A Door Opens for Cyprus

With Secretary of State Colin L. Powell, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and the prime minister of Turkey pushing for unification of Cyprus, 30 years of crisis and division between Greeks and Turks over the Mediterranean island might be near an end.

The small island has loomed large in world affairs for centuries, first as a source of conflict on the edge of Europe and more recently as a site of potential Muslim-Christian conflict on the edge of the Muslim world.

After a White House visit by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Annan and Powell urged Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot leaders to hold a new round of talks on uniting the island, which would affect Turkey’s entry into the European Union. Annan is bringing both sides to the table in New York this week: They shouldn’t let the opportunity slide by.

A settlement on Cyprus would ripple far beyond its 3,600 square miles (less than Los Angeles County’s area), offering a pattern for accommodation by ethnic groups elsewhere, including Iraq. It also would give a boost to Turkey, a strategic nation during the Cold War and now a key U.S. ally, a secular Islamic democracy on Iraq’s northern border. Its well-being could shape how the surrounding region evolves.

Come May 1, Cyprus is scheduled to join the European Union sans the Turkish part. Ten months ago, the stubbornness of Turkish Cypriot leader Raouf Denktash denied the people of northern Cyprus the opportunity to decide their future within the European Union in a democratic referendum. That continues to hurt Turkey’s own chances with the EU.

Cyprus, off Turkey’s southern coast, was divided in 1974 when Turkey occupied the northern third of the island in response to a Greek Cypriot coup aimed at uniting it with Greece. A year later, the United Nations launched a diplomatic initiative to find a political solution to the crisis. Two years ago, Annan presented a unification plan that allowed for separate states but a single Cypriot citizenship, which remains the framework for the current talks.

Erdogan has said Turkey is prepared to get the Turkish Cypriots to resume negotiations with their Greek Cypriot counterparts. He has also said the U.N. secretary-general should just “fill in the blanks” in the peace plan to reunite Cyprus. The United States should hold him to his promise and also make sure that Greeks and Greek Cypriots come to the table ready to talk.