Voters in the self-proclaimed Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (it is recognised by this blog but by no nation other than Turkey) go to the polls today.
The history is not in dispute although almost everything else is. After the collapse of the Ottoman Empire Cyprus was annexed by the British, and granted independence in 1960. Under its constitution, the Turkish minority were guaranteed a veto over new laws, the Vice-Presidency and 30% of parliamentary seats.
In 1974 The Greek government, which was then a military dictatorship, engineered a coup d'état and imposed its own dictator Nikos Sampson, who suspended the constitution. Turkey invaded and soon partitioned the northern part of the island, about 37%.
In 2004 the then General Secretary of the UN, Kofi Annan suggested a resolution of the problem, which was accepted by the Turkish group and rejected by the Greeks. In the same year the EU fanned the flames of the dispute by allowing Cyprus (officially all of it but in practice the south) to join. Turkey cannot join the EU unless the dispute is resolved, and it is almost certain that Cypriot accession was encouraged by anti-Turkish elements in the EU, notably France.
The current president of N.Cyprus, Mehmet Ali Talat, has a good relationship with his Greek opposite number Dimitris Christophias and progress, albeit slow, has been made. The wall has been torn down and there is some cross border movement. But Talat is losing, according to the polls, to his opponent, the more hard line Dervis Eroglu.
This vote is important, not just to the EU, but to NATO, Russia and the Islamist problem. All we can do is hope for the best.
The history is not in dispute although almost everything else is. After the collapse of the Ottoman Empire Cyprus was annexed by the British, and granted independence in 1960. Under its constitution, the Turkish minority were guaranteed a veto over new laws, the Vice-Presidency and 30% of parliamentary seats.
In 1974 The Greek government, which was then a military dictatorship, engineered a coup d'état and imposed its own dictator Nikos Sampson, who suspended the constitution. Turkey invaded and soon partitioned the northern part of the island, about 37%.
In 2004 the then General Secretary of the UN, Kofi Annan suggested a resolution of the problem, which was accepted by the Turkish group and rejected by the Greeks. In the same year the EU fanned the flames of the dispute by allowing Cyprus (officially all of it but in practice the south) to join. Turkey cannot join the EU unless the dispute is resolved, and it is almost certain that Cypriot accession was encouraged by anti-Turkish elements in the EU, notably France.
The current president of N.Cyprus, Mehmet Ali Talat, has a good relationship with his Greek opposite number Dimitris Christophias and progress, albeit slow, has been made. The wall has been torn down and there is some cross border movement. But Talat is losing, according to the polls, to his opponent, the more hard line Dervis Eroglu.
This vote is important, not just to the EU, but to NATO, Russia and the Islamist problem. All we can do is hope for the best.
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