President says revised Cyprus plan could boost unity hopes

CYPRUS: The Cyprus President, Mr Tassos Papadopoulos, said yesterday that the divided island could be reunified if amendments are made to the UN plan rejected by 76 per cent of Greek Cypriots in a referendum on April 24th.

He stated: "Plans such as the Annan plan do not fade away. We must insist on bringing about a small number of changes to the plan which would render it acceptable and which would meet the concerns of the Greek Cypriots."

He said he intends to enlist the UN and European Union to provide assurances that the plan would be implemented, security would be guaranteed, and economic aspects would be modified to make the proposed United Cypriot Republic a going concern.

"I shall spare no effort, I will talk to anybody who wishes to hear me out . . . our sole objective is to reunite our country." He warned that submitting the plan to a second referendum without modifications "is not going to take place" because the result would be the same.

In a ceremony marking Europe Day, the House Speaker, Mr Dimitris Christofias, said the island's EU membership should "be exploited as a catalyst for a solution."

Mr Christofias heads the left-wing Akel party, the major force behind the bicommunal reconciliation movement and a strong advocate of reunification.

After 64 per cent of Turkish Cypriots voted for the Annan plan in the referendum, some of their politicians have engaged in innovative thinking. In the past, Turkish Cypriots had three options. Seek recognition for their breakaway state, absorption into mainland Turkey, or a UN-brokered negotiated solution. The first two options seem to have been dropped, the first because the international community has rejected recognition and the second because the majority of Turkish Cypriots do not want their homeland to become an offshore province of the motherland. The third awaits a resumption of talks.

Two major departures are, reportedly, being discussed. The least likely option, backed by Mr Sener Levent, editor of the outspoken Africa newspaper, is the re-absorption of the breakaway state by the Greek Cypriot majority Cyprus republic.

The other is unilateral implementation of provisions of the Annan plan in the expectation that the Greek Cypriots will endorse it. This possibility has been mentioned by the Turkish Cypriot Prime Minister, Mr Mehmet Ali Talat, and is advocated by two other leading pro-unification figures, Mr Ferdi Sabet Soyer, general secretary of the Republican Turkish party, and Mr Mustafa Akinci, head of the Peace and Democracy Movement.

Without going into specifics, Mr Soyer said that the Turkish Cypriots would "implement all the elements of the Annan plan, step by step."

He revealed that the government would begin construction of homes for Turkish Cypriots who would be displaced by the Turkish side's evacuation of territory under the plan.