The UN Secretary General’s two biannual reports on Cyprus have been unofficially released. The first concerns UNFICYP’s activities ahead of its mandate renewal, while the second addresses “Good Offices” – in other words, the Cyprus issue.
Once again, we witness a pattern from the reports’ authors that reflects a misguided attempt at equidistance. This approach works against the weaker party – the country under occupation, the Republic of Cyprus.
These reports typically take a descriptive approach. However, they are not mere statistical reports. They present facts that cannot be divorced from the core issue and the source of these irregularities – namely, the occupation.
Both the UN Representative in Cyprus, Colin Stewart, and his predecessors have followed the same approach: equating the two sides, victim with perpetrator.
This strategy has perpetuated the situation we’ve endured since 1974. This is because the UN avoids addressing the core issue – the occupation. They don’t stand up to the occupying power.
When circumstances force them to criticise it, they quickly find an excuse to do the same with the Republic of Cyprus.
The two reports are expected to be officially released mid-month, and their content is unlikely to change. This is standard practice.
Beyond this, we believe the Republic of Cyprus should make representations and formal protests (if it hasn’t already) to UN officials, urging them to be objective and acknowledge reality.
The UN, or any other organisation, has neither the right nor the legitimacy to downplay Cyprus’s occupation or to present it as a bicommunal dispute, sometimes described as disagreements between “two neighbouring entities.”
We call upon the UN officials who draft these reports to study both history and their own organisation’s resolutions and decisions. Only then can they function properly and objectively.
Only then will they fulfil their mission to help resolve the Cyprus issue.
