YUSUF KANLI

Ambush in Cyprus YUSUF KANLI

Ambush in Cyprus

Indications are that at the scheduled Feb. 26 “social gathering” the presidents of the two sides on Cyprus might start an initiative which might carry them to a new Cyprus process. The majority of Turkish Cypriots, most political parties, more than two-thirds of parliament and Turkey are against engaging in a futile federation talk with the Greek Cypriots. Turkish Cypriot President Mustafa Akıncı is saying he could discuss nothing but federation.

February 18 2019
Global rearrangement of power-sharing YUSUF KANLI

Global rearrangement of power-sharing

Things are going wild. Some pundits argue of the need to go to a regional rearrangement of power-sharing, while some argue for a global one. No one should dream of having any share in this power game while there are at least three major international players: The United States, Russia and the European Union. China, on the one hand, is also trying to enter the game, while on the other, attempting to consolidate itself in the African and Eurasian spheres through economic and financial entrepreneurial undertakings.

February 13 2019
Vicious Cyprus questions YUSUF KANLI

Vicious Cyprus questions

Many friends, diplomats, colleagues are asking a web of questions. Some are relevant, some are if not totally irrelevant, reflect a deficiency in understanding fundamentals of one of the top three problems of this antagonism-rich neighborhood. Most of the questions, unfortunately, cannot be answered by a journalist but anyhow in the absence of a major game changer, even a fortune teller cannot say or a magician cannot see in his/her glass ball whether there is hope for a reincarnation of the dead and buries federation hopes or even if there ever will be a Cyprus settlement.

February 11 2019
Need for a game changer on Cyprus YUSUF KANLI

Need for a game changer on Cyprus

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras was in Ankara and Istanbul. He became the first Greek prime minister to visit the Halki Seminary. In his Ankara talks, he discussed for over three hours with top Turkish executives, more than two hours of it tête-à-tête with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, on a variety of issues on ways and means to improve relations between the two countries, Turkey’s strained European Union accession talks process and of course the Cyprus issue.

February 06 2019
Farewell to a legendary woman YUSUF KANLI

Farewell to a legendary woman

Aydın Denktaş, the widow of the late Rauf Denktaş, the founding president of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, was laid to rest Monday. She passed away Saturday after almost a month of her stay in hospital due to pneumonia. She was 86.

February 04 2019
Time for a new Cyprus assessment YUSUF KANLI

Time for a new Cyprus assessment

It is not at all abnormal to be a supporter of a federal resolution to the Cyprus problem even if what a federation is in itself a contentious issue between the two sides on Cyprus. What is wrong and poisonous is to be obsessed with federation and discard all other probable ideas for a resolution even when power-sharing, a fundamental requirement of a federal solution, is flatly rejected by the party that holds power under an unfortunate “Doctrine of Necessity” application – though it usurped power from its partner in March 1964 following bloody attacks that started in December 1963.

January 30 2019
Last chance for Turkish Cypriot leader Akıncı YUSUF KANLI

Last chance for Turkish Cypriot leader Akıncı

It is no secret that back in July 2017 Greek Cypriot leader Nikos Anastasiades told Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu during an unofficial meeting that he would have difficulty selling the idea of a federation with rotation of presidency and giving Turkish Cypriots effective share in governance, and once the presidential elections were over he could discuss a two-state solution, a loose federation or some other alternatives on Cyprus. Apparently Çavuşoğlu discussed the remarks of Anastasiades at his meeting with Andros Kyprianou, the leader of the Progressive Party of Working People (Akel), in Ankara on Nov. 22 last year. Well-placed Greek Cypriot sources admit as well that Anastasiades is taking up such possibilities with his guests as well.

January 28 2019
Reconciliation between renowned pianist and Turkish president YUSUF KANLI

Reconciliation between renowned pianist and Turkish president

The secularist neighborhood has nowadays been attacking eminent pianist and composer Fazıl Say for “bowing in respect” in front of the president who just a few years ago was attacking him at rallies and demanding him “to love or leave” the country.

January 23 2019
The flag issue in Cyprus YUSUF KANLI

The flag issue in Cyprus

Once upon a time there was a very rude, angry, demanding sultan. Was he tall or bald, I have no idea, but he was definitely a very bold one.

January 21 2019