External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar held a bilateral meeting with his Cyprus counterpart Nikos Christodoulides during which he emphasised the need to adhere to the relevant UN Security Council resolutions in respect to the Island nation.
Tweeting about his meeting with Christodoulides, Jaishankar on Wednesday said: "Working to take our economic ties forward. Appreciated his regional insights. Important that relevant UN Security Council resolutions in respect of Cyprus are adhered to by all".
Jaishankar's tweet came hours after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan made a reference to Kashmir in his address to the UN General Assembly.
We maintain our stance in favour of solving the ongoing problem in Kashmir for 74 years, through dialogue between the parties and within the framework of relevant United Nations resolutions, Erdogan said in his address to the General Debate on Tuesday.
In the past also Erdogan has raised the Kashmir issue at the UN, drawing the ire of India.
Why Jaishankar's remarks matter to Turkey
Though not directly comparable with the India-Pakistan situation, Cyprus is a Western prototype of how festering historical wounds of ethnically divided communities complicate a modern-day conflict.
As differences between Hindu-majority plains and Muslim-dominated Valley, along with the plight of Kashmiri pandits, complicate the Kashmir conflict , Cyprus remains divided over the competing interests of majority Greek Cypriots and citizens of Turkish descent. Cyprus is an internationally recognised nation and a member of the European Union. On the other hand, Turkey is the only nation to recognise the breakaway self-declared Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) and supports an extremist regime.
The international community and the UN Security Council condemned the proclamation of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) in 1983; the proclamation was declared to be invalid.
Turkey's interest lies in either a two-state solution to the ethnically divided island nation or the annexation of the Turkish dominated regions. The recent discovery of oil in the region gives it additional incentive.
As Turkey insists that Indian control over the Kashmir region is unjust, S Jaishankar's comments inadvertently brought focus on the fact that Turkey too is in violation of the UN Resolution of Cyprus conflict, especially if it follows through with threats of opening up a sealed-off city of Varosha, abandoned by Greek Cypriots as Turkish troops advanced on it
India has been advocating a peaceful resolution of the issue in accordance with the UN resolutions.
What's the issue?
At the crossroads of Eastern and Western civilizations, lies the island nation of Cyprus that is home to vastly different ethnic communities, Catholi Greeks and Muslim Turks.
The island was first inhabited by ancient Greeks but it was later annexed by the Ottoman Empire when it was at its peak. This resulted in considerable Turk settlements within the island although the Greeks still remained a majority. In the waning days of the empire, the Ottomans ceded Cyprus to Great Britain, which upon decolonisation decided to create an independent state out of Cyprus in 1960.
The problem was whilst most Turkish Cypriots wanted partition between Greek and Turkish inhabited parts(Taksim), most Greek Cypriots wanted union of the entire island with Greece (enosis). Thus it is safe to argue that the coloniser's so-called peace formula did not sit well with either sides and condemned them to a forced coexistence for years to come.
The Cypriot Constitution of 1960 served as a double-edged sword; whilst the Turkish minority was given a considerable degree of administrative power, it was viewed as an unjust settlement and thus exacerbated the animosity between the two communities.
However, this is all about history.
The modern conflict started in the summer of 1974 when Turkey invaded the northern part of the country in response to a military coup on the island which was backed by the Greek government. Greece, on the pretext of winning equal or commensurate share in power for the majority community, was aiming at annexing the island nation. This was unacceptable to both Turk residents and the Republic of Turkey.
As a result, Turkish troops seized the northern third of Cyprus in 1974 .
The Republic of Cyprus, whose overwhelming majority is Greek Cypriot and has been a European Union member since 2004, has effective control over the southern two-thirds of the island, while Turkish forces took hold of the other parts. United Nations troops patrol the "Green Line" dividing the two parts, and reunification talks have made no progress.
Cyprus is the only European country whose capital Nicosia is divided in half and is occupied by foreign forces (read Turkey).
Over the years, many plans have been made to devise a re-unification formula acceptable to all. But the solutions and consensus-building efforts lie beyond the scope of this article. The closest solution to reach a consensus was floated by former UN chief Kofi Annan, which batted for a bizonal, bi-cameral democratic structure but it did not survive a referendum.
What does the UN resolution say?
The UN resolution passed on 4 March, 1964, lays utmost importance on maintaining harmony and status quo. Among other things, it "calls upon all member states, in conformity with their obligations under the Charter of the United Nations, to refrain from any action or threat of action likely to worsen the situation in the sovereign Republic of Cyprus, or to endanger international peace."
It also calls upon the communities in Cyprus and their leaders to act with the utmost restrain
This puts Turkey in violation not only when its forces occupied territory but the subsequent misadventures such as oil and natural gas exploration in eastern Mediterranean waters, sending drones in Cyprian airspace and more recently the decision to open up the sealed city of Verosha where Greek-owned homes lie vacant.
Varosha was kept untouched, to be used as a bargaining chip in peace negotiations, despite two United Nations Security Council resolutions — the latest in 1992 — for its return to its residents under UN administrations.
After decades of fruitless talks, Turkey and the Turkish Cypriots last year changed tack on Varosha, under a major policy shift seeking to formally partition Cyprus between two “sovereign and equal states” — ignoring the agreed-upon framework for a federation of Greek- and Turkish-speaking zones.
That shift was condemned by the UN, the EU, the US, Russia and others as gravely undermining hopes for peace.
In July, Turkey and Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar raised the stakes, inviting Greek Cypriots to reclaim their property and live under Turkish Cypriot administration in a tiny sliver of Varosha ahead of a potential wider opening.
Greek — and many Turkish — Cypriots saw the invitation as a Turkish Cypriot ploy to cement control of Varosha and secure implicit acknowledgement of their rule from its former inhabitants.
The Greek Cypriot government, which represents the island internationally, fears a rush of applications to the IPC could trigger a mass property sell-off both in Varosha and elsewhere that the north would exploit politically.
With inputs from agencies
from Firstpost India Latest News https://ift.tt/3kzLjnL
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