Category: Main Issues

Greek Cypriot Leader Anastasiades seem to be playing Russian Roulette, just like Makarios did in the pre 1974 days.

Russian naval exercises in the eastern mediterranean are no good omen for the already heated region! Particularly considering that Anastasiades has left the peace negotiations, this can only be seen as an adventure which can only bring further disasters to Cyprus.

Greek Cypriot Leader Anastasiades with Vladimir Putin

RUSSIA’s decision to hold navy exercises in waters east of the island on Monday, the same day Turkey intends to send its seismic research vessel into Cypriot offshore blocks, is no coincidence, government spokesman Nicos Christodoulides said yesterday.

Speaking to the public broadcaster from Milan, Christodoulides said: “Nothing is by chance in politics.”

He made the comments after President Nicos Anastasiades met Russian President Vladimir Putin late on Thursday on the sidelines of the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) in Milan.

The two leaders sat next to each other for two hours during an official dinner for visiting heads of state and government, hosted by the Italian President, current rotating head of the EU Presidency.

According to Christodoulides, the two men had an extensive discussion on EU-Russia relations, bilateral relations and the Cyprus problem, with emphasis on Turkey’s decision to issue a NAVTEX reserving large swathes of Cyprus’ Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) for seismic studies, resulting in Anastasiades suspending peace talks.

“President Putin reaffirmed the Russian position of principle with regard to both the solution of the Cyprus problem and the inalienable right of the Republic of Cyprus to exploit its natural resources within its EEZ, and characterised any violation of the sovereign rights of the Republic of Cyprus as unacceptable,” said the spokesman in a written statement.

Speaking later to CyBC, the spokesman said the two leaders had a “very good discussion”. Putin was well aware of what was going on in Cyprus’ EEZ regarding Turkey’s unprecedented decision to announce seismic research and possible drilling south of Cyprus, in blocks already licenced to Italian-Korean consortium ENI-KOGAS.

“He knew about the positions of Nicosia within the EU regarding discussions on sanctions against Russia,” said Christodoulides, in reference to Cyprus’ efforts to dampen enthusiasm for wide-reaching sanctions against Moscow within the European Council over its activities in eastern Ukraine.

The two leaders agreed to stay in contact, said the spokesman, adding that a lot of discussion was had at a European level with Russia on relations between the two sides.

“Moscow recognises the constructive and balanced role played by Cyprus. So, we will see the developments within that framework, and then depending, proceed with an exchange of visits,” between Anastasiades and Putin, said Christodoulides.

The four-day Russian navy drills will be taking place inside the Nicosia Flight Information Region (FIR) in a reserved area stretching from off Cape Apostolos Andreas in the occupied northeastern tip to the coast of Syria.

“We were informed from the first moment by the Russian side. We’re talking about the Nicosia FIR, so the Cyprus Republic had to be informed.”

A joint Cyprus-Israel search and rescue exercise in Cyprus’ FIR is also scheduled for next Tuesday.

The seating arrangements at the Milan dinner will likely become the subject of much discussion back home, as the president’s relations with Moscow have recently come under heavy fire from opposition parties.

According to reports, the government actively sought a meeting with Putin at the summit.

Anastasiades came under a barrage of criticism last week for his Westpolitik – realignment of foreign policy to sit unreservedly in the ranks of the west, particularly under the leadership of the United States. Opposition parties argued this came at the expense of traditional relations with Moscow, which has always been willing to help Cyprus change the odd word or sentence in a UN Security Council Resolution, or even use its veto.

Condemnation from the opposition heightened after the US issued a lukewarm response to Turkey’s stated intention to search and drill for gas south of the island, off the Limassol coastline.

The government may have pointed to diplomatic activity taking place behind the scenes, but the presidential palace’s disappointment was palpable at the lack of firm vocal support from the US.

It’s likely that the ongoing siege by Islamic State forces against Syrian Kurds in Kobani, and Ankara’s calculated game of brinkmanship regarding possible intervention, depending on the establishment of a safety zone and no-fly zone in north Syria, has been the US State Department’s main priority at present.

The announcement of the Russian naval exercise would have given the Cypriot government something tangible to present to the public, however, since beyond its bark, Nicosia has little to bite with.

It remains to be seen whether dinner with Putin marks a return to the island’s traditional Ostpolitik or whether Anastasiades will ride the storm and continue investing in a future under the umbrella of western influence.

ON THE sidelines of the ASEM Summit, Anastasiades also held separate meetings yesterday with European Council President Herman Van Rompuy and Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi.

Discussion focused on Turkey’s intention to violate Cyprus’ sovereign rights at a time when ENI-KOGAS is in the process of drilling in its offshore block 9 concession.

During the meetings, Cyprus’ sovereign rights were reaffirmed, as was the need for uninterrupted drilling within its EEZ.

The spokesman said all the president’s interlocutors responded very positively. “Nobody can justify Turkey’s intentions. More so for those states that have particularly sensitivities in the eastern Mediterranean. They are more concerned than Scandinavian countries, you can understand why, because there is more concern in our region regarding Turkey’s intentions.”

  Küfi Seydali

 

Italy has protested to Ankara over the latter’s actions in the Cypriot exclusive economic zone, the Cyprus News Agency said.

CNA said Italy was particularly displeased by Turkey’s decision to reserve a large section of sea in Cyprus’ EEZ for seismic studies- cutting through five blocks, including block 9 where Italian-South Korean consortium ENI-KOGAS is currently drilling for gas

The move has led Greek Cypriot Leader Nicos Anastasiades to suspend direct negotiations in the reunification process.

Anastasiades will raise the issue of the Turkish provocations during his meetings with foreign leaders on the sidelines of the 10th Asia-Europe Summit (ASEM) which is taking place in Milan.

CNA said Anastasiades will meet, among others, with the President of the European Council and the Italian Prime Minister, whose country currently holds the rotating EU presidency, but also with leaders of Asian countries such as Singapore and Malaysia.

Anastasiades is expected to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

  Küfi Seydali

Comment by KS :

What on earth does Italy has to do with Cyprus? Cyprus belongs to Greek and Turkish Cypriots! The dispute can only be solved by the two sides and not by greedy Italians who are after a piece of the cake! The Italians just like the EU has forgotten that the 50 years old Cyprus problem has not yet been solved. The way the Greek side is going on, it is also not likely that it will ever be solved.

THE ‘WITHDRAWAL’ of  Nicos Anastasiades from the talks reminds one of the well-known saying from the Cypriot vernacular, that “the anger of the peasant is a loss to his pocket.”

It also reminded me of a simple-minded character from the 1970s called Takis. He was a very likeable chap who would walk the streets of Nicosia carrying his belongings in many bags and was generally known as “Takis who throws his things”.

Takis had a paranoid fear of the police and we, being nasty teenagers, would cruelly tell him that we would call the police to arrest him. At the uttering of the word ‘police’, poor Takis would fly into a rage, cursing and shouting at us – “You rascals, if you annoy me again I will throw all my things.”

We would wind him up again – just like the Turks have been doing to us with the seismic ship Barbaros – and a furious Takis, cursing and crying, would open one bag after the other and empty the contents, which included cups, containers, worry-beads, keys, clothes and trinkets, on to road.

The road would be filled with Takis’ things and traffic would stop. We would then run away and the hapless Takis would collect his things and put them back in the bag.

Back to the talks. Someone asked me, what Anastasiades wanted. The answer: he just found a pretext to stop the talks’ procedure. He has become just like Christofias and Papadopoulos – he does not want a settlement, any settlement.

He wants, like his predecessors, the perpetuation of the status quo because this ensures that he remains seated in the presidential chair.
It was no accident that he wasted a whole year after his election, without making any move about the Cyprus problem.

Nor was it a coincidence that the proposals he submitted to the other side contained the insane demand that the Greek Cypriot community would elect the Greek Cypriot president and Turkish Cypriot vice president.

The man is trying to destroy all possibility of an agreement, presumably because only the continuation of the status quo would ensure he holds on to the presidency, at least until 2018.

This is the only rational explanation for the foolish decision he took, amid much fanfare, with the rest of our political dwarves. At the time of writing, there was no information that Turkey had declared a day of mourning or its President Erdogan was inconsolable because Anastasiades had decided to withdraw from the talks.

Dervis Eroglu responded to the decision on the same day. He said: “We want them to return to the talks. But if they do not want to return, we will not force them back.”

This is Anastasiades’ achievement – allowing Eroglu to mock us. Of course, in a few days, his self-delusion that the Americans and Europeans will force Turkey’s ship out of our EEZ will be exposed.

There are two possibilities now. First Turkey would find an excuse to justify an even bigger intervention in our EEZ. Ankara would tell anyone who made representations the following: “As we have been saying all along, the Greek Cypriots want everything for themselves. Anastasiades said that after a settlement the revenue from the natural gas would be shared by everyone in Cyprus. The Greek Cypriots do not want a settlement and have quit the peace process. But the drilling for gas continues which shows that they want it all for themselves.”

Second, foreign countries that have become fed up of our antics could turn round and tell us, “We have had enough and do not care whether you quit the talks.”

If they do not say this, they will explain to Anastasiades that for as long as he boycotts the talks, Turkey has a pretext to step up the gas explorations in Cyprus’ EEZ and that his only option is to return to the talks.

In which case, Anastasiades will have to grudgingly swallow his pride and pick up his things, just like Takis used to do.

 

  Küfi Seydali