An endangered Mouflon sheep runs inside the UN-controlled buffer zone that divide the Greek and Turkish areas of Cyprus. AP
An endangered Mouflon sheep runs inside the UN-controlled buffer zone that divide the Greek and Turkish areas of Cyprus. AP
An endangered Mouflon sheep runs inside the UN-controlled buffer zone that divide the Greek and Turkish areas of Cyprus. AP
An endangered Mouflon sheep runs inside the UN-controlled buffer zone that divide the Greek and Turkish areas of Cyprus. AP

Is a two-state Cyprus a real possibility?


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If you have spent time on the island of Cyprus you are likely aware of locals’ predilection for salty, squeaky halloumi cheese, eaten grilled, pan-fried or occasionally fresh. Mostly made from sheep and goat’s milk, it appears on nearly every menu across the EU-member Republic of Cyprus and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), where it is called hellim.

More than one in five Turkish Cypriots are financially dependent on halloumi, which accounts for 36 per cent of TRNC exports despite a block on shipments to the EU. This month the European Commission moved to change that by registering halloumi as a protected designation of origin (PDO) for all producers on the island, which has been divided since a 1974 Turkish military invasion sought to head off an Athens-backed coup.

As with Prosciutto Toscano, champagne or Parma ham, products given this status can only be labelled as such when made in their designated place of origin. Turkish Cypriots are seen as the main beneficiary, as the Republic of Cyprus has long been exporting halloumi to its fellow EU members, including 33,000 tonnes in 2019. EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell welcomed the move as a positive step in advance of next week’s talks in Geneva, to be attended by TRNC, Cyprus, Greece, the UK, and Turkey, with the UN as observer.

Tensions in the eastern Mediterranean have been high since at least 2018, when Turkey began sending drill ships accompanied by naval vessels to drill for natural gas in waters claimed by Cyprus and Greece. Ankara’s moves brought it to the brink of war with Athens last summer. Tempers had cooled in recent months as Turkey kept its boats in port and the two neighbours began exploratory talks.

Tensions in the eastern Mediterranean have been high since at least 2018

But at a joint press conference with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu in Ankara on Thursday, Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias warned of EU sanctions “if Turkey continues violating our sovereign rights”. Mr Cavusoglu later said his counterpart had “crossed the line”. The two agreed to talk more in Geneva, but did not announce the widely anticipated summit between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, hinting at lingering agitation.

Next week’s informal Cyprus talks will mark the first since 2017, when hopes for a resolution were high following the election of TRNC President Mustafa Akinci, who had long advocated for reunification. When talks broke down, most observers blamed Greek Cypriot negotiators for an unwillingness to budge.

Turkey is the only country that recognises the TRNC, and keeps some 40,000 troops there. Last October, TRNC voters elected a new president, Ersin Tatar, who shares Ankara’s view that a two-state solution is the only way to resolve the nearly 50-year-old dispute.

Turkish-Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar (R) speaks during a joint press conference with Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu in the northern part of Cyprus' divided capital Nicosia, under control of the self-proclaimed Turkish Republic of North Cyprus (TRNC), on April 16, 2021. AFP
Turkish-Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar (R) speaks during a joint press conference with Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu in the northern part of Cyprus' divided capital Nicosia, under control of the self-proclaimed Turkish Republic of North Cyprus (TRNC), on April 16, 2021. AFP

Cyprus, Greece and the EU advocate a bizonal federation, a single state with significant autonomy for the north. Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades has said he is ready to resume talks, but Cyprus and Greece have both rejected the possibility of a sovereign northern Cypriot state.

Long-time Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktas was among those who initially proposed a joint federation in the 1d960s, years before the island’s division. Mr Denktas later became the first TRNC president. He and successive Turkish Cypriot leaders advocated and negotiated for some form of federation for more than half a century, with little result.

A decade ago many observers thought the discovery of natural gas around the island might help resolve the dispute, as investors would require a stable and prosperous state. But following a price decline, the market for eastern Mediterranean gas is widely seen as limited.

Workers sort halloumi cheese at the Petrou Bros Dairy in Aradippou, Cyprus, April 2. Reuters
Workers sort halloumi cheese at the Petrou Bros Dairy in Aradippou, Cyprus, April 2. Reuters

One way to boost that market is collaboration: Cyprus has joined Greece, Israel, Egypt and others in a regional gas forum; and there’s talk of Ankara joining as well if it is able to improve ties with Cairo. At landmark talks with Israel, the UAE and Greece on Friday in Paphos, Greek Cypriot Foreign Minister Nikos Christodoulides said the eastern Mediterranean had begun to shift away from its narrative of conflict thanks to an “evolving web of regional co-operation.”

Greek Cypriots have, however, resisted co-operation with the TRNC, perhaps out of fear that any concession might further encourage Ankara. A Greek Cypriot petition launched this month urges residents to support reunification or face the “risk of the whole of Cyprus falling into the hands of Turkey.”

This has echoes of the far-right Alternative for Germany party warning of Muslim immigrants turning Europe into “Eurabia”. Little surprise, then, that the Cyprus branch of a former Greek neo-Nazi party has begun to emerge, and many Turkish Cypriots and Turks see Nicosia as in thrall to an orientalist EU and Greece.

"They never ever wanted to share the resources of the island, power and sovereignty with the Turkish Cypriots," Turkish columnist Yusuf Kanli wrote in a recent column for pro-government Hurriyet Daily news. "The Greek Cypriots refused to treat the Turkish Cypriots as their political equals".

(L-R) Cypriot Foreign minister Nicos Chrisodoulides, Greek Foreign minister Nikos Dendias, Israel Foreign minister Gabi Ashkenazi and Anwar Gargash, Diplomatic Adviser to UAE President Sheikh Khalifa, hold a joint news conference following their meeting in Paphos, Cyprus, 16 April 2021. EPA
(L-R) Cypriot Foreign minister Nicos Chrisodoulides, Greek Foreign minister Nikos Dendias, Israel Foreign minister Gabi Ashkenazi and Anwar Gargash, Diplomatic Adviser to UAE President Sheikh Khalifa, hold a joint news conference following their meeting in Paphos, Cyprus, 16 April 2021. EPA

An article in the British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies this month argued that Ankara’s Cyprus policy had become intertwined with its domestic efforts to shape a nationalist-Islamist identity. On the weekend, Mr Erdogan rebuked the TRNC’s top court for barring the country’s religious affairs office, which is heavily influenced by Ankara, from organising Quran courses. The Turkish president warned of repercussions, while his Communications Director Fahrettin Altun called the move “a judicial coup against freedom of religion”.

Despite such pressures, Turkish Cypriots have mostly come to share Ankara's view that Nicosia has been unwilling to compromise, leading many to take a harder line. Negotiations have never seriously considered a two-state solution, but that does not mean they never will. “We will no longer waste time on the federal solution," Mr Cavusoglu said of the upcoming talks after meeting with Tatar on the weekend. “New ideas and new vision should be discussed.”

A January 2020 poll revealed more than 81 per cent support for a two-state solution among Turkish Cypriots. Around the same time, 28 per cent of Greek Cypriots expressed a willingness to tolerate such a solution, which suggests it’s not a total non-starter.

What about the power of halloumi? Mr Christodoulides has said PDO status could encourage reconciliation. Due to bureaucratic hurdles, trade across the UN-monitored Green Line is just 6.3 million euros per year. But the halloumi market has been growing steadily and the Turkish Cypriot Chamber of Commerce agreed that PDO status could enhance economic cooperation between the two sides.

Not so fast. TRNC Foreign Minister Tahsin Ertugruloglu described the halloumi move as “a disgraceful attempt...to dominate the political will” of TRNC. Under the measure TRNC-based producers will be able to sell to EU states, but only by first sending their hellim into Cyprus.

What’s more, the Cyprus Turkish Chamber of Industry pointed out that the UK, the colonial power in Cyprus until 1960, accounts for more than half of EU imports of halloumi. No longer an EU member, the UK already receives shipments of TRNC hellim, so the north’s gains from PDO status may be minimal.

Europe’s stab at cheese diplomacy may have spoiled, but the Geneva talks still offer a real opportunity to inch closer to a resolution.

David Lepeska is a Turkish and Eastern Mediterranean affairs columnist for The National

Emergency

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Open Men (bonus points in brackets)
New Zealand 125 (1) beat UAE 111 (3)
India 111 (4) beat Singapore 75 (0)
South Africa 66 (2) beat Sri Lanka 57 (2)
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THE BIO

Bio Box

Role Model: Sheikh Zayed, God bless his soul

Favorite book: Zayed Biography of the leader

Favorite quote: To be or not to be, that is the question, from William Shakespeare's Hamlet

Favorite food: seafood

Favorite place to travel: Lebanon

Favorite movie: Braveheart

Sheikh Zayed's poem

When it is unveiled at Abu Dhabi Art, the Standing Tall exhibition will appear as an interplay of poetry and art. The 100 scarves are 100 fragments surrounding five, figurative, female sculptures, and both sculptures and scarves are hand-embroidered by a group of refugee women artisans, who used the Palestinian cross-stitch embroidery art of tatreez. Fragments of Sheikh Zayed’s poem Your Love is Ruling My Heart, written in Arabic as a love poem to his nation, are embroidered onto both the sculptures and the scarves. Here is the English translation.

Your love is ruling over my heart

Your love is ruling over my heart, even a mountain can’t bear all of it

Woe for my heart of such a love, if it befell it and made it its home

You came on me like a gleaming sun, you are the cure for my soul of its sickness

Be lenient on me, oh tender one, and have mercy on who because of you is in ruins

You are like the Ajeed Al-reem [leader of the gazelle herd] for my country, the source of all of its knowledge

You waddle even when you stand still, with feet white like the blooming of the dates of the palm

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You are the cure for my sickness and my support, you dried my throat up let me go and damp it

Help me, oh children of mine, for in his love my life will pass me by. 

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Starring: Akshay Kumar, Radhika Madan, Paresh Rawal 

Rating: 2/5

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18

This is how many recognised sects Lebanon is home to, along with about four million citizens

450,000

More than this many Palestinian refugees are registered with UNRWA in Lebanon, with about 45 per cent of them living in the country’s 12 refugee camps

1.5 million

There are just under 1 million Syrian refugees registered with the UN, although the government puts the figure upwards of 1.5m

73

The percentage of stateless people in Lebanon, who are not of Palestinian origin, born to a Lebanese mother, according to a 2012-2013 study by human rights organisation Frontiers Ruwad Association

18,000

The number of marriages recorded between Lebanese women and foreigners between the years 1995 and 2008, according to a 2009 study backed by the UN Development Programme

77,400

The number of people believed to be affected by the current nationality law, according to the 2009 UN study

4,926

This is how many Lebanese-Palestinian households there were in Lebanon in 2016, according to a census by the Lebanese-Palestinian dialogue committee

Company Profile 

Founder: Omar Onsi

Launched: 2018

Employees: 35

Financing stage: Seed round ($12 million)

Investors: B&Y, Phoenician Funds, M1 Group, Shorooq Partners

Dr Afridi's warning signs of digital addiction

Spending an excessive amount of time on the phone.

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Losing interest in other activities or hobbies that were once enjoyed.

Having withdrawal symptoms like feeling anxious, restless, or upset when the technology is not available.

Experiencing sleep disturbances or changes in sleep patterns.

What are the guidelines?

Under 18 months: Avoid screen time altogether, except for video chatting with family.

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Aged 2-5 years: Limit to one-hour per day of high-quality programming, with co-viewing whenever possible.

Aged 6-12 years: Set consistent limits on screen time to ensure it does not interfere with sleep, physical activity, or social interactions.

Teenagers: Encourage a balanced approach – screens should not replace sleep, exercise, or face-to-face socialisation.

Source: American Paediatric Association
'The worst thing you can eat'

Trans fat is typically found in fried and baked goods, but you may be consuming more than you think.

Powdered coffee creamer, microwave popcorn and virtually anything processed with a crust is likely to contain it, as this guide from Mayo Clinic outlines: 

Baked goods - Most cakes, cookies, pie crusts and crackers contain shortening, which is usually made from partially hydrogenated vegetable oil. Ready-made frosting is another source of trans fat.

Snacks - Potato, corn and tortilla chips often contain trans fat. And while popcorn can be a healthy snack, many types of packaged or microwave popcorn use trans fat to help cook or flavour the popcorn.

Fried food - Foods that require deep frying — french fries, doughnuts and fried chicken — can contain trans fat from the oil used in the cooking process.

Refrigerator dough - Products such as canned biscuits and cinnamon rolls often contain trans fat, as do frozen pizza crusts.

Creamer and margarine - Nondairy coffee creamer and stick margarines also may contain partially hydrogenated vegetable oils.