Interesting read
Zurich - from curse to blessing in disguise
By Makarios Droushiotis
TODAY, October 1st, like every year, is a holiday. Most of us have the day off to celebrate our country's independence. Yet few of us recall that, according to the constitution, the Republic of Cyprus is a bicommunal state with a Greek President and a Turkish Vice President (the Constitution makes no mention of Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, only of Greeks and Turks), a Council of Ministers consisting of 7 Greeks and 3 Turks, and a mixed House of Representatives, with seats divided between the two communities in the same proportion.
Often, those who oppose a federal solution to the Cyprus issue suggest a return to the unitary state of the Zurich agreements with a President, a Vice President and a mixed House of Representatives. If there were a choice between the Zurich agreements and a federation, the majority would undoubtedly choose a return to Zurich. The Zurich agreements have also been lauded by ex-President Tassos Papadopoulos as a "blessing" for Cyprus, which had not been properly valued at the time. In a public speech he gave on January 13, 2005, he said that the Constitution of 1960 "was not, on one hand, Union with Greece, but on the other, it was something better: it was independence for the people as a whole."
How satisfactory the Constitution of 1960 was, under the circumstances, can be seen today in the efforts of President Christofias to enhance the bizonality of the Republic of Cyprus and to introduce the presidential system into the proposed solution, offering rotation of the presidency in exchange.
Why the Zurich agreements collapsed in 1963 is a separate issue. What will be examined here is the fate of the mixed legislative and executive instruments of the Republic of Cyprus, that is, the House of Representatives and the government. All the information used here is drawn from reports by the then United Nations Secretary-General U Thant, which are the most objective of all available information sources. Note that none of these sources are cited in any of the history textbooks used in our schools. In any case, the history taught in our schools is flawless and does not require any revision.
After the collapse
Immediately after the collapse of the Zurich agreements in December 1963, the Turkish government under Prime Minister Inonu urged the Turkish Cypriots to return to the Republic of Cyprus. In a letter to Vice President Fazil Kucuk dated March 9, 1964, Ismet Inonu called upon him to seek an understanding with President Makarios and return to the government, with the Vice President and Ministers leading, and the Ministers, the Representatives and later, the civil servants, following.
Kucuk replied the next day, saying that this was impossible, citing a crisis of confidence and fear, and claiming that if he insisted, the Turkish Cypriot officials would resign their posts.
The Turkish government of the day was in conflict with the Turkish Army and desired the implementation of the Zurich agreements. That is why they forced Rauf Denktash to remain exiled in Turkey from 1964 until 1968. The Turkish Cypriot leadership and the paramilitary organisation TMT were under the influence of the army, which desired the division of Cyprus.
The Turkish Cypriots were unwilling to return to the Republic of Cyprus, but the Greek Cypriots were also unwilling to accept them. As early as March 1964, the Greek Cypriot leadership had renounced independence, and set its sights on immediate union with Greece. Until this was achieved, the Greek Cypriots treated the Republic of Cyprus as a purely Greek state, unilaterally abolishing those provisions of the Constitution which secured the bicommunality of the state. The Turkish Cypriot response to this was to demand immediate implementation of the Constitution, which fo |
