The Annan Plan was a United Nations proposal to bring about the reunification of the divided island nation of Cyprus as the United Cyprus Republic. It was named in recognition of United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who largely devised the proposal in conjunction with Didier Pfirter. The United Nations, or UN, is an international organization established in 1945 and now made up of 191 states. ... The United Nations Secretary-General is the head of the Secretariat, one of the principal divisions of the United Nations. ... Kofi Atta Annan (born April 8, 1938) is a Ghanaian diplomat and the seventh and current Secretary-General of the United Nations. ... Didier Pfirter is the legal advisor to Alvaro de Soto, the Special Cyprus Advisor of the UNs Secretary-General Kofi Annan. ...

Proposal

Proposed flag of the United Cyprus Republic

The Annan Plan proposed the creation of the United Cyprus Republic, covering the island of Cyprus in its entirety (except for the British Sovereign Base Areas). This new country was to be a loose confederation of two constituent states – the Greek Cypriot State and the Turkish Cypriot State – joined together by a minimal federal government apparatus. Image File history File links Proposed flag of the United Cyprus Republic according to the Annan Plan. ... Image File history File links Proposed flag of the United Cyprus Republic according to the Annan Plan. ... The UK Sovereign Base Areas are those British military base areas located in countries formerly ruled by the United Kingdom which were retained by it and not handed over when those countries attained independence. ... A state is an organized political community occupying a definite territory, having an organized government, and possessing internal and external sovereignty. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... In some federations, a province (subnational entity) is called a state. ... The Greek Cypriot State was to have been one of the constituent states of the United Cyprus Republic proposed by the failed 2004 Annan Plan for Cyprus aimed at reunification of Cyprus. ... The Turkish Cypriot State was to have been one of the constituent states of the United Cyprus Republic proposed by the failed 2004 Annan Plan for the reunification of Cyprus. ...

This federal level, which was loosely based on the Swiss confederal model, the model of Bosnia-Herzegovina and the Cyprus constitution of 1960 (that was mainly devised by the British who were the former colonial power), would have incorporated the following elements: Switzerland is a federal republic, and perhaps the closest state in the world to a direct democracy. ... Bosnia and Herzegovina (also variously written Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bosnia and Hercegovina, Bosnia-Hercegovina) is a mountainous country in the western Balkans. ...

• A collective Presidential Council, made up of six voting members, allocated 2:1 (symbolising the fact that the Greek Cypriot community is the stronger one), and selected and voted in by parliament. An additional three non-voting members would also be assigned 2:1.
• A President and Vice President, chosen by the Presidential Council from among its members, one from each community, to rotate in their functions every 20 months during the council's five-year term of office.
• A bicameral legislature:
  • A Senate (upper house), with 48 members, divided equally between the two communities.
  • A Chamber of Deputies (lower house), with 48 members, divided in proportion to the two communities' populations but counting each Turkish Cypriot twice for every Greek Cypriot (with no fewer than 12 for the smaller community). This chamber generally demanded a "double majority" (majority overall and within each community) for taking decisions.
• A Supreme Court composed of equal numbers of Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot judges, plus three foreign judges; to be appointed by the presidential council.

The plan included a federal constitution, constitutions for each constituent state, a string of constitutional and federal laws, and a proposal for a United Cyprus Republic flag and national anthem. It also provided for a Reconciliation Commission to bring the two communities closer together and resolve outstanding disputes from the past. President is a title held by many leaders of organizations, companies, universities, and countries. ... A vice president is an officer in government or business who is next in rank below a president. ... In government, bicameralism is the practice of having two legislative or parliamentary chambers. ... A senate is a deliberative body, often the upper house or chamber of a legislature. ... An upper house (Frequently known as a Senate) is one of two chambers of a bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the lower house. ... The Chamber of Deputies is the name given to the lower house of the bicameral legislatures of the following states: Argentina – Chamber of Deputies of Argentina (Cámara de Diputados) Bolivia – Chamber of Deputies of Bolivia (Cámara de Diputados) Brazil – Chamber of Deputies of Brazil (Cámara dos Deputados) Chile – Chamber of... A lower house (sometimes known as the first chamber) is one of two chambers of a bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the upper house. ...

• It would also have established a limited right to return between the territories of the two communities; however, the effect of these restrictions would have been far greater on Greek than on Turkish Cypriots.
• It would have allowed both Greece and Turkey to maintain a permanent military presence on the island, albeit with large, phased reductions in troop numbers.
• Many of the Turkish settlers from Anatolia who settled on Cyprus after 1974 would have been given citizenship of the UCR.
• Under the constitution of the Turkish Cypriot Constituent State the Greek Cypriots residing in the north would not have been given the right to vote unless they spoke Turkish.

A right of return is a right, held by members of an ethnic or national group, to assurance of immigration and naturalization into the nation of their homeland. ...

Negotiations

In January 2002, direct talks under the auspices of Secretary-General Annan began between Republic of Cyprus President Glafcos Clerides (Greek community) and Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash. 2002 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December A timeline of events in the news for January, 2002. ... Glafkos Ioannu Klerides (born 1919) is a Greek-Cypriot politician and former president of the Republic of Cyprus. ... Rauf R. DenktaÅŸ Rauf Raif DenktaÅŸ (pronounced Denktash; born January 27, 1924) is a Turkish Cypriot political leader. ...

In November 2002, Secretary-General Annan released a comprehensive plan for the resolution of the Cyprus issue. It was revised in early December. In the lead up to the European Union's December 2002 Copenhagen Summit, intensive efforts were made to gain both sides' signatures to the document prior to a decision on the island's EU membership. Neither side agreed to sign. The EU invited the Republic of Cyprus to join on 16 December 2002. 2002 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December A timeline of events in the news for November, 2002. ... 2002 : January _ February _ March _ April _ May _ June _ July _ August _ September _ October _ November _ December _ → A timeline of events in the news for December, 2002. ... December 16 is the 350th day of the year (351st in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 2002 is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Following the Copenhagen Summit, the UN continued dialogue with the two sides with the goal of reaching a settlement prior to Cyprus's signature of the EU accession treaty on 16 April 2003. A third version of the Annan plan was put to the parties in February 2003. That same month the Secretary-General again visited the island and asked that both leaders agree to put the plan to referendum in their respective communities. Also in February 2003, Tassos Papadopoulos was elected as the fifth president of the Republic of Cyprus. On 10 March 2003, this most recent phase of talks collapsed in The Hague, Netherlands, when Denktash told the Secretary-General he would not put the Annan Plan to referendum. April 16 is the 106th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (107th in leap years). ... 2003 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 2003 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December A timeline of events in the news for February, 2003. ... Tassos Papadopoulos, President of the Republic of Cyprus Tassos Nikolaou Papadopoulos (Greek: Τάσσος Παπαδόπουλος) born January 7, 1934) has been the president of Cyprus since 2003. ... March 10 is the 69th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (70th in Leap years). ... 2003 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Arms of The Hague The Hague (with capital T; Dutch: Den Haag, or officially s-Gravenhage) is the administrative capital of the Netherlands, located in the west of the country, in the province South Holland of which it is also the capital. ... A referendum (plural: referendums or referenda) or plebiscite is a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal. ...

In February 2004, Papadopoulos and Denktash accepted the Secretary-General's invitation to resume negotiations on a settlement on the basis of the Annan plan. After meeting with Annan in New York, talks began on-island on 19 February 2004. The two community leaders, Rauf Denktash and Tassos Papadopoulos, met nearly every day for negotiations facilitated by the Secretary-General's Special Representative for Cyprus, Álvaro de Soto. In addition, numerous technical committees and subcommittees met in parallel in an effort to resolve outstanding issues. When this stage of the talks failed to reach an agreed settlement Rauf Dentaksh refused to attend the next stage of meetings which were scheduled to take place in Bόrgenstock on 24 March 2004 and sent Mehmet Ali Talat and Serder Denktash as his agents. The talks collapsed and no negotiated agreement was reached by the two communities. The Secretary-General then stepped in as arbitrator and on 31 March presented to the two sides a proposed final settlement. Rauf Dentaksh rejected Annan's proposal immediately and Tassos Papadopoulos rejected the plan a week later while Mehmet Ali Talat supported it. 2004 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December- → // February 29, 2004 Jean-Bertrand Aristide resigns as president of Haiti and flees the country for the Central African Republic. ... February 19 is the 50th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 2004 is a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Álvaro de Soto (born 16 March 1943) is a Peruvian diplomat and a senior official of the United Nations. ... March 24 is the 83rd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (84th in Leap years). ... 2004 is a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... March 31 is the 90th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (91st in Leap years), with 275 days remaining, as the final day of March. ...

Rejection

See: Cyprus reunification referendum, 2004

The plan was placed before the two communities in a simultaneous vote in the reunification referendum of 24 April 2004. Whilst the proposal received a 65% favorable vote from the Turkish community, the Greek Cypriot community rejected it by three to one. Since implementation of the plan was dependent on its approval by both communities, reunification did not take place. Had there been a positive vote on both sides, a unified Cyprus would have acceeded to the European Union on 1 May 2004. The two sectors of the divided island of Cyprus held a referendum on reunification on 24 April 2004. ... April 24 is the 114th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (115th in leap years). ... 2004 is a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... May 1 is the 121st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (122nd in leap years). ... 2004 is a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Reasons for Greek-Cypriot rejection of the Annan Plan

• The Plan did not include a settlement regarding the repatriation of Turkish settlers living on Greek Cypriot owned land in the 'TRNC'.

• The Plan gave Turkish Cypriots a disproportionately large number of seats in Parliament (a quarter of seats in the Chamber of Deputies and half of the seats in the Senate).

• The Plan did not deal in full with the demilitarisation of the 'TRNC', and Greek Cypriots felt they had no reason to believe Turkish promises concerning the withdrawal of troops.

• Many Greek Cypriots interpreted the Right of Return policy as to be seriously flawed, meaning only 20% of Greek Cypriot refugees would be able to return over a time frame of 25 years, whereas Turkish Cypriots would have had full right of return.

• The Plan did not address the issue of the British Sovereign Base Areas (SBAs) on the island, although parts of the SBAs would be transferred to the governments of the two consituent states.

The UK Sovereign Base Areas are those British military base areas located in countries formerly ruled by the United Kingdom which were retained by it and not handed over when those countries attained independence. ...

Recent Developments

(1) On 6 April 2005 the European Court of Human Rights decided that, "even the adoption of the plan would not have afforded immediate redress" of the Greek Cypriots property rights.

Admissibility of Application no. 46347/99 by Myra XENIDES-ARESTIS against Turkey

Loukis Loukaides the Cypriot judge on the European Court of Human Rights, has since called on the Greek Cypriot political leaders to stop backing the Annan Plan as a basis for negotiations, because its basic philosophy violates fundamental human rights and the EU acquis. (Cyprus Weekly 15 April 2005)

He recomends the following action be taken:

1 - The drafting of an official information bulletin on the violation of the EU acquis by the Annan Plan.

2 - To declare clearly that the Plan is incompatible with the European Human Rights Charter and other International Human Rights Treaties, which are already binding on us and also as a result of our EU accession.

3 - To cease at last to refer to the Annan Plan as a basis for a settlement, or negotiations. So long as this continues, foreign officials and organisations that could assist us achieve a good settlement, will not do so.

Sources

• "Negotiations" section adapted from public domain U.S. State Department background note on Cyprus, April 2004

• Supplementary material based on:
  • Letter by the President of the Republic, Mr Tassos Papadopoulos, to the U.N. Secretary-General, Mr Kofi Annan, dated 7 June, which circulated as an official document of the U.N. Security Council
  • Legal Issues arising from certain population transfers and displacements on the territory of the Republic of Cyprus in the period since 20 July 1974
  • Address to Cypriots by President Papadopoulos (FULL TEXT)
  • House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee report on Cyprus

The public domain comprises the body of all creative works and other knowledge—writing, artwork, music, science, inventions, and others—in which no person or organization has any proprietary interest. ...

External links

• The Annan Plan: full text and additional information from the United Nations
• Cyprus Decides: a bipartisan information resource about the Plan
• The Republic of Cyprus: press and information offce
• The BBC report on the plan