Peace and Reconciliation in the Eastern Mediterranean

Led by Stein Tønnesson
Jan 1997 - May 2011

 

Please note: The PRIO Cyprus Centre maintains its own extensive website. Click here to enter the site.


This project started in 1997 as an initiative to facilitate the work of a group of business leaders looking into possibilities for cooperation between Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot companies. Despite many practical ideas for cooperation, it was clear by early 1999 that business co-operation depended on first achieving a political settlement. At that time, the path to a settlement was blocked. Nonetheless, PRIO decided to continue its efforts in Cyprus and to build on its local knowledge and networks.

In 1999 the UN agreed to PRIO having office space and use of meeting rooms in its facility the Ledra Palace Hotel, which is in the Green Line between the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot areas at the crossing point in Nicosia. Activities in 1999 focused on establishing an infrastructure, maintaining and enlarging the network of contacts, and preparing for a first dialogue meeting, which was held in Norway in January 2000.

In 2000 and 2001, the work of this new Dialogue Forum with Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot participants was expanded and it took on a lengthy project discussing options for constitutional arrangements, based on experience in different countries. In 2000, the Business Group also reconvened and met with the leaders of both the Republic of Cyprus and the "Turkish Republic of North Cyprus". Both leaders expressed interest and encouragement for the businessmen's efforts, but again practical results were lacking.

In November 2000, active Turkish Cypriot participation in UN sponsored negotiations was suspended, so that the political context was once more unfavourable for exploring co-operation.
However, in December 2001 the Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot leaders met each other for the first time in several years, and shortly thereafter launched a new intensive round of negotiation. In November 2002, the UN Secretary-General launched a plan for a comprehensive settlement. This effort came to an end in the Hague in March 2003 when the UN Secretary-General declared that an agreement was not possible at this time and suspended the UN's "good offices" mission that had been supporting the negotiations.

PRIO continues to facilitate contacts between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots in many sectors of society in an effort to support an eventual, mutually accepted settlement to the Cyprus problem. PRIO does not take a stance on the substance of an eventual agreement, but emphasises the importance of openly discussing potentially difficult choices.

An extensive part of this project has been the Information Project, which had the aim to provide neutral and understandable information about the Annan Plan. Two 50 pages long 'easy to understand' booklets were produced and circulated on the island. The project also launched a web site www.cyprusdecides.org , where the booklets can be downloaded. The booklets can also be ordered from the PRIO office in Nicosia (00 357 22 456 555), by fax (00 357 226 65783) or by e-mail: priocypruscentre@cytanet.com.cy 

It was PRIO's aim, through the project, to contribute to an informed and objective debate about the Annan Plan ahead of the two referendums in April 2004.

Publications

Peer-reviewed Journal Article

Constantinou, Costas M. (2007) Aporias of Identity: Bicommunalism, Hybridity and the 'Cyprus Problem', Cooperation and Conflict 42(3): 247–270.
Gürel, Ayla; & Özersay, Kudret (2006) Cyprus and the Politics of Property, Mediterranean Politics11(3): 349–369.
Papadakis, Yiannis (2006) Introduction, Postcolonial Studies9(3): 231–235.
Papadakis, Yiannis (2006) Aphrodite Delights, Postcolonial Studies9(3): 237–250 .

Book Chapter

Papadakis, Yiannis (2006) Disclosure and Censorship in Divided Cyprus: Toward an Anthropology of Ethnic Autism, in Papadakis, Yiannis;Peristianis, Nicos; & Welz, Gisela, eds, Divided Cyprus: Modernity, History and an Island In Conflict. Indiana University Press(66–83).

Edited Volume

Papadakis, Yiannis; Nicos Peristianis; & Gisela Welz, eds, (2006) Divided Cyprus. Modernity, History and an Island in Conflict. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. New Anthropologies of Europe.

Non-refereed Journal Article

Tank, Pinar (2005) Cyprus: A Note on Security Guarantees and Threat Perceptions, The Turkish Yearbook of International Relations 35169–176.

Popular Article

Hatay, Mete (2006) Turkish Cypriots Ambivalent Encounter with Islam and Nationalism [in Greek], Peripeties Ideon Journal, 20 September.
Lende, Gina & Pinar Tank (2005) Ny giv i Kypros-konflikten? [New Initiatives in Cyprus?], Morgenbladet, 14 January.

PRIO Report

Platis, Stelios; Fiona Mullen; & Stelios Orphanides (2006) The Property Regime in a Cyprus Settlement, PRIO Report, 2. Nicosia: PRIO Cyprus Centre.
Gürel, Ayla; & Kudret Özersay (2006) The Politics of Property in Cyprus: Conflicting Appeals to 'Bizonality' and 'Human Rights' by the Two Cypriot Communities, PRIO Cyprus Centre Report, 3. Nicosia: PRIO Cyprus Centre.
Hatay, Mete (2005) Beyond Numbers: An Inquiry into the Political Integration of the Turkish 'Settlers' in Northern Cyprus, PRIO Report, 4. Oslo/Nicosia: PRIO Cyprus Centre.

Conference Paper

Hatay, Mete 2006From Ottomans to Turks of Cyprus, presented at European Consortium of Political Research, Nicosia, Cyprus, 26 April.
Gürel, Ayla 2005The Propery Issue in the Cyprus Negotiations, presented at Peacebuildiing in Divided Societies26 November.
Hatay, Mete 2005The Other Turks of Cyprus - Immigration, Identity and Insecurity, presented at Peacebuilding in Divided Societies26 November.
Papadakis, Yiannis 2005Histories in Greek Cypriot Education, presented at Peacebuilding in Divided Societies26 November.
Mullen, Fiona;Orphanides, Stelios; & Platis, Stelios 2005The Property Regime & Property Markets under Annan V: Introduction and Preliminary Findings, presented at Peacebuilding in Divided Societies, PRIO Cyprus Centre, 26 November.

Projects

Related pages