The Hindu : International : E.U. angry over `no' vote in Cyprus referendum

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Apr 28, 2004

International

International

E.U. angry over `no' vote in Cyprus referendum

By Batuk Gathani

BRUSSELS, APRIL 27. The European Union has criticised the Greek Cypriots for voting `no' in the United Nations-initiated referendum seeking to unite the Greek and Turkish-held regions of Cyprus.

The Mediterranean island nation has remained divided for three decades after a long and hostile ethnic conflict, culminating in Turkish military presence in the island in 1974.

The United Nations peace plan has been in the making for four years and last month, the Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, took a personal initiative to solve the problem.

While an overwhelming majority of the Greek Cypriots rejected the U.N. plan, almost the same proportion of Turkish Cypriots accepted the plan.

Cyprus will join the European Union on May 1, but will remain politically, economically and ethnically divided between the Greek Orthodox Christians and Turkish Muslims.

The people on both sides of the "Green Line of Control'' patrolled by United Nations personnel will now effectively become the external border of the European Union as immigration and trade controls will have to be reinforced along the line. The E.U.'s Enlargement Commissioner, Gunter Verheugen, has said that the political damage of the `no' vote in the referendum was huge.

He expressed disappointment with Greek Cypriot leaders that they had `cheated' their way into the E.U. by initially indicating they favoured unification and then opposing it at the last hour. There are 480,000 registered Greek Cypriot voters and some 143,000 Turkish Cypriot voters and the turn-out on both sides was over 90 per cent. Some 65 per cent of the Greek Cypriots rejected the unification plan and a similar proportion of Turkish Cypriots supported it.

The E.U. Foreign Ministers are currently engaged in a two-day debate to discuss the benefits to Cyprus that were promised before the Sunday vote. The northern part of Cyprus is substantially poorer than the southern Cyprus controlled by Greek Cypriots. The U.S., which strongly supported the U.N.-sponsored unification plan, has expressed disappointment with the outcome of the vote. Turkey itself proposes to join the E.U. and fresh "accession talks'' between the country and the E.U. could commence at the end of the year. Turkey is the only trading partner of northern Cyprus and has some 35,000 troops stationed in the region.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

International