Tag Archives: Turkish Cypriot

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Economic crisis sets back peace in divided Cyprus

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When the barriers carving Cyprus in half were finally breached 10 years ago this week, Turkish Cypriot Fethi Akinci forged what some might consider the unlikeliest of friendships with Yiannis Maratheftis — the Greek Cypriot he almost killed in battle with a gunshot to the head.

The shooting took place on a July morning in 1974, as invading Turkish forces pushed forward in the wake a failed coup by supporters of uniting the island with Greece. The friendship took root once the two men, now in their 60s, met in 2009, an encounter made possible by the checkpoint openings. Akinci had discovered from a book Maratheftis wrote that the soldier he’d shot was alive — and sought out his onetime enemy.

The story of Maratheftis and Akinci was one of the many signs of reconciliation that emerged after the barriers were opened, allowing crossings after three decades of complete separation. The number of crossings has now reached into the millions. But these flickers of hope for reunification are at risk of being snuffed out as the island confronts what could be its worst economic crisis, making prospects for reconciliation appear dimmer than ever.

With its once-robust banking sector decimated and unemployment soaring amid harsh EU-imposed austerity, Greek Cypriots seem to have little appetite for any radical and potentially expensive change that would add to their overwhelming sense of uncertainty about their future. The island joined the European Union in 2004, but membership benefits only extend to residents in the south. The Turkish Cypriots, on the other hand, have had a close-up look at the financial chaos that EU membership can bring, and may be in no hurry to join the club.

“It worsened the prospect for settlement,” says Hubert Faustmann, political science professor at the University of Nicosia. “A solution is costly, and there is less money now or hardly any money if any money left to finance that.”

There’s been no 10th anniversary commemoration this week. That early euphoria amid scenes of a crush people eager to cross over and see homes and properties that belonged to families for generations — then left hastily left behind — is now a faded memory.

Turkish Cypriots were first to rebel in the early 2000s against their isolation, angry at seeing their future drying up amid a collapsing economy. That compelled Turkish Cypriot authorities to loosen restrictions on crossings and to open checkpoints, putting an end to the Turkish Cypriots‘ nearly complete isolation on a sliver of

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Turkish Cypriots: Solidarity tinged with relief

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Barbed wire-topped walls stretch across the narrow, twisted streets of Nicosia’s walled medieval city, where abandoned buildings extend across a no-man’s land. On the other side, Turkish Cypriots have been watching with fascination — and consternation — as the economy of their long prosperous southern neighbors implodes.

Separated by a militarized border, Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots had no contact for the best part of 30 years from the mid-1970s onwards; they have only been able to cross from one side to the other for the last decade. Torn apart by inter-ethnic strife that climaxed in a 1974 Turkish invasion, the two sides have much to be bitter about.

But bitterness is not the dominant sentiment in northern Nicosia, as the southern side that once proudly trumpeted its membership in the euro currency goes into meltdown.

“I am very sorry about it,” said Selcuk Ekendal, a soft-spoken Turkish Cypriot pensioner watching friends play cards in a coffee shop, not far from the barricades dividing north from south. This is not just a southern affair, he insists: “The crisis is everywhere.”

But the truth is, the crisis doesn’t directly affect Turkish Cypriots. Without any financial ties to the south, and outside of the eurozone, the north has not been touched by the Greek Cypriot economic disintegration.

Unrecognized by any country apart from Turkey, the breakaway Turkish Cypriot state has no direct trade partners apart from Turkey — making it almost entirely dependent on the large emerging power. That was once a curse but these days it’s looking increasingly like, if not a blessing, at least a safety net.

To be sure, the north has long languished as an economic backwater, while the Greek Cypriots in the south enjoyed a post-invasion financial boom that many dubbed an ‘economic miracle’ and led to decades of sustained growth, eventually allowing them to clinch coveted EU membership.

For Greek Cypriots, being part of the euro club now seems in many ways a shackle — because of the harsh conditions imposed on staying inside, and the even more frightening consequences of leaving. The Turkish Cypriot economy is so dependent on Turkey that it even uses the Turkish lira as its de facto currency. But these days, there’s an element of relief, although remarkably little gloating, in being able to watch the euro turmoil as a spectator.

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Conservative set to win Cyprus presidency

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Battered by a debt crisis, a leadership vacuum and facing near-empty coffers, Cyprus is holding a presidential runoff Sunday, a vote that conservative Nicos Anastasiades is expected to win handily.

Anastasiades, the 66-year-old leader of the Democratic Rally party, is going to have to act fast once he does get in office, quickly securing a financial rescue package so his country can avoid a bankruptcy that would trigger more turmoil among the 17 nations that use the euro.

He won 45.5 percent of the vote in last Sunday’s first round, well ahead of left-wing newcomer Stavros Malas who won 26.9 percent and independent Giorgos Lillikas with 24.9 percent.

Lillikas has not chosen to endorse either candidate in the two-man runoff but political analyst Christophoros Christophorou said Lillikas’ supporters are a diverse bunch who are unlikely to tip the scales against Anastasiades. The conservatives have capitalized on widespread discontent over what many view as five years of failed rule by outgoing President Dimitris Christofias and his communist-rooted AKEL party. An Anastasiades campaign billboard reading “Could you stand another five years of the same?” plays to that discontent.

“I would be very surprised if there’s no landslide in favor of Anastasiades,” said University of Cyprus political science professor Antonis Ellinas.

Cyprus, a divided island of around a million people in the far eastern end of the Mediterranean, is one of the smallest members of the 27-nation European Union and faces deep political and economic problems.

In 1974, it was split into an internationally recognized Greek Cypriot south and a breakaway Turkish Cypriot north after a coup by supporters of union with Greece — and decades of talks on resolving that division so far have gone nowhere. Only the 545,000 eligible voters in the south will cast their ballots in the election.

On the economic side, Cyprus has only enough money to pay salaries until the end of April and European leaders are expected to decide on a Cyprus bailout in the latter half of March.

Last year the country was forced to seek financial assistance of as much as €17 billion ($22.7 billion) — roughly equivalent to its annual gross domestic product — from the other eurozone partners and the International Monetary Fund after its banks lost billions on bad Greek debt. The size of the bailout has raised fears Cyprus won’t be …read more
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News, Politics, Government

Cyprus to grant new gas drilling license

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Cyprus will give France’s Total SA a license to drill for offshore oil and gas deposits, a move the cash-strapped country hopes will yield much-needed revenue.

Government spokesman Stefanos Stefanou said Tuesday the licensing deal, which will be signed Wednesday, covers drilling in two of 13 blocks on the southern coast that make up the country’s 19,700 square mile (51,000 square kilometer) exclusive economic zone.

The two blocks lie west of a gas field — now being developed by U.S. firm Noble Energy and its Israeli partner Delek — that holds an estimated 5-8 trillion cubic feet (140-230 billion cubic meters).

The deal comes two weeks after Cyprus licensed a consortium made up of Italy’s ENI SpA and South Korea’s Kogas to drill in three other blocks.

New revenue from gas production would be good news for cash-strapped Cyprus, which is trying to finalize an international rescue loan of as much as €17 billion ($23 billion) — roughly equivalent to the country’s entire economic output — for its ailing banks and economy.

Charles Ellinas, who heads the newly-established Cyprus National Hydrocarbons Company, said Total is looking to drill for oil which is easier to extract and deliver to markets.

Cypriot waters are estimated to hold at least 60 trillion cubic feet (1.7 trillion cubic meters) of gas, according to Ellinas. That would be plenty to cover domestic needs for decades and supply Europe‘s growing demand for the fossil fuel.

Ellinas said that at the going price of €7.4 billion ($10 billion) for 1 trillion cubic feet of gas, Cyprus stands to earn big profits once a planned onshore processing facility is built to produce liquefied natural gas, which can then be exported. He said the start of gas exports has been set for 2019.

Cypriot Commerce Minister Neoklis Sylikiotis said the aim is for Cyprus to become a regional energy hub. The country is now in talks with Israel, which has discovered substantial offshore gas fields of its own, on ways to jointly process their reserves at the planned Cypriot facility for export.

Lebanon could also join the project with its own potential offshore gas deposits.

However, Cyprus‘ gas ambitions face strong opposition from Turkey, which doesn’t recognize it as a sovereign country. Cyprus was split into an internationally recognized Greek Cypriot south and a breakaway Turkish Cypriot north in 1974, when Turkey invaded after a coup by supporters of Union with Greece.

Turkey says Turkish Cypriot rights are being ignored, has claimed some of Cyprus‘ offshore blocks as its own and has warned that it would react strongly to gas exploration by Cyprus.

Cyprus says exploiting its natural resourses is its sovereign right backed by the United Nations and the European Union and that Turkish Cypriots can reap the benefits once a political accord reunifying the island is reached.

Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox World News