Winds of change sweep Cyprus

On February 13, Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders and the 
United Nations announced agreement on a historic framework that 
could result in the reunification of Cyprus by May 1. Agreement 
on the "Annan Plan," named after UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, 
comes after 30 years of struggle to end the partition and Turkish 
occupation. JOHN BACHTELL visited the Mediterranean island of 
Cyprus, located due south of Turkey, in June 2003 and conducted 
several interviews there. He files this report from Nicosia.

The walk through the UN-administered buffer zone is eerie. 
Concrete block walls are crowned with barbed wire. Armed UN 
sentries peer from observation towers. This is the famous 187-
mile-long [300 km]Green Line dividing Cyprus and its population 
of Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots ever since the 1974 
Turkish invasion and occupation.

But something new is happening. The Green Line is opening. 
Turkish and Greek Cypriots are getting reacquainted after years 
of separation. "Rapprochement" has totally discredited the idea 
that "Greek and Turkish Cypriots can not live together", Andros 
Kyprianou told a visitor. Kyprianou is international secretary of 
the Progressive Party of Working People (AKEL) and a member of 
parliament.

In the December 15 parliamentary elections in the Turkish-
occupied north, the pro-reunification Republican Turkish Party 
(RTP) in alliance with the Peace and Democracy Movement won 48 
percent of the vote, slightly more than the ruling parties. The 
victory overcame intimidation from the regime of Raul Denktash, 
the Turkish Cypriot nationalist in power since the 1974 invasion.

Despite the deep divisions in the north, the election gives hope 
the wall will come tumbling down.

Cyprus: strategic Mediterranean Island

The island nation of Cyprus (population 900,000), the 
mythological birthplace of the Greek goddess Aphrodite, is 
located in the far eastern Mediterranean. Geography has chosen 
Cyprus to be a strategic crossroads of trade, occupation and 
spoil of war for thousands of years. Its name is derived from the 
word "copper" whose rich deposits were exploited for centuries. 
Today the copper mines are closed and the Cyprus economy is based 
on tourism and international banking.

Successive empires, including the Persians, Greeks, Romans, and 
Turkish Ottomans ruled it, resulting in the current population of 
Greek Cypriots (78 percent), Turkish Cypriots (18 percent) and 
other smaller minorities.

The British began colonising Cyprus in 1878 and annexed it in 
1914 at the start of World War I. This sparked a bitter 
independence struggle, which accelerated after the Second World 
War. The British maintained rule by dividing Greek and Turkish 
Cypriots.

Nationalism was inflamed by dangling annexation of Cyprus before 
both Greece and Turkey. The British coaxed Turkey to infiltrate 
paramilitary goons to terrorise Turkish Cypriots advocating bi-
communalism. Meanwhile discrimination against the Turkish Cypriot 
minority went unchecked.

The Cypriot independence movement was victorious in 1960. 
However, the new country was forced to concede to the British 
territory for two large military bases. The bases quartered 
10,000 troops and were staging areas for British military 
operations in the Middle East.

The Green Line is drawn

The leader of the Cypriot independence movement was Greek 
Orthodox Church Archbishop Makarios (1913-1977). After 
independence he became the first president and guided Cyprus on a 
path of non-alignment in foreign affairs and relations with the 
Soviet Union. This alarmed British and US imperialism, which 
feared a "Cuba in the Mediterranean". Plans were hatched to 
overthrow the democratically elected government.

It was not until the early 1970s that US ruling circles felt an 
urgency to "solve the Cyprus problem once and for all". Faced 
with a fiscal crisis, Britain's Heath Labour Government proposed 
closing one of the bases. Alarmed, the Nixon administration swung 
into action.

Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, architect of the bloody coup 
in Chile, arranged a deal between Greece and Turkey to partition 
Cyprus. The plot unfolded when the US-installed military junta in 
Greece carried out a coup of the Makarios government on July 15, 
1974, and signalled its intention to annex Cyprus. The Turkish 
military government responded by invading and still occupies 37 
percent of the island with 40,000 troops.

Over 3000 people were killed or disappeared. Turkish Cypriots 
living in the south were forced to move to the northern occupied 
area and Greek Cypriots were forced to move south. Over 30 
percent of the island's population became refugees.

For years the military establishment in Turkey sought to 
formalise the annexation of the occupied area. About 120,000 
peasants from Turkey's Anatolia region were resettled there in 
direct violation of international law, and were awarded property 
belonging to Greek Cypriots who had been expelled. But occupation 
and international isolation has kept the northern part of Cyprus 
in a state of poverty. Over 50,000 Turkish Cypriots have been 
forced to emigrate.

Partitioned and dominated by NATO, Cyprus would be used for Cold 
War strategic purposes and became one of the most heavily 
militarised places in the world. US imperialism used the British 
military bases and its own secret installations in the north to 
spy on Soviet military forces. They were vital to domination of 
Middle East oil reserves and protection of the Mediterranean Sea 
shipping lanes. Nuclear weapons were stationed off the coast.

After the Soviet Union collapsed the independence struggle 
confronted new global realities, including US imperialism's sole 
superpower ambition. Today Cyprus is not only coveted for its 
strategic location and the British military bases. US policy is 
also related to immediate and long-term regional interests: the 
cohesion of NATO in the southern region, stable Greek-Turkish 
bilateral relations, and Turkey's EU aspirations. As a key US 
ally, Turkey is integral to plans for the Middle East region and 
developing an east-west corridor to Caspian Sea and 
Transcaucasian oil.

The election of today's Erdogan Government in Turkey brought a 
change in attitude toward Cyprus, opening the door for UN 
mediated reunification talks. But these collapsed in March 2003 
when the Bush administration promised Turkey's still powerful 
military leaders support for annexation of the occupied sector. 
In return Turkey would support the invasion of Iraq.

Rapprochement transforms Cyprus

Over the past 10 years the friendship movement between Turkish 
and Greek Cypriots has blossomed. Bi-communal events and 
festivals have been held between trade unionists, teachers, 
youth, artists, athletes and others. There is majority sentiment 
for ending the partition.

Relations between Greek and Turkish Cypriot workers have been 
maintained all along according to Pambis Kyritsis, head of the 
70,000 strong Pancyprian Federation of Labour (PEO). "In the past 
we had thousands of Turkish Cypriot members. But (with partition) 
they were obliged to have their own union. After 1974 we started 
intensive efforts to bring the communities together," he said.

"Today an All-Cyprus Trade Union Forum gathers all trade 
unionists in Cyprus -- Greeks and Turks. This is the only bi-
communal platform that has developed clear solutions for 
reunification of the country", said Kyritsis.

PEO is aiding the Turkish Cypriot workers employed in the free 
area of Cyprus. They are fighting to prevent discrimination, 
essential if rapprochement is to be successful.

The friendship movement has radically transformed Cypriot 
politics. In February 2003 a new centre-left coalition government 
was elected advocating reunification. The coalition is made up of 
AKEL (formerly the Communist Party of Cyprus), the leading party 
with 35 percent; the Democratic Party of the current president 
Tassos Papadopoulos (17 percent); the Socialists, Greens and some 
other minor parties and movements.

Shift among Turkish Cypriots

Izzet Izcan and Ozker Ozgur are two leaders of the United Cyprus 
Party (UCP) based in the Turkish-occupied area. Sitting at a cafi 
on Lidras Street in Nicosia, which abruptly ends at a UN 
barricade, they are approached by a steady stream of well 
wishers.

The December 15 vote reflected a sweeping shift in thinking among 
the Turkish Cypriot population toward reunification.

With the influx of Turkish settlers and exodus of Turkish 
Cypriots, "people have realised that unless they act, it's the 
end of the Turkish Cypriot community. The EU process, the Annan 
plan, the new government in Turkey and the economic crisis in the 
north have all contributed to the mass uprising", said Izcan.

The UCP is just a year old but was instrumental in initiating the 
Peace and Democracy Movement and the alliance with the Turkish 
Republican Party in the elections.

"Even though the Annan plan is a compromise, it is the basis of a 
broad coalition of forces that encompasses the entire Turkish 
Cypriot community", explained Ozgur.

The Annan Plan and the European Union

Only Turkey officially recognises the Denktash government. This 
isolation was instrumental in forcing Denktash to open the Green 
Line on April 23, 2003, and to seriously negotiate.

The Annan Plan resulted from years of talks. It calls for a 
unified country with a single citizenship residing in two equal 
states. The parliament would be composed of two chambers, one 
with equal representation and the other proportional to 
population. The plan calls for the removal of Turkish troops, but 
not the British bases.

Reunification has also been boosted by Cyprus' acceptance to 
European Union (EU) membership May 1. Without an agreement, the 
EU will only recognise the Cyprus government and not the northern 
occupied area. Turkish ruling circles fear that obstructing a 
solution will harm Turkey's application for EU membership.

AKEL, which had formerly opposed joining the EU, changed its 
position in 1995. They concluded that due to the collapse of the 
Soviet Union and the weakening of the non-aligned movement, 
unfavourable conditions for unification now existed.

On this issue they differ with most European Communist parties 
who have opposed the formation of the EU and its expansion. No 
one disagrees that the EU policies favour European monopoly 
corporations and promote militarism. But AKEL says all 
possibilities should be taken advantage of.

Nor is AKEL naove about problems accompanying EU membership. The 
new government is taking steps to ensure the public sector is 
modernised to effectively compete against monopoly corporations 
and privatisation. AKEL will join with other European trade 
unions and social forces fighting to protect workers' rights.

"We will keep up our principles and fight inside for the people," 
said Kyprianou. "Nothing is easy. We are ready for difficult 
struggles."

AKEL grows

Deeply rooted in the independence and bi-communal movement, AKEL 
never suffered significant losses like many Communist parties 
after 1991. Their popularity grew throughout the 1990s. As the 
leading party, AKEL has four ministers in the new government and 
holds 26 mayoralties.

AKEL's modest offices sit in a residential neighbourhood in 
Nicosia. This is where one can meet Kyprianou. He recounted that 
after the 1974 invasion, AKEL was the lone voice for 
reunification.

"At the height of hostilities between the two communities, AKEL 
began a campaign that the 'Turkish Cypriots are not our enemies. 
They are our brothers.' AKEL members were accused of being 
traitors", said Kyprianou. "We fought both Turkish and Greek 
nationalism. We never wavered and persistent struggle paid off."

AKEL has been the key political force influencing public 
sentiment and the architect of the broad alliance for 
reunification. EDON, the communist youth organisation, has also 
grown in popularity. EDON has increased its vote from 12 percent 
in 1994 to 42 percent in 2003 in university government elections.

AKEL envisions a bi-communal, bi-zonal federation based on total 
equality between the two communities. The Turkish Cypriot region 
would be autonomous and under their own administration. But the 
two communities would live together in every sense of the word. 
AKEL doesn't see the Annan Plan as the final solution.

"It is very difficult to reach an ideal political solution for 
Cyprus. When you have broad alliances the solutions are based on 
how far coalition partners are willing to go", said Kyprianou. 
Following unification the struggle will continue against the 
effects of corporate globalisation, for independence from British 
and US influence and a socialist Cyprus.

In the meantime the pressures for reunification have become 
unstoppable. The acceptance of the Annan Plan marks the opening 
of a new stage in the struggle to reunite Cyprus. The road ahead 
will be difficult, but confidence is strong the wall will yet 
come tumbling down.

* * *

John Bachtell, a member of the national board of the Communist 
Party USA, visited Cyprus in June 2003.
People's Weekly World, paper of Communist Party, USA