FES BRIEFING CYPRUS Trade Union Monitor July 2022 POLITICAL, ECONOMICAL AND SOCIAL ­CONDITIONS POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT Ever since a Greek coup and an ensuing Turkish invasion in 1974, the island of Cyprus has been divided into two parts. The Greek Cypriot community lives south of the dividing line in the internationally recognised Republic of Cyprus. The Turkish Cypriots live in the north in the internationally not rec­ognised Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus(TRNC). 1 Most of the year 2021 was characterized by a standstill and uncertainty in the Cyprus question, which has prevailed since the collapse of the last round of talks aimed at the reunifica­tion of the island at an international conference in Crans Montana, Switzerland, in July 2017. A more confrontational Turkish foreign policy toward Greece and Cyprus since 2019 also led to the election of a hardliner, Ersin Tatar, in the north of the island in October 2020 after massive interventions by Turkey in his favour. Supported by Ankara, Tatar demanded the equal recognition of Turkish Cypriot sovereignty and therefore a two-state solution as a prerequisite for the re­sumption of negotiations, effectively ending any prospect for substantial talks. Encouraged by the hardening of the Turkish positions, the Greek Cypriot side now became more reconcil­iatory, unequivocally returning to the internationally support­ed framework of a bicommunal, bizonal solution, abandon­ing a period of confusing signals about the framework for a solution which had seriously undermined the credibility of the commitment of Greek Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades 1 The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus(TRNC) is only recognised by the Republic of Turkey. While for Turkey and the Turkish Cypriots, Ersin Tatar serves as President of the TRNC, the international community considers him the communal leader of the Turkish Cypriots. Because the government of the Republic of Cyprus remains internationally recognised as the government of the whole of the island, the entire island is now considered to be a member of the European Union. However, the Acquis Communautaire is suspended in Northern Cyprus pending a political settlement to the Cyprus problem(see Protocol no. 10 of the Accession Treaty). to a solution of the Cyprus problem. Tellingly, a failed attempt by UN Secretary-General António Guterres to reach a com­mon ground for the resumption of negotiations at an infor­mal five-party summit(both Cypriot communities, the Guar­antor powers of Greece, Turkey and the United Kingdom, plus the EU as an observer) in Geneva remained the most sig­nificant constructive move in the Cyprus question in 2021. In October 2020, the Turkish side escalated the situation fur­ther by unilaterally opening parts of the fenced off ghost town of Varosha under the administration of the TRNC. Varosha, a Greek Cypriot populated suburb of Famagusta, had remained uninhabited since 1974 and was administered by the Turkish army, serving as a bargaining chip in the negotiations for a solution of the Cyprus problem. UN resolutions demand the handover of the territory to the UN and the return of its right­ful inhabitants. In the context of the opening of Varosha, the Turkish side indicated that it would accept the return of Greek Cypriot property owners if their claims were found valid by the internationally recognised Immovable Property Committee in the north. The international community condemned the open­ing, since the territory would then be administered by the au­thorities in the north, which would contradict applicable UN-resolutions. At the time of writing about 3.5 per cent of the territory has been opened, but none of the inhabitants have returned yet. Apart from the opening of Varosha, the confrontation about the hydrocarbon exploration and exploitation off the coast of the island remained the most dynamic and dangerous aspect of the Cyprus problem. In 2019, in response to the unilateral exploration activities of the Greek Cypriots and the regional cooperation of the Republic of Cyprus with Israel, Egypt and Greece on hydrocarbons, Turkey escalated the situation, claim­ing that its rights and the rights of Turkish Cypriots were ig­nored. First Ankara started to drill in areas claimed by the Re­public of Cyprus as its exclusive economic zone(EEZ) with the approval of the Turkish Cypriot authorities. Then Ankara signed an agreement with the government of Libya over the delinea­tion of their respective EEZs and threatened to start drilling in areas claimed by Greece as its own EEZ. In 2021, the issue re­1