Can Cyprus finally reach a peace deal?

17-1-19-Cyprus-1200 — Will the latest talks lead to peace?

After a 42-year standoff between Greece and Turkey, will the latest talks over the future of Cyprus finally lead to a deal? Owing to the 1974 Turkish invasion, which split the North from the rest of the country, "the two sides are linked by very little", notes The Guardian's Helena Smith. However, "the starting gun has been fired on a process in which all this could soon change" while "across the ethnic divide there is conviction that the gaping wound could close".

Already, "Cypriots from both sides are intermingling... and working together".There are many reasons to welcome a deal, says the FT's Tony Barber. For example, better Turkish-EU relations "might encourage a comprehensive response to the refugee and migrant crisis in the Mediterranean". It also "ought to reduce Greek Cypriot tensions with Turkey over the exploitation of large offshore energy reserves". However, the problem is that many people are "unconvinced that a peace deal is worth the compromises required".

It would need to be approved by both communities in referendums. This thwarted a previous deal in 2004; the Greek Cypriots turned it down.But in contrast to that deal, "which was largely imposed on Cyprus from without", says Economist.com, the leaders of the Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities "have driven the process themselves". This bodes well since they would not endorse a plan they think voters could reject. At the same time European governments have "lately found it difficult to win referendums", as Britain and Italy can attest.

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