TURKISH CYPRIOTS DIVIDED OVER GREEK CYPRIOT

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 NICOSIA 000042

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/SE

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/11/2018
TAGS: PGOV PREL TR CY
SUBJECT: TURKISH CYPRIOTS DIVIDED OVER GREEK CYPRIOT
PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS


Classified By: Classified by CDA Jane Zimmerman for reasons 1.4 (b) and
1.4 (d)


1. (C) Summary: Although closely watched by Turkish Cypriot
(T/C) politicos, February 2008 presidential elections in the
Republic of Cyprus do not engender in the north widespread
hope for a future settlement. Of those we polled in the
"ruling," pro-solution Republican Turkish Party (CTP),a
majority believe that victory by either of the two opposition
candidates, Dimitris Christofias or Ioannis Kasoulides, might
jump-start currently stalled negotiations. The T/C
"opposition" -- and even some high-ranking CTP insiders --
argue, however, that the Greek Cypriots (G/Cs) seek
dominance, not an equitable Cyprus partnership, and that
ultimately it makes little difference who comes to power in
the south. All agree that the international community,
especially the United States, must bring pressure to bear if
the new RoC president-elect is to negotiate in earnest. End
Summary.
Anybody but Papadopoulos (For Pro-Solution T/Cs)

2. (C) A majority of those "ruling" CTP interlocutors we have
engaged support either of the two opposition candidates,
Dimitris Christofias or Ioannis Kasoulides, in the RoC
presidential elections, with a clear preference for
Kasoulides. "TRNC Prime Minister" Ferdi Sabit Soyer told us
in late December that he preferred Kasoulides because he
opposed Christofias's "far left rhetoric." He quipped that,
"We are part of the West. The dialogue should be along
liberal and EU lines." Talat Private Secretary Asim Akansoy
dubbed Christofias an "inflexible ideologue" and said that
T/Cs wanted Kasoulides to win. Papadopoulos, according to
Akansoy, is "primitive and thinks in terms of the 19th
century, blood and all." He added that "good negotiations,
based on the Annan Plan, in deed, if not in name," could
resume if either of the two challengers won election.

3. (C) Not all CTP officials were as hopeful as Soyer or
Akansoy regarding an election victory by Kasoulides or
Christofias. Newly-appointed Cyprus Problem negotiator and
CTP "deputy" Ozdil Nami believes things will be easier with
either challenger in office, but noted that every leader was
constrained by his people. "Presidential Spokesman" Hasan
Ercakica said it made no difference who won the elections.
Leftist Christofias had gone "too far to the right" on the
Cyprus Question during the campaign, meaning he had adopted
hard-line, G/C-nationalist positions, and would be unable
politically to return to a more pro-solution slant. Ercakica
added that, until the G/Cs gave up the goal of dominating
"the Turks" on the island, the Cyprus Problem would remain
unresolved.
Alleged G/Cs "Racism" Toward T/Cs Predominates

4. (C) The opposition in the North, even those who are
pro-solution, expect no movement in negotiations after the
G/C presidential elections, even if Papadopoulos is defeated.
UBP "deputy" and former party leader Huseyin Ozgurgun, who
unlike most party mates voted YES in the 2004 Annan Plan
referendum, joked that "it could be Huseyin in power, could
be Arda, but nothing will change. The Greek Cypriots are
content with the present situation." Serdar Denktash, head
of the Democrat Party (DP),followed the same line, claiming
G/C policy will not waver even after a change in
administration. Denktash recently told us he preferred
Papadopoulos, who is "genuine," over the "deceitful"
Christofias. Former T/C Cyprus Problem negotiator Rasit
Pertev, who resigned in December and who now heads the
"People,s Party" (Halk Partisi),trusts Kasoulides more than
the others. Nevertheless, he believed that there was little
difference among the main candidates on the Cyprus Problem
due to G/C "racism" against Turkish Cypriots.
"Not Enough to Say We Want a Solution"

5. (C) Even the most optimistic Turkish Cypriots told us that
the international community, especially the United States,
must bring pressure to bear on whomever gets elected in the
RoC, if real progress is to be made on the Cyprus Problem.
Akansoy said that the best way to "influence" the G/Cs was
not to punish them, but to give something to the T/C
community, such us greater investment or direct flights.
"Prime Minister" Soyer mentioned the EU Direct Trade
Regulation, which he hoped would be passed soon. New Cyprus
Problem negotiator Nami quipped that "it is not enough to say
we want a solution (to get the G/Cs to negotiate in earnest).
You (the international community) have to do something."
Ozgurgun said that, if the Turkish Cypriots are "integrated"
more into to the world, the G/Cs "will come to the table."
The G/Cs did not want to "share the pie," he continued, since

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they already enjoyed international legitimacy/recognition and
thus had no incentives to do so.
Comment:

6. (C) Depressed by the stall in negotiations and by
perceived slights from the international community, for a
majority of Turkish Cypriots, solving the Cyprus Problem has
become less an existential issue. This explains why the
neck-and-neck presidential campaign in the south, which
dominates the news there and divides the population into
partisan camps, mostly spawns yawns and resignation amidst
the rank-and-file north of the Green Line. Christofias,
whose AKEL party ideologically resembles CTP and who
regularly boasts of friendly relations with Turkish Cypriots,
would seem to be the T/Cs' preferred candidate. Many,
however, have not forgotten the AKEL commissar's last-minute
Annan Plan flip-flop, which contributed greatly to the
initiative's failure in the G/C community. Similarly, other
Turkish Cypriots who might have supported YES voter and
Euro-modern Kasoulides are troubled by his recent -- and we
think, electorally-motivated -- adoption of harder-line
CyProb policies. Yet their discomfort with the challengers
pales in comparison to their contempt for Papadopoulos, who,
to most T/Cs, embodies the worst excesses of Cyprus's
ethnically-dominant Greek Cypriot community. We surmise that
most Turkish Cypriots would delight in the incumbent's defeat
come February, and hold hope that a Christofias or Kasoulides
victory might bode well for future negotiations.
ZIMMERMAN