More than 50,000 in Northern Cyprus means more than 80,000,000 in
the US. This is some kind of a revolution I would say.
Best,
Sabri
++
Thousands demand end to division of Cyprus
By Harry de Quetteville in Athens
January 16 2003
Turkish Cypriots rally in Nicosia in support of a UN plan to
reunify the island.
Reunification talks resumed in Cyprus yesterday after more than
50,000 Turkish Cypriots flooded the streets of partitioned
Nicosia on Tuesday in the biggest demonstration in favour of
reuniting the island for 25 years.
About a third of the adult population of northern Cyprus took
part in the huge march, which was an emphatic snub to Rauf
Denktash, the longstanding Turkish Cypriot leader.
Mr Denktash has repeatedly refused a deal to unite his breakaway
state in the north, whose government is recognised only by
Turkey, with the majority Greek Cypriot population in the south.
But Tuesday's demonstration of support for the peace plan,
initiated by the UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, last year,
amounted to a popular ultimatum to Mr Denktash that he must sign
up to the UN proposal or resign.
Many shops and schools across northern Cyprus were closed as
buses ferried protesters to Nicosia. Many men carried olive
branches, while women wove them into their hair.
In front of massed ranks of riot police at the border of the
Turkish and Greek parts of Nicosia, the crowds chanted: "Peace in
Cyprus cannot be prevented." They waved banners daubed with
slogans including "Give peace a chance" and "We want to be
prisoners no longer".
Demonstrators from the 80 organisations that organised the march
openly criticised the 30,000 Turkish troops on the island as "an
army of invasion".
Military chiefs in Ankara are among the last remaining supporters
of Mr Denktash. They say Cyprus is of crucial military and
strategic importance to Turkey.
Until recently, Mr Denktash could also count on the backing of
Ankara, but recent elections have changed that. The new Justice
and Development Party government has also put pressure on Mr
Denktash to agree to the UN plan, calling for a loose partnership
headed by a president to alternate every six months between the
two states.
Under partition, the northern economy is almost entirely
dependent on Turkey. For many thousands in the north living in
grinding poverty, the solution is to unite with Greek Cypriots,
who are poised to join the European Union in 2004. Many of
Tuesday's protest banners showed the EU flag.
Ankara is also desperate to reap the financial benefits of EU
membership and fears deadlock in Cyprus could puncture its own
candidacy.
But Mr Denktash remains opposed to union, saying that any
compromise will lead to an inexorable Greek takeover of Cyprus.
"If the plan is accepted as it stands, in five or 10 years there
will be no Turks left in Cyprus," he said.
The UN has set a deadline of February28 for the two sides to
agree on a deal to be put to Greek and Turkish Cypriots in
separate referendums a month later.
The two peoples have been bitterly divided since July 1974, when
the president, Archbishop Makarios, was toppled by a coup backed
by the military regime in Athens. Turkey responded days later by
sending troops to protect Turkish Cypriots, and there are still
40,000 Turkish soldiers on the island.
Pro-union demonstrators in northern Cyprus fear that, if Mr
Denktash's intransigence endures much longer, they will be locked
out of a process of economic regeneration and their Greek
counterparts south of the UN dividing line will join the EU on
their own.
The Telegraph, London; agencies
Article at:
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/01/15/1042520669012.html
+++
Turkish Cypriots Demand Deal, Denktash Pessimistic
Tue Jan 14, 4:53 PM ET Add World - Reuters to My Yahoo!
By Mark Bentley
NICOSIA, Cyprus (Reuters) - About a third of the Turkish Cypriot
population of 200,000 rallied Tuesday to demand an end to the
division of Cyprus, with many urging the resignation of their
leader, Rauf Denktash, who said he saw little hope of a peace
deal soon.
An estimated 70,000 people crammed into a Nicosia square for the
biggest demonstration in their history, urging Denktash to
negotiate a U.N. plan or quit a post he has held for nearly three
decades.
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan (news - web sites) and the
State Department -- in an unusually strong statement -- urged
Denktash to heed the protesters.
But the 78-year-old leader, speaking hours before he was to
resume peace talks, told Reuters in an interview the plan's Feb.
28 deadline did not leave him enough time to hammer out a
settlement with Greek Cypriots.
"I am very sorry to say there's not much of a chance if we are
not given more time. The time is too short and with all the good
will on earth the handicaps of this plan cannot be done away
within this short time," Denktash said.
Failure to meet the deadline would set back U.N. efforts to avert
a crisis that could develop as the E
