Cyprus-Forum.com

OK, here goes ...

These are my thoughts so far on how to proceed with a re-drafting of the UN Plan ... please vote, and then let me have your comments ... why did you vote the way you did?

If you need clarifications before you can vote, please ask me ...


Draft framework agreement for a Comprehensive Settlement

a.Security

The Annan Plan approach – that the Treaty of Guarantee and the Treaty of Alliance should continue to apply “mutatis mutandis”, is unacceptable. An integrated security system needs to be devised, which will involve as little mother-land interference as possible, and which will eventually evolve into an all-Cypriot sovereign defense system, part of a future European Common Defense. Greece and Turkey will maintain "last resort" rights to protect the GCc and TCs respectively, only if the Cypriot security system breaks down.

b.Implementation Guarantees

The Annan Plan does not offer any particular guarantees for implementation, except for vague generalities by the EU and the UN that they will “oversee the implementation of the Solution”. What we need are particular guarantees, for particular aspects of the Solution, with particular and severe penalties for non-implementation.

c.Legal Status

The “virgin birth approach” of the Annan Plan would create, legally speaking, a big mess, and would also inhibit communication of Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots about their past. It should be replaced with a clear formula for Continuity, but in such a way as will also be acceptable to Turkish Cypriots. More particularly, the new state of affairs will be "the evolution of the Republic of Cyprus into a Federation", the GC administration up to today will be officially known as the "temporary caretaker government of the Republic of Cyprus", while the TC administration up to today will be officially known as "the temporary Turkish Cypriot administration"

d. Social Integration

The Annan Plan institutes segregation of the two communities on every level: Segregated voting, segregated education, segregated economies, ethnically pure constituent states. Various adaptations should be made to encourage the mixing of populations and the co-operation of the two communities in all pursuits of everyday life, leading to a future harmonious integrated state.

e. Property Rights

The “fundamental exceptions to Property Restitution” (i.e. protection of refugee current occupants and of highly invested properties) will be maintained as per the Annan Plan, but beyond these exceptions the right to free enjoyment of property should be respected. Owners of derelict properties will be entitled to grants for the restoration of their home to its original state, while owners who shall be obliged to defer to current occupants, will be entitled to a new home in the same town or village.

f. Compensation

The Property Board will still be in charge of compensation for the value of exchanged properties, but the responsibility for “compensation for loss of use” should be transferred to Turkey and the GC constituent state respectively. Compensation for loss of use could be agreed on a lower base than that defined by the European Court in the Loizidou case.

g. Governance

The basic structure of the Federal Government will be maintained as per the Annan Plan, but cross-voting for the Senate and direct elections for the Presidential Council should be instituted, to encourage increased co-operation and limit the potential for deadlocks. Also, the tie-breaking role of the Supreme Court should be given over to a specially instituted political organ, a “council of wise elders”, comprised only of Cypriots.

h. Education

The responsibility for Education will still remain largely in the hands of the constituent states, but a Federal Ministry of Education should also be instituted to oversee integrated schooling and cross-state schooling. The curriculum for the teaching of History should also be a Federal responsibility.

i. Territorial adjustment

The boundary between the two constituent states could be amended, to satisfy on the one hand the Turkish Cypriot demand for a “straighter border”, but also the Greek Cypriot demand for “a greater proportion of coastline to fall within the Greek Cypriot constituent state”. A Federal zone should also be considered, which will cover environmentally sensitive areas such as Akamas and Karpas.

j. Residence Rights

Timetables for the right to become a resident of the other constituent state could be shortened, without affecting the permanent residence limits meant to protect bizonality. Having said that, political, cultural and property rights are also de facto aspects of the right to residence, so all these matters should be seen in an integrated way, in order to make the “overall package” more attractive to refugees who might wish to exercise the right of return.

k. Economics

The barriers to investment in the other constituent state should be made more permeable, in order to facilitate economic convergence and integration. Furthermore, the Federal Government should be granted oversight of constituent state fiscal policy, and the cost / income distribution of the Federal Government to the two constituent states should become as equitable as possible.

l. Settlers

Various small amendments in the law on citizenship could be instituted, such that will ensure that only the 45,000 that are “on the list” will be able to remain in Cyprus. Furthermore, stronger incentives could be offered so that a large number of those who are on the “45,000 list” will depart voluntarily, such as Green Cards to emigrate to the USA. Settlers, however, will not be allowed to remain on Greek Cypriot properties, and Turkey will be responsible to build new homes for those who will remain.

a.Security

The Annan Plan approach – that the Treaty of Guarantee and the Treaty of Alliance should continue to apply “mutatis mutandis”, is unacceptable. An integrated security system needs to be devised, which will involve as little mother-land interference as possible, and which will eventually evolve into an all-Cypriot sovereign defense system, part of a future European Common Defense. Greece and Turkey will maintain "last resort" rights to protect the GCc and TCs respectively, only if the Cypriot security system breaks down.

Ok.

b.Implementation Guarantees

The Annan Plan does not offer any particular guarantees for implementation, except for vague generalities by the EU and the UN that they will “oversee the implementation of the Solution”. What we need are particular guarantees, for particular aspects of the Solution, with particular and severe penalties for non-implementation.

Ok.

c.Legal Status

The “virgin birth approach” of the Annan Plan would create, legally speaking, a big mess, and would also inhibit communication of Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots about their past. It should be replaced with a clear formula for Continuity, but in such a way as will also be acceptable to Turkish Cypriots. More particularly, the new state of affairs will be "the evolution of the Republic of Cyprus into a Federation", the GC administration up to today will be officially known as the "temporary caretaker government of the Republic of Cyprus", while the TC administration up to today will be officially known as "the temporary Turkish Cypriot administration"

Ok.

d. Social Integration

The Annan Plan institutes segregation of the two communities on every level: Segregated voting, segregated education, segregated economies, ethnically pure constituent states. Various adaptations should be made to encourage the mixing of populations and the co-operation of the two communities in all pursuits of everyday life, leading to a future harmonious integrated state.

Could you tell us about what could be those various adaptations that should be made to encourage the mixing of populations and the co-operation of the two communities in all pursuits of everyday life, leading to a future harmonious integrated state? I'm not against such an idea but I wonder your point of view regarding integrated management of cyprus economy. What are your specific objections the one proposed in Annan Plan?

e. Property Rights

The “fundamental exceptions to Property Restitution” (i.e. protection of refugee current occupants and of highly invested properties) will be maintained as per the Annan Plan, but beyond these exceptions the right to free enjoyment of property should be respected. Owners of derelict properties will be entitled to grants for the restoration of their home to its original state, while owners who shall be obliged to defer to current occupants, will be entitled to a new home in the same town or village.

Ok, but in the end TCs should own no less than %16-18 of the private property and private land in TC administered area. Besides, TC administration should own no less than %33 of the state land of United Cyprus.

f. Compensation

The Property Board will still be in charge of compensation for the value of exchanged properties, but the responsibility for “compensation for loss of use” should be transferred to Turkey and the GC constituent state respectively. Compensation for loss of use could be agreed on a lower base than that defined by the European Court in the Loizidou case.

In my opinion, "compensation for loss of use" should be paid by all responsible relevant parties after examining the cases of each individual who claims compensation.

g. Governance

The basic structure of the Federal Government will be maintained as per the Annan Plan, but cross-voting for the Senate and direct elections for the Presidential Council should be instituted, to encourage increased co-operation and limit the potential for deadlocks. Also, the tie-breaking role of the Supreme Court should be given over to a specially instituted political organ, a “council of wise elders”, comprised only of Cypriots.

Very good idea. I second.

h. Education

The responsibility for Education will still remain largely in the hands of the constituent states, but a Federal Ministry of Education should also be instituted to oversee integrated schooling and cross-state schooling. The curriculum for the teaching of History should also be a Federal responsibility.

Ok.

i. Territorial adjustment

The boundary between the two constituent states could be amended, to satisfy on the one hand the Turkish Cypriot demand for a “straighter border”, but also the Greek Cypriot demand for “a greater proportion of coastline to fall within the Greek Cypriot constituent state”. A Federal zone should also be considered, which will cover environmentally sensitive areas such as Akamas and Karpas.

According to the Annan Plan, half of the coastline would fall within almost pure GCCS and the other half would fall within the TCCS that would comprise of 1/3 of permenant GC residents and 2/3 of permenant TC residents. The %50 of coastline which would fall within the TCCS will be shared the permenant residents of TCCS. What is your proposal? How much more coastline do you demand?

j. Residence Rights

Timetables for the right to become a resident of the other constituent state could be shortened, without affecting the permanent residence limits meant to protect bizonality. Having said that, political, cultural and property rights are also de facto aspects of the right to residence, so all these matters should be seen in an integrated way, in order to make the “overall package” more attractive to refugees who might wish to exercise the right of return.

Ok.

k. Economics

The barriers to investment in the other constituent state should be made more permeable, in order to facilitate economic convergence and integration. Furthermore, the Federal Government should be granted oversight of constituent state fiscal policy, and the cost / income distribution of the Federal Government to the two constituent states should become as equitable as possible.

Ok.

l. Settlers

Various small amendments in the law on citizenship could be instituted, such that will ensure that only the 45,000 that are “on the list” will be able to remain in Cyprus. Furthermore, stronger incentives could be offered so that a large number of those who are on the “45,000 list” will depart voluntarily, such as Green Cards to emigrate to the USA. Settlers, however, will not be allowed to remain on Greek Cypriot properties, and Turkey will be responsible to build new homes for those who will remain.

Ok, but do you mean 45.000 settlers together with their spouses and descendants or without?

Alex, given that I'm not Cypriot I haven't voted so as not to skew the results one way or another. However, I've just got some comments to make on the points in your draft framework, so hopefully this will be my contribution to the debate. In the interest of brevity, I'll respond to your first couple of points and return to this later. Given that the security elements are those that most interest to me, this seems a natural way to progress.

Alexandros Lordos wrote:a.Security

The Annan Plan approach – that the Treaty of Guarantee and the Treaty of Alliance should continue to apply “mutatis mutandis”, is unacceptable. An integrated security system needs to be devised, which will involve as little mother-land interference as possible, and which will eventually evolve into an all-Cypriot sovereign defense system, part of a future European Common Defense. Greece and Turkey will maintain "last resort" rights to protect the GCc and TCs respectively, only if the Cypriot security system breaks down.

As you know from another thread, I have my own draft for a security framework (see link below).

http://www.cyprus-forum.com/viewtopic.p ... c&start=20

I fully agree that the Treaties of Guarantee and alliance are products of a bygone age and do not equate with a truly independent and sovereign state. I also agree that any post-solution security system should be FULLY integrated (i.e. combined GC and TC forces, not a force for each CS. I really can't see any merit or use in maintaining separate militia forces, that to me is just a recipe for accidents.

I can appreciate the rationale as to why you have included last-resort rights of intervention for Greece and Turkey, but again, I wholeheartedly disagree with the inclusion of this in any plan... it essentially leaves open a ToG of sorts.

As for European Common Defence, this is still quite a long way off, the linkage of European defence to NATO is still too strong to be supplanted by the development of European defence forces. Look at how long it's taken to get a European Rapid Reaction force off the ground and that largely comprises UK and French forces, forces from the only 2 European Union countries (I qualify that because I would add Turkey to that list if all European countries were considered) able to project and sustain power beyond their own borders.

Maybe I'm too tied to the measures that I suggested previously, which is natural considering that they're 'my baby' so to speak. I'm considering writing a paper on this so I'd be interested to see what develops from your proposals as well.

Alexandros Lordos wrote:b.Implementation Guarantees

The Annan Plan does not offer any particular guarantees for implementation, except for vague generalities by the EU and the UN that they will “oversee the implementation of the Solution”. What we need are particular guarantees, for particular aspects of the Solution, with particular and severe penalties for non-implementation.

This was one of the major concerns for GCs in the Annan Plan... who will make the Turkish troops conduct the phased withdrawal? I agree that the Plan did contain generalities without any mention of how the withdrawal would be managed, the procedures for Turkish evacuation followed by UN occupation and the failure to mention the consequences of failing to meet the prescribed deadlines.

As I said in point 3(a) of my security plan, Greek and Turkish troops would be subject to IMMEDIATE withdrawal and monitored by gendarmerie forces from the European Gendarmerie Force (an established and operation unit). Thinking on this point further, the current UNFICYP forces would also be key to this. In the very short term, they could maintain a buffer zone, gradually opening more crossing points until the zone is essentially porous and no longer needs to be maintained. I understand that for many the withdrawal of troops immediately might be a step too far... "who will guarantee our security?" would be the question. My response would be to read points 3(a)(b) and (c) of my previous post.

That's my response so far, I'll consider my thoughts on the next couple and respond later.

I like what i read, and see no problem going with it.

Insan,

insan wrote:Could you tell us about what could be those various adaptations that should be made to encourage the mixing of populations and the co-operation of the two communities in all pursuits of everyday life, leading to a future harmonious integrated state? I'm not against such an idea but I wonder your point of view regarding integrated management of cyprus economy. What are your specific objections the one proposed in Annan Plan?

What I have in mind is: Bicommunal schools (voluntary of course), integrated Political Parties through the dynamics of cross-voting, bicommunal business ventures through a clause that will allow GC investments in the north so long as at least 30% of the company's ownership is TC, specialised hospitals (eg for Cancer or Heart Surgery) that will be co-operated by the two ministries of health, and of course living together in the same neighborhoods and towns through a more effective application of the right of return.

I think I've answered your question about Economics further down in my original post. For the record though, I would insist on having one central monetary policy and one central bank (temporary arrangements to the contrary are not a problem), but it would be inappropriate to insist on one central fiscal policy, because this violates basic principles of Federalism. Having said that, there has to be an ability to limit the public borrowing of constituent states. Everything but the last part, are already in the Annan Plan.

insan wrote:Ok, but in the end TCs should own no less than %16-18 of the private property and private land in TC administered area. Besides, TC administration should own no less than %33 of the state land of United Cyprus.

I understand your second point, but I am a bit confused about the first: What do you mean 16-18%? Of what?

insan wrote:In my opinion, "compensation for loss of use" should be paid by all responsible relevant parties after examining the cases of each individual who claims compensation.

Yes, ofcourse it will be evaluated on an individual basis, but (in my proposal) TCs and Turkey would compensate GCs, while GCs and Greece would compensate TCs. Do you see a problem with this?

insan wrote:According to the Annan Plan, half of the coastline would fall within almost pure GCCS and the other half would fall within the TCCS that would comprise of 1/3 of permenant GC residents and 2/3 of permenant TC residents. The %50 of coastline which would fall within the TCCS will be shared the permenant residents of TCCS. What is your proposal? How much more coastline do you demand?

The coastline I was thinking of is that on the West of Morphou. It would change the GC:TC ratio from about 50:50 to about 55:45.

insan wrote:Ok, but do you mean 45.000 settlers together with their spouses and descendants or without?

I meant spouses and descendants included. Do you see a problem here?

Look forward to hear from you ...

I voted "I am not sure" because your draft is very general (and maybe that's why it's called a draft). For example you don't give the details of social integration. In property rights, you say every GC will either get their home back or will get a new home in the same town. Does this mean all GC refugees will return? In that case, what happenned to 33% rule?

Alexandre,
The economic structure, together with Law Enforcement, are the most important chapters regarding the existence and the smooth,orderly function of a country.

The details in these two areas, would determine the viability of any solution formula.

metecyp wrote:I voted "I am not sure" because your draft is very general (and maybe that's why it's called a draft). For example you don't give the details of social integration. In property rights, you say every GC will either get their home back or will get a new home in the same town. Does this mean all GC refugees will return? In that case, what happenned to 33% rule?

33% rule would remain, but I've checked my maths countless times and even if all GC refugees return to the north (those who will NOT be getting their home anyway due to territorial adjustment) they will not be more than 80,000 - which is 30% of total TC state population (total including them as well).

Besides, "right to a home" and "right to residence" are two different things. Many GCs would opt to have a second home in the north anyway, while remaining permanent residents in the south.

As for social integration, I've given some details in response to Insan's questions, just above.

pantelis wrote:Alexandre,
The economic structure, together with Law Enforcement, are the most important chapters regarding the existence and the smooth,orderly function of a country.

The details in these two areas, would determine the viability of any solution formula.

Panteli,

could you give me some details, what concerns exactly you would like to see being met?