CYPRUS TO CONSCRIPT HERETOFORE EXEMPT MINORITIES

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 NICOSIA 000111

SIPDIS

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SIPDIS

FOR EUR/SE MCLEGG-TRIPP AND EMELLINGER

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL CY
SUBJECT: CYPRUS TO CONSCRIPT HERETOFORE EXEMPT MINORITIES

REF: A. NICOSIA 52

B. USDAO NICOSIA IIR 6 823005007


1. (SBU) Summary: Cyprus's Ministry of Defense announced
January 9 its intention to lift an exemption that allowed the
country's "official religious groups" -- Maronites,
Armenians, and Latins -- to avoid compulsory military service
in the Greek Cypriot National Guard (GCNG). Rather than
presenting a united front, each group has raised its own
concerns in different manners over this policy shift. We
expect their efforts will fail, however, and minorities
likely will be joining the Greek Cypriot majority at boot
camp in summer 2007. End summary.

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Announcement, Not Consultation
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2. (SBU) At 25 months, compulsory military service for males
in the government-controlled area of Cyprus is amongst the
longest in the world. For over 30 years, Greek Cypriots have
placed their lives on hold following high school graduation,
a growing source of discontent here among youth (deferment on
suspect grounds is rampant, however.) Maronites, Armenians,
and Latins served in the military between the breakdown of
the constitutional republic (1963) and the conflict of 1974;
in the aftermath, Archbishop/President Makarios ordered their
exemption, partly because many Maronites remained enclaved in
the Turkish Cypriot-controlled area north of the cease-fire
line. Only in 1992-1994, under former President George
Vassiliou, did minority youth serve in the GCNG, a decision
that President Glafkos Clerides later rescinded.


3. (SBU) In separate January meetings with Poloffs, leaders
of Cyprus's three official religious groups -- Antonis
Hadjiroussos of the Maronite Catholics, Vartkes Mahdessian of
the Armenian Orthodox, and Benito Mantovani of the Roman
Catholics ("Latins") -- recounted how they sat stunned in the
office of MoD Permanent Secretary Petros Kareklas as he
revealed the government's intentions. Each characterized the
surprise January 9 summons, hours before the announcement, as
a fait accompli, not a consultation. According to
Hadjiroussos, when he raised some initial reservations,
Kareklas cut him off immediately. Draft legislation to allow
the groups' conscription would go to the Council of Ministers
as early as February and to Parliament shortly thereafter,
the Permanent Secretary had claimed, and likely would become
law by April in order to allow for summer recruiting.


4. (SBU) Greek Cypriot complaints over special treatment
likely underpinned the MoD's initiative, especially after RoC
Ombudsman Iliana Nicolaou found in February 2006 that
exemption from GCNG service on religious grounds constituted
reverse discrimination (Ref B). In his January 9 public
remarks, Kareklas also noted Cyprus's "immediate, urgent need
to fill the ranks." Maronite leader Hadjiroussos was
unconvinced by the official rationale for the policy shift.
After all, he emphasized, "It was the RoC, not the religious
groups, that had kept us out because of security and language
issues." Further, he calculated that his group -- the
largest of the three -- would yield barely 40 recruitable
youth annually, i.e., not nearly enough to meaningfully
broach the personnel gap.

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Groups Divided and Conquered?
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5. (SBU) Representatives' reactions toward the RoC plans have
varied greatly, and Hadjiroussos has proven the most
outspoken. Initially signaling that his Maronites would not
fight the decision, he recently changed his tune, informing
us January 21 that he had voiced opposition in letters to
President Tassos Papadopoulos, House President Demetris
Christofias, and even Pope Benedict XVI. In his
correspondence, Hadjiroussos evoked the UN Framework for the
Protection of Minorities, further arguing that "we are being
asked to join a Greek Orthodox army." Religious reasoning
seems somewhat ancillary, however. In earlier meetings with
the Embassy, for example, Maronites claimed they feared
joining the GCNG because they still had residents in, and
property claims on, four historic villages located north of
the Green Line, surrounded (and in one case, occupied) by the

NICOSIA 00000111 002 OF 002


Turkish Army (Ref A). Hadjiroussos pleaded, "We are scared
that the Turkish Cypriots will start to see us as enemies."


6. (SBU) Mahdessian, representing 3,000 Armenians, has been
quick to distance his community's position from that of the
Maronites. While he, too, complained over the RoC's lack of
consultation, Mahdessian told us January 25 (Septel) that
Armenians "would like to join the army (GCNG)." He had four
reservations regarding the government conscription plan,
however. Pointing to discrimination against his community's
enlisted soldiers in 1992-94, he is requesting that Armenians
serve together in the same unit(s). They should also serve
in larger cities, near Armenian churches. Believing many of
his flock might also seek careers in the GCNG, he is asking
that the officers' exam give consideration to Armenians'
weaker Greek-language abilities. Finally, Mahdessian desires
a deferred implementation of the new policy because it would
be unfair for Armenian youth, particularly those already
accepted into university, to have to change plans with scant
warning.


7. (SBU) The most cautious response has come from Mantovani,
representing Cyprus's 1,000-odd "Latins" (Roman Catholics).
He told Poloffs January 25 that he had no intention of
"forwarding reservations" on the MoD initiative. While no
parent was pleased with the idea of a son in harm's way,
Mantovani explained, the group could ill-afford to spurn the
Greek Cypriot majority. He was convinced that the government
would take the community's (unspecified) concerns into
consideration. Mantovani held that, of the three religious
groups, Latins could assimilate the best. Referring to the
1992-1994 period, he remembered only a couple of instances of
discrimination within GCNG ranks against recruits with
"Latin" last names, and then not by Greek Cypriots but by
Greek training officers.

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Majority Community Pays Little Heed
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8. (SBU) Media reaction to the groups' concerns has been
unsympathetic, with no champion for their cause emerging from
the majority. Most commentators have focused on the benefits
they have reaped under the GCNG's security umbrella, adding
that the groups had chosen to align themselves with the Greek
Cypriot community shortly after Cyprus won independence from
Britain. The three reps concurred, but were quick to point
out that their groups had little real "choice" in 1960,
selecting between a Christian, albeit Greek Orthodox
community, and a Turkish, Muslim one. Their protests did not
convince many columnists, however, who spuQtheir complaints
as proof the groups, especially the Maronites, were
ungrateful.


9. (SBU) Nor do the three minority reps expect a policy
change from the government. Kareklas, they claim, has all
but ignored their misgivings. None expected a positive reply
from the Presidential Palace. Hadjiroussos told Poloff
January 21 that the Maronites' only hope for continued
military exemption was a quiet Vatican intervention. When
asked what action the groups might take next, Hadjiroussos
shrugged, resigned to Armenian youth being forced to conform.
Hadjiroussos shrugged again when asked why the groups did
not join forces in their appeal.

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Comment
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10. (SBU) Befitting their proportion (approximately two
percent) of the general population -- and regardless of the
special recognition the constitution affords -- Cyprus's
official religious minority groups exert little political
muscle. Faced with emigration or the alternative of living
in a majority Muslim (Turkish Cypriot) community, they have
resigned themselves to slights by the Orthodox majority,
aware that aggressive opposition might threaten their
privileged status. Their reaction to the MoD's determination
on conscription is indicative and predictable: some early
grumbling, a protest letter or two, a "Hail Mary" heave to
the Vatican, but in the end, submission to the G/C majority.
SCHLICHER