Cypriot Annan Plan referendums, 2004

Cyprus

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Northern Cyprus

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On 24 April 2004 the two major communities of the de facto divided island nation of Cyprus held two separate referendums on a United Nations plan for settling the Cyprus dispute.[1] The two communities of Cyprus were asked to choose between accepting or rejecting the 5th revision of the United Nations proposal known as the Annan Plan for Cyprus.

Contents

Referendum question

The question put to the electorate of the two communities was:

"Do you approve the Foundation Agreement with all its Annexes, as well as the constitution of the Greek Cypriot/Turkish Cypriot State and the provisions as to the laws to be in force, to bring into being a new state of affairs in which Cyprus joins the European Union united?" (Annex IX, Article 1.1.)

The Greek Cypriot response was "No" (75.83%), whereas the Turkish Cypriot response was "Yes" (64.91%).

The Foundation Agreement is called that because the Annan Plan involved the founding of a new federal state to be called the United Cyprus Republic (and the dissolution of the Republic of Cyprus).

Participation

There was a high turnout for the referendum (Greek Cypriots: 89.18%; Turkish Cypriots: 87%), but this is not unusual in the Republic of Cyprus: in the House of Representatives elections of 21 May 2006 the turnout was 89.02%,[2] and in the Presidential second round elections of 24 February 2008 the turnout was 90.84%.[3] In Northern Cyprus the turnout was slightly higher than recent elections: in the Presidential first round of 18 April 2010, the turnout was 76.37%;[4] and in the parliamentary elections of 19 April 2009 the turnout was 81.42%.[5]

Some commentators took the high turnout as indicative of great interest in the issue on the part of the electorates.[6]

The participation in the Turkish Cypriot referendum of post-1974 settlers from Turkey was ignored by most commentators, but disputed by some. The President of the Republic of Cyprus, Tassos Papadopoulos, had this to say on the issue in his response to the post-referendum report of the UNSG:

"However, under the final Plan not only the entirety of settlers were to remain in Cyprus and the possibility for a permanent flow of settlers form Turkey was left open, but all of them were allowed to vote during the referendum. This was so, despite established international law and UN practice, and persistent repeated calls of our side to the contrary, which were utterly disregarded. The end result, is that once more the settlers have participated in formulating the will of Turkish Cypriots during the referendum of April 24, and this against every norm of international law and practice."[7]

Alfred de Zayas, a professor of international law at the Geneva School of Diplomacy and International Relations and a former United Nations official, notes that the settlers are illegal:

"International law is clear on the issue of settlers in occupied territory: They are deemed to be illegal settlers and should be repatriated. The receiving State has no obligation in international law to grant residence or nationality to the settlers..."[8]

He also notes that "a majority of the Turkish population in occupied Northern Cyprus, including some 100,000 illegal settlers, voted in favour of the plan."[9]

The UK Government's Select Committee on Foreign Affairs considered the question of participation by post-1974 settlers from Turkey in the referendum, and concluded that they did not "swing" the vote, but acknowledged that to the Greek Cypriots this is not the relevant issue:

To many Greek Cypriots, the question of how many settlers voted for the Plan and whether they swung the vote (clearly, they did not) is irrelevant—the point is that as illegal immigrants they should not have been allowed to vote at all.[10]

The Select Committee's conclusion was that "it was right that all those on the electoral roll in northern Cyprus were able to participate in the referendum held in April 2004", but the Committee also acknowledged that a way of dealing with Greek Cypriot objections "might be to require a solution to be approved by a majority of Turkish Cypriots, as well as by an overall majority of those taking part [in northern Cyprus]."[11]

Results

Choice Greek Cypriots Turkish Cypriots
Votes % Votes %
For 99,976 24.17 77,646 64.91
Against 313,704 75.38 41,973 35.09
Invalid/blank votes 14,915 3.48 5,344 4.28
Total 428,587 100 124,963 100
Registered voters/turnout 480,564 89.18 143,636 87
Source: GreekNews, Election Guide

Aftermath

Since the Greek Cypriot Community did not approve the Plan, and implementation of the Plan was dependent on its approval by both communities, the Annan Plan, according to its own terms, became null and void.

"Should the Foundation Agreement not be approved at the separate simultaneous referenda, or any guarantor fail to sign the Treaty on matters related to the new state of affairs in Cyprus by 29 April 2004, it shall be null and void, and have no legal effect." (Annex IX, Article 1.2.)

However the European Union had been counting on approval of the Annan Plan so that Cyprus would join it as a united island, and expressed disappointment at the Greek Cypriot rejection of the Plan. It had already agreed that the Republic of Cyprus would become a member regardless of the result of the referendum, and so on May 1, 2004, Cyprus joined the European Union together with nine other countries.

With regard to the Turkish Cypriots the European Union stated the following:

"The whole of the island is in the EU. However, in the northern part of the island, in the areas in which the Government of Cyprus does not exercise effective control, EU legislation is suspended in line with Protocol 10 of the Accession Treaty 2003.[12] The situation will change once a Cyprus settlement enters into force and it will then be possible for EU rules to apply over the whole of the island. However, the suspension does not affect the personal rights of Turkish Cypriots as EU citizens. They are citizens of a Member State, the Republic of Cyprus, even though they may live in the northern part of Cyprus, the areas not under government control."[13]

Had the plan been ratified by both sides, Cyprus would have entered the EU as the United Cyprus Republic.

Reasons for approval by the Turkish Cypriots

Specific reasons for rejection by the Greek Cypriots

As summarised by "The Case Against the Annan Plan", Coufoudakis and Kyriakides and the Letter by the President of the Republic, Mr Tassos Papadopoulos, to the U.N. Secretary-General, Mr Kofi Annan dated 7 June 2004

  1. Article 2 - by the killing of innocent civilians committed on a substantial scale;
  2. Article 3 - by the rape of women of all ages from 12 to 71;
  3. Article 3 - by inhuman treatment of prisoners and persons detained;
  4. Article 5 - by deprivation of liberty with regard to detainees and missing persons - a continuing violation;
  5. Article 8 - by displacement of persons creating more than 180,000 Greek Cypriot refugees, and be refusing to allow the refugees to return to their homes.
  1. for the lives of innocent civilians killed by the Turkish army;
  2. for the victims of rape by the Turkish army;
  3. for the vast destruction of property and churches by the Turkish army; and
  4. for the substantial looting by the Turkish army.

According to UN 260 resolution Genocide is: (d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;

Reasons for 'Yes' and 'No' vote

Greek Cypriots declared that: "the rationale upon which the Annan plan was based, violated resolutions that the United Nations had passed since 1974, as well as a number of international conventions".[20]

Political leaders in both controlled areas of Republic of Cyprus and Greece also influenced the Greek Cypriot vote by strongly opposing the plan. Tassos Papadopoulos, president of the Republic of Cyprus, spoke out against the plan in an emotional speech broadcast live on television. Two days before the referendums, Cyprus's biggest party, AKEL, decided to reject the Annan Plan because of its perceived bias. Greek Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis decided to maintain a "neutral" position over the plan, but the Greek opposition leader George Papandreou (of the PASOK party) urged Cypriots to vote in favour, also because the plan had been promoted by his political party while it was still on power and Mr. Papandreou himself was the foreign minister of Greece during the last PASOK term. Mr. Papandreou even stated that the plan was laid out during his term and that both parts were ready for "a final common agreement" before his party lost the elections. Mr. Papandreou's involvement in conceiving and negotiating crucial points of the plan has been a source of controversy in Greece, at least during the referendum days.

Many Greek Cypriots opposed the plan as it meant endorsing a confederal state with a weak central government and considerable local autonomy, rather than the pre-1974 status quo ante of Greek Cypriot majority rule over a minority Turkish population. It would also have left Greeks dispossessed of their homes in 1974 without financial redress or the return of their property. The plan would have cemented the division of Cyprus into two political entities and safeguarded the presence of settlers from mainland Turkey, both of which were felt to be illegitimate and unfair outcomes. Any solution other than a return to the status quo ante was deemed unacceptable by many Greek Cypriots, and opinion polls conducted over the entire period of the negotiations from start to finish had always shown around 80% opposition to the proposals.

There were reservations over the fate of property or humanitarian disputes, which could no longer be brought before an International Court according to the plan, but would have to be settled by a third party set by the warrant forces. An embargo on weapon imports to the Greek Cypriot side, until the Turkish Cypriot side would be able to fully support itself also caused reservations among Greek Cypriots, in part because it did not apply to the Turkish forces.

On the Turkish Cypriot side, the plan was argued to be excessively pro-Greek, but most Turkish Cypriots alleged to be willing to accept it as a means of ending their prolonged international isolation and exclusion from the wider European economy. It was opposed by their leadership, with the Turkish Cypriot President Rauf Denktaş actively advocating a no vote. However, his Prime Minister Mehmet Ali Talat favoured the plan's acceptance, while Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan also supported it. Turkey saw a resolution of the Cyprus issue as being an essential first step to eventual Turkish membership of the EU as well as a way of defusing tensions with Greece.

The Grey Wolves (a Turkish right-wing nationalist group belonging to the MHP nationalist party) actively advocated a "no" vote. There were some limited riots caused by the Grey Wolves party activists against pro-ratification supporters during the pre-vote period. At least 50 such activists had arrived in Northern Cyprus during the pre-voting period. However, the referendum itself passed off peacefully and was deemed free and fair.

Both sides also had reservations over the fate of property or humanitarian disputes, which could no longer be brought before an International Court according to the plan, but would have to be settled in Cyprus, in front of a specially appointed non-EU court, including UN, UK and USA representatives.

Although the plan was published on 1 April 2004, it continued to be modified until only 24 hours before the referendum, enabling opponents to argue that people were being asked to vote on something they had not even seen and whose consequences could not be fully analysed.

Reaction

Rauf Denktaş responded to the referendum outcome by declaring that, with the Annan Plan rejected, his "no" campaign had reached its objective. He rejected calls for his immediate resignation, but announced the following month that he would not be standing for a fifth presidential term in 2005. Republic of Cyprus President Tassos Papadopoulos, emphasised that his people had rejected just the Annan plan and not all solutions to the Cyprus problem. "They are not turning their backs on their Turkish Cypriot compatriots," he said soon after the results were declared. "They have simply rejected this particular solution on offer."

There was varied reaction from Cyprus's Guarantor Powers, Greece, Turkey and the United Kingdom. Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said that he believed the result spelled an end for Turkish Cypriot isolation, and that by rejecting the Annan Plan, "southern Cyprus (was) the loser". A spokesman for the Greek government stressed that efforts to reunite Cyprus should not be halted, pointing out that in the EU framework it is "in the interest of everyone to continue efforts to reconcile Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots".

The British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said, "We will respect the choice which Greek Cypriots have expressed today. But I hope that they will continue to reflect on whether this choice is the right one for them." The general international reaction to the result was similar to that of Britain: one of deep disappointment, particularly among those bodies that had worked on the Annan Plan and on EU accession arrangements.

Loukis Loukaides, the Cypriot judge on the European Court of Human Rights, has since called on Greek Cypriot political leaders to abandon the Annan Plan as a basis for negotiations, arguing that its basic philosophy violates fundamental human rights and the EU acquis communautaire.

See also

References

  1. ^ Initially the referendum was to be on 21 April, until the UN planners realised it was the anniversary of the coup in Athens in 1967, which "set off the chain of events that led to the Turkish invasion of the island in 1974..." See "New date to be set after blunder over Cyprus referendum". The Guardian. 5 March 2004. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2004/mar/05/turkey.eu?INTCMP=ILCNETTXT3487. Retrieved 22 September 2011. 
  2. ^ "Election Guide". http://www.electionguide.org/results.php?ID=1010. Retrieved 29 September 2011. 
  3. ^ "Election Guide". http://www.electionguide.org/results.php?ID=1190. Retrieved 29 September 2011. 
  4. ^ "Election Guide". http://www.electionguide.org/results.php?ID=1789. Retrieved 29 September 2011. 
  5. ^ "Turkish Cyprus opposition sweeps to victory". World Bulletin. http://www.worldbulletin.net/index.php?aType=haberArchive&ArticleID=40374. Retrieved 29 September 2011. 
  6. ^ "What do the results of the referendum in Cyprus show?". http://www.mlkp.info/?icerik_id=34&What_do_the_results_of_the_referendum_in_Cyprus_show?. Retrieved 29 September 2011. 
  7. ^ From "Letter by the President of the Republic, Mr Tassos Papadopoulos, to the U.N. Secretary-General, Mr Kofi Annan, dated 7 June, which circulated as an official document of the U.N. Security Council". Cyprus PIO. http://www.cyprus.gov.cy/moi/pio/pio.nsf/All/E570E4948868A105C2256EAE003CAAE0?OpenDocument. Retrieved 28 September 2011. 
  8. ^ de Zayas, Alfred. "The Annan Plan and the Implantation of Turkish Settlers in the Occupied Territory of Cyprus". http://alfreddezayas.com/Articles/cyprussettlers.shtml. Retrieved 28 September 2011. 
  9. ^ de Zayas, Alfred. "The Annan Plan and the Implantation of Turkish Settlers in the Occupied Territory of Cyprus". http://alfreddezayas.com/Articles/cyprussettlers.shtml. Retrieved 28 September 2011. 
  10. ^ "Cyprus". Select Committee on Foreign Affairs. http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200405/cmselect/cmfaff/113/11305.htm. Retrieved 29 September 2011. 
  11. ^ "Cyprus". Select Committee on Foreign Affairs. http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200405/cmselect/cmfaff/113/11305.htm. Retrieved 29 September 2011. 
  12. ^ "Protocol No 10 On Cyprus". http://www.ktto.net/english/protocolno10.doc. Retrieved 29 September 2011. 
  13. ^ "European Commission - Enlargement - Turkish Cypriot community - Enlargement". Ec.europa.eu. http://ec.europa.eu/enlargement/turkish_cypriot_community/index_en.htm. Retrieved 2011-01-02. 
  14. ^ a b c d e f Letter by the President of the Republic, Mr Tassos Papadopoulos, to the U.N. Secretary-General, Mr Kofi Annan dated 7th of June 2004
  15. ^ The Case Against the Annan Plan, Coufoudakis and Kyriakides (page 25)
  16. ^ The Case Against the Annan Plan, Coufoudakis and Kyriakides (page 11)
  17. ^ a b The Case Against the Annan Plan, Coufoudakis and Kyriakides (page 13)
  18. ^ The Case Against the Annan Plan, Coufoudakis and Kyriakides (page 10)
  19. ^ The Case Against the Annan Plan, Coufoudakis and Kyriakides (page 9)
  20. ^ "Greek Cypriot Petition". Rigos.com. http://www.rigos.com/stelios/themisannan.html. Retrieved 2011-01-02. 

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