Another UN Success Story

Greece, Turkey Join Crucial Cyprus Peace Talks

Old rivals Greece and Turkey locked horns Wednesday over a U.N. peace plan which aims to reunite the island of Cyprus before it joins the European Union on May 1.

Both countries are keen to secure a deal, but they also share some of the concerns aired by their respective proteges -- the Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots -- during the past four weeks of fruitless negotiations on the divided island.

I know a retired colonel who was a peacekeeper in Cyrus in the 1970's. He also tested parachute designs[1] for the Canadian military and served in the US Special Forces. I was in their home on the first night of bombing in Baghdad during the first Gulf War. Gil's voiceover was pretty amusing, and radically different from the 'expert analysis' on CNN - and accurate, as it turned out.

The U.N.-brokered talks have now moved to the Swiss Alpine resort of Buergenstock, where mediators hope Athens and Ankara can exert greater pressure on the feuding Cypriot sides. They end next week.

You know, if I were in charge of these things, talks wouldn't be held in resorts. They'd be over wooden picnic tables under a leaky tent in Wood Buffalo park. Give them all the time they need - and one can of bug repellent. The float plane would return when the papers were signed.

"I would say the chances (for agreement) are better than even," U.N. envoy Alvaro de Soto said in comments to U.N. television.

The UN has been in Cyprus since 1964. (Timeline). Food for thought for those who clamour for UN involvement in Iraq. Or anywhere, for that matter - Cyrus isn't Somalia, for crying out loud.

Footnote:
[1] Not a typo

Posted by Kate at March 24, 2004 7:22 PM