Issue No. 13366

HIS CYPRIOT compatriots call him “the doctor”, a sign of respect for 89-year-old veteran socialist leader Vasos Lyssaridis.

 

In the 1950s he fought in the EOKA liberation struggle and opposed the ill-fated Zurich-London agreements that ended British colonial rule over the island.

 

As leader for more than three decades of the EDEK socialist party that he founded (he retired in 2002), Lyssaridis forged a close friendship with the late former Greek premier Andreas Papandreou. In 2004, he was among the vocal opponents of the UN-sponsored Annan settlement plan, which Greek-Cypriots overwhelmingly rejected because it was seen as establishing Turkish influence over the entire island.

 

In an interview with the Athens News, Lyssaridis suggests he is still fighting for independence from foreign intervention that Cyprus failed to win in 1960. And, he insists, Greek-Cypriots will again say no to the Annan-style plan he believes the international community is aiming for, as it would effectively give Turkey a determinative say in Cyprus’ affairs. 

 

 

Lyssaridis is pessimistic about ongoing talks between Cyprus President Dimitris Christofias and Turkish-Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat, believing that Christofias from the start made dangerous concessions that will cause permanent tensions if implemented.

 

He insists a joint Christofias-Talat communique in May 2008 issued before the start of the talks - which spoke of  two component states that will enter a partnership to form a federation - put the negotiations on the wrong footing.

 

A settlement, he insists, must aim at the transformation of the existing Republic of Cyprus into a federation, not the so-called virgin birth of an entirely new state.

 

Lyssaridis, like many in Cyprus, opposes Christofias’ acceptance of a rotating presidency (between a Greek-Cypriot and Turkish-Cypriot), as it undermines the principle of majority rule and would lead to having a Turkish settler as president, as they outnumber native Turkish-Cypriots.

 

Secondly, he says Christofias was wrong to accept from the outset that 50,000 settlers from mainland Turkey will be allowed to remain on the island. He stresses that the settlement of conquered territory is illegal under international law. Even if a number of settlers are allowed to stay for humanitarian reasons, Lyssaridis says Turkey must first acknowledge the illegality of its act.

 

“A country [Turkey] cannot send over a population greater than that of the occupied territory, making the Turkish-Cypriot community a minority, and let that go unnoticed,” he says.

 

Lyssaridis said Greek-Cypriots would have rejected the Annan Plan in 2004 even if Tassos Papadopoulos had not been president.

 

“The ‘no’ was already established in the public conscience. The presidential ‘no’ simply cemented the public rejection of the plan.

 

 

“Right now, public sentiment would not accept an Annan-style plan. But there is a huge effort underway to brainwash the people into believing that there is no better solution - that rejecting it will lead to partition and a dangerous increase in Turkish settlers. If we are not vigilant and the other side mobilises, it could pass,” Lyssaridis suggests.

 

Would Lyssaridis choose partition over Annan?
“I choose neither. But the solution they propose now is effectively partition - combined with Turkish control over the free areas. Nobody would accept that.

 

“We want to abolish the existing partition to create a unified state. The whole national council, in its effort to pass the so-called bizonal, bicommunal federation formula, defined it as a unitary space, state, economy and institutions. The council also called for the withdrawal of foreign troops and settlers. But foreigners see it differently. For them, bizonal means the two communities will always be separate,” Lyssaridis says.

 

“As long as there are two bodies that will be separate in a country, a crisis is unavoidable. If we don’t have a democracy where all are citizens of the same state regardless of ethnic origin, we will be in perpetual crisis.

 

“We must have common electoral lists, with Turkish-Cypriot rights guaranteed with quotas. Democracy means the majority rules and minority rights are guaranteed constitutionally.

 

Turkish-Cypriots must participate in all state organs, the government and parliament. But if you have four Greek-Cypriots and two Turkish Cypriots on an institution, and the latter can block any decision, then you have a deadlock. And with Turkey’s control over the Turkish-Cypriot administration, that would be daily.”

 

 

Lyssaridis argues that Talat’s public statements are harmonised with the views of Turkey regarding two separate states and peoples, and that Turkey must be persuaded that its broader interests are served by a viable Cyprus solution.

 

“Turkey says clearly that it needs Cyprus for its regional and energy policy. Christofias was wrong to retract his statement that Europe appeases Turkey as Chamberlain appeased Hitler,” he said.
Lyssaridis insists Cyprus must veto continuation of Turkey’s EU membership talks if it does not fulfil its obligations.

 

“That is what the national council decided unanimously. The aim is for Christofias to follow that decision,” he says.

 

Lyssaridis says Cyprus should follow a multifaceted strategy, allying with powers like France and Austria to create pockets of support for its policy in the EU. In the United States, it can draw more on the support of Congress, which has called for the withdrawal of Turkish troops.

 

In addition, he says Cyprus should better exploit its geostrategic position, near the Middle East, where Russia seeks to gain a foothold.

 

“The Turks are speaking to the Syrians, but we have no strategy to use those whose interests coincide with ours,” he said. 

ATHENS NEWS 30/08/2010, page: 12