Since July, when talks failed — for the 11th time — to generate an acceptable plan to reunify the island of Cyprus, Greek and Turkish Cypriots have been debating how to keep the idea of a bizonal and bicommunal federation alive.
Last week, Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades announced he would seek his second and final five-year term. His focus, he said, would be to reunite the island. It's a tall order.
On Oct. 1, former British Foreign Minister Jack Straw penned a piece in The Independent declaring stillborn all efforts for an island federation. He was blunt, saying the status quo in the Greek south is simply too comfortable to convince that side to make any concessions. Given that so many rounds of talks have failed to coordinate even basic bicommunal cooperation activities — such as establishing a unified electric grid for the whole island or setting up a roaming agreement for mobile phones — unification has proven a challenge.
On Oct. 3, Tahsin Ertugruloglu, foreign minister of the so-called Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, made headlines in Turkey with statements he made at a roundtable at the International Republican Institute in Washington. Ertugruloglu concurred with Straw that the idea of a united island with a federal government is dead. But as the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus can't just keep waiting, he told the audience two options are being considered.
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