[A-List] UK imperialism: Cyprus

["Michael Keaney" <michael.keaney@xxxxxx>]

Britain offers to hand over land on its Cyprus bases
By Daniel Howden in Nicosia
The Independent
25 February 2003

Britain made a surprise move yesterday to break the deadlock in peace talks
over Cyprus, by offering to hand over half the territory of its military
bases on the island.

The offer, intended as an incentive to the Greek and Turkish communities on
the divided Mediterranean island, came during talks to revise a
reunification plan tabled by the United Nations. Britain's two sovereign
bases (SBAs) on the southern and eastern coasts of the island, cover an area
of 98 square miles.

Kofi Annan, the secretary general of the UN, has embarked on a final round
of shuttle diplomacy as he attempts to produce an agreement in time for a
united Cyprus to sign the European Union accession treaty in Athens in
April. Mr Annan held talks in Ankara yesterday and arrives in Athens today,
before more talks in Nicosia for what he is calling "the defining moment for
Cyprus".

Lord Hannay, Britain's special envoy to Cyprus, said the offer - described
by diplomats as astonishing - was designed to help to push for a deal. "What
he [Mr Annan] has put forward has the full consent of the British
Government," he said.

The island has been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded the north in
response to an Athens-engineered coup seeking full union with Greece. The
breakaway Turkish-Cypriot state in the north is only recognised by Turkey,
which keeps 40,000 troops on the territory.

The SBAs, which have been under British control for four decades, cover 3
per cent of the island, which is about half the size of Wales. Under the
plan, 45sq miles of British territory would be ceded to Greek and Turkish
authorities, with 90 per cent of that amount going to the Greeks. The offer
is conditional on a deal being reached by the end of the month, to leave
sufficient time for separate referendums for ethnic Turks and Greeks.
Otherwise Cyprus will enter the European Union divided.

Mr Annan's plan envisages a loose federation termed the "indissoluble
partnership", with a common state government and two equal component states.

Time for a deal is running out and there is no sign of compromise in either
camp. Costas Simitis, the Prime Minister of Greece, said yesterday that the
chances of agreeing a deal in time were fading rapidly. "The margins of
success within the given frame are very small, almost non-existent."

Tassos Papadopoulos, the recently elected Greek-Cypriot President, speaking
during his first official visit to Athens, welcomed the British proposal but
said it would not be decisive in delivering a deal. "It's more than welcome.
We've always said that bases were a part of the price," he said.

The main stumbling block to a solution to Europe's longest- running conflict
remains the right of return for tens of thousands of Greek-Cypriot refugees,
who lost their homes after the Turkish occupation.

Mr Papadopoulos, a nationalist hardliner, has already demanded improvements
to the plan to favour Greek-Cypriots, after campaigning on the platform of
returning all refugees. Meanwhile, Rauf Denktash, the Turkish-Cypriot
leader, has dismissed these demands as a "meaningless dream".

The SBAs, at Akrotiri in the west of the island and Dhekelia in the east,
were established in 1960 as part of Cyprus's treaty of independence. An army
spokesman said there was no question of the operational capacity of the
strategic bases being compromised.

Today, the SBAs are home to nearly 8,000 Britons, of which almost half are
military personnel. Akrotiri, the biggest RAF base outside Britain, would
play a major part in any war against Iraq. It was one of the main logistics
suppliers during the Gulf War in 1991.