CIAO DATE: 03/06

Cyprus Settlement Initiative Project. Addressing the Settlement of Self-Determination Conflicts through Complex Power Sharing: The case of Cyprus. Antalya, Turkey.

Abstract

The ECMI Cyprus Settlement Initiative was conceived in the days before the 14 December 2003 election in Northern Cyprus. When the election ended in deadlock and protracted negotiations involving the Turkish Government took place over the New Year and into January 2004, the Cyprus Team of the European Centre for Minority Issues (ECMI) continued to monitor the developments closely. After the announcement on 11 January 2004 of a coalition effort between the Republican Turkish Party and the Democratic Party followed by the subsequent 25 January 2004 announcement by Turkey’s Prime Minister Erdogan in Davos that Turkey wanted resumption of the Cyprus talks on the basis of Secretary General Kofi Annan’s Plan, the ECMI Cyprus Team decided to launch the Cyprus Settlement Initiative. There was a clear sense at this point that with Cyprus becoming a member of the European Union (EU) in May 2004, the world was ready to seize this historic opportunity to reunit the island.

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