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Cem Warns that Annan's Proposals Might Cause Ethnic Unrest in Cyprus - UN Security Council - Global Policy Forum Cem Warns that Annan's Proposals Might Cause Ethnic Unrest in Cyprus
Agence France Presse
November 13, 2000Turkish Foreign Minister Ismail Cem has warned UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan that his proposals for resolving the Cyprus conflict could spark violence between the island's Turkish and Greek communities if implemented, Anatolia news agency reported.
"The Cyprus issue is not a joke. It may reach an atmosphere which might suddenly turn into an intifada, a new Bosnia or a new Kosovo," Cem told reporters in Doha after meeting Annan on the sidelines of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) summit, Anatolia reported late Sunday. "We will not allow this. We are very careful and are very vigilant on situations that might lead to mistaken steps (on the Cyprus issue)," he added.
Annan presented his proposals for a settlement to Cyprus' division in a "non-paper" when he met the island's leaders Wednesday in Geneva where they had a fifth round of UN-sponsored peace talks. Among the proposals were the reunification of Cyprus within a single state and a joint government.
The secretary-general's document triggered strong criticism from Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash and Turkey, the only state to recognize Denktash's breakaway Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC). On Friday, Denktash said in Geneva he would not accept the proposals which he said could in no way serve to bring peace to the island. Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit slammed the document at the weekend as unacceptable and underlined that any solution on Cyprus had to be between "the two equal states on the island."
Cyprus has been divided into two sectors since 1974 when Turkey invaded and occupied the northern third of the island in response to an Athens-engineered coup to unite the island with Greece. With full Turkish backing, Denktash maintains that the island should be reunified within a two-state confederation between the TRNC and the internationally-recognized Greek Cyprus. The Republic of Cyprus and the international community, on the other hand, favor a bi-zonal, bi-communal federation.
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