, Turkey believes
that it is unfair to the Turkish Cypriots in the North who will gain not
benefits from the drilling by the Republic of Cyprus (Hacaoglu). In refute to
this statement, the Greek Cypriots stated that once the island is reunited, the
Turkish Cypriots will see the benefits of the offshore drilling, (Hacaoglu).
Could this also give more incentive to the north to reunite with the south? That
is unclear, for the Turkish government then moved into the waters off of
Turkish controlled Cyprus in the north in order to look for gas and oil that
could fuel the northern faction of the island.
The
steps taken by Cyprus are fully supported by the United Nations and the
European Union, while Turkey stands alone on the issue. For how long will Turkey
stand with Northern Cyprus? They have for over forty years, however, if they
truly want to become a member of the European Union, they will have to give up
on the northern half of the island and push it to reunite with the Greek
Cypriots.
The institution of the European Union seems to give a lot
of incentives to Turkey and the Turkish Cypriots to bring an end to an issue
that has been alive in the eastern Mediterranean for many years. However, recent
events seem to lead to the conclusion that the Turks will not give up on the
Turkish Cypriot minority on Cyprus with the current situation.
The question of Cyprus can be broken down into many. Will
Turkey work to reunite the island of Cyprus and how much will their application
to the European Union have anything to do with it? What type of state will this
reunited nation become so that both the Greek and Turkish Cypriots are able to
be equal to each other? Nothing is certain, but we can see that the seeds of
peace are coming from major world institutions, which are able to support the
members and check those who do not follow by the rules, or perhaps, even
exclude those who will not follow the beliefs of that institution.
Works Cited
"European Commission - Enlargement - Turkey - Relations
- Enlargement."
EUROPA- European Commission - Homepage. 01 July 2011.
Web. 30 Sept. 2011.
<http://ec.europa.eu/enlargement/candidate-countries/turkey/relation
/index_en.htm>.
Hacaoglu, Selcan and Paphitis, Nicholas. "Turkey On
Collision Course With Greece, Cyprus :
NPR." NPR : National Public Radio :
News & Analysis, World, US, Music & Arts : NPR. 16
Sept. 2011. Web. 30
Sept. 2011.
<http://www.npr.org/templates/story
/story.php?storyId=140529446>.
"President of Cyprus and Ban Exchange Views on
Reunification Talks." Welcome to the United
Nations: It's Your World.
United Nations, 19 Sept. 2011. Web. 30 Sept. 2011.
<http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=39613>.
Shannon, I have never heard about this issue before, and I find that you related it remarkably well to liberalism. In my opinion, I think Turkey becoming part of the E.U. would be beneficial to the country itself and to relationships between Turkey and the European continent. In the grand scheme of things, as you mentioned, both economically and socially, Turkey and Europe would benefit from this move. Under the institutional umbrella of the E.U., I think a more peaceful dynamic between Turkey and Europe can come to be.
ReplyDeleteIn the case of Cyprus, I think that liberal institutionalism would make for state and governmental peace, but not necessarily civilian peace. If the island is reunited, and Greeks and Turks were given equal status, governmental affairs would become more democratic and function more smoothly. As in the case of oil drilling, the decision would have been made by a “bi-communal country” not just the “Republic of Cyprus,” a much more fair way to face the situation.
While this “bi-zonal” country addresses governmental issues, it does not address cultural issues. In liberal fashion, bi-communal country points to material, but not ideological differences. Equal representation in government is one thing, but making civilians of very different backgrounds live together, vote, and agree on political issues is very different. Such cultural and ideological differences in one place could lead to war rather than peace. Two states in this case may be better than one. Do you agree?
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ReplyDeleteThis is mainly do to the Cyprus part of the post, since this started with the idea of Cyprus uniting with Greece, do you think that is completely out of the question due to two reasons. One being the fact that the initial idea started a large portion of this conflict in the beginning. The second one being do you think that the recent financial crisis has affected Cyprus's choice and if they still want to do it anyway?
ReplyDeleteHannah,
ReplyDeleteYou make a very good point about the two groups. Having two ethnic groups living in the same country can cause many problems due to cultural differences, as we have seen with countries such as Czechoslovakia. If the Turkish Cypriots do rejoin the Republic of Cyprus, the issue of equal representation in a government would be a major issue. I think that is the main concern of the talks that the United Nations is mediating. They are trying to create a government that would please both the Greek and Turkish-speaking Cypriots. If they cannot, then I would support the Turkish Cypriots gaining their own state, or even becoming a recognized Turkish province. That was the reason behind the start of the conflict – the Turkish Cypriot minority feared that their rights would be taken away if they joined with Greece. Now that Cyprus is its own recognized country, they now must worry if the Greek-speaking majority would overpower them in the government. It is a complicated issue, and I only hope that the decision that is made does not cause any more conflict.
Kevin,
There is no way that Cyprus would become a part of Greece. The Greek-Cypriots brought up the idea that they should become a part of Greece, which was what started the conflict initially over forty years ago. Now, the Republic of Cyprus is a member of both the United Nations and the European Union, so it is a recognized, sovereign state. Now, the goal of the Republic of Cyprus, and those nations that support it, is to unite the northern Turkish-Cypriots with the rest of the island.