The Two Sides at Geneva

The Two Sides at Geneva, August 1974

While the Geneva meetings had the feel of shadow boxing, with little prospect of a settlement, the two offerings for a new constitutional structure are revealing. The Turkish Cypriots were now in a position of unprecedented strength, and their proposal shows it. The Greek Cypriots were still insisting on most of their previous positions, despite the catastrophic events of July and the probability of a further Turkish intervention. Clerides= plan only gave in on the issue of local self-governance, the concession that could have settled all their differences previously (but was repeatedly vetoed by Makarios), but now was too little, too late.

˜ Denktash at the Geneva conference after the first Turkish intervention, 1974:

"For eleven years the Greeks have tried , and did all they could, to destroy the 1960 Constitution. Having harassed the Turks and destroyed hundreds of Turkish villages and rendered thousands of Turks refugees, having tried under the guise of self-determination, to destroy the independence of Cyprus and unite the island with Greece, having brought, with the above objective, 20,000 Greek troops into Cyprus, having established underground organisations with the purpose of destroying the Cyprus Republic, having attacked the Turkish Cypriots, having brought from Greece ex-Generals and new generals and put them in charge of EOKA 'B', having then staged a coup with the help of the Greek junta, having further treated the Turks of Cyprus throughout as extremists and as separatists, having continuously harassed the Turks, and having treated them in a way no decent person would treat another, and having finally refused to implement the Geneva Declaration, having done all the above, all that the Greek side could think was to return to the 1960 Constitution".

˜ Proposal of Denktash submitted at Geneva on the 12^th of August 1974.

(a) The Republic of Cyprus shall be an independent binational State.

(b) The Republic shall be composed of two federated states with full control and autonomy within their respective geographical boundaries.

(c) In determining the competence to be left to the Federal Government, the binational nature of the State shall be taken into account and the federal competence shall be exercised accordingly.

(d) The area of the Turkish Cypriot Federated State shall cover 34 per centum of the territory of the Republic falling north of a general line starting from the Limnitis-Lefka area in the west and running towards the east, passing through the Turkish controlled part of Nicosia, including the Turkish part of Famagusta and ending at the port of Famagusta.

(3) Pending an agreement on the final Constitutional structure of the Republic, the two autonomous administrations shall take over the full administrative authority within their respective areas as defined above and shall take steps to normalise and stabilise life in the Republic and refrain from acts of violence, harassment and discrimination against each other.

˜ Proposal of the Greek Cypriot Delegation submitted at Geneva on the 13th of August 1974 (the AClerides Plan@):

(1) The constitutional order of Cyprus shall retain its bi-communal character based on the co-existence of the Greek and Turkish communities within the framework of a sovereign, independent and integral Republic.

(2) This constitutional order shall, through an appropriate revision and the active co-operation and free consent of the two communities, ensure an enhanced feeling of security for both.

(3) The co-existence of the two communities shall be achieved in the context of institutional arrangements regarding an agreed allocation of powers and functions between the Central Government having competence over state affairs and the respective autonomous Communal Administrations exercising their powers on all other matters within areas to be established as in paragraph (5) herein below provided.

(4) The structure of the Central Government shall continue to be based on the presidential regime.

(5) The Greek and Turkish Communal Administrations shall exercise their powers and functions in areas consisting respectively of the purely Greek and Turkish villages and municipalities. For the purpose of communal administration such as villages and municipalities may be grouped together by the respective communal authorities. For the same purpose mixed villages shall come under the communal authorities of the community to which the majority of their inhabitants belong.

(6) Legislative authority over the respective Communal Administrations shall be exercised by the Greek and Turkish members of the House of Representatives constituted in separate Councils for this purpose.