Cyprus: The Search for a Solution

by David Hannay

The Cyprus problem has defeated all attempts to resolve it for more than forty years. From 1996 onwards the UN, with strong support from the United States, the United Kingdom and other European Union members, mounted the most sustained of all the efforts to reach an agreement, so that a reunited Cyprus could join the European Union in May 2004. Although it came closer to success than any previous attempt, this one was a failure as well. From his unique position as the former British Special Representative for Cyprus, David Hannay tells the story of these negotiations, their ups and downs and of the roles of the United Nations and the European Union. What results is an exceptional first-hand account of a complex situation.

256 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

English naval historian

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name. This profile may contain books from multiple authors of this name.

Reviews

[Nicholas Whyte]

http://nhw.livejournal.com/303543.html[return][return]Mainly of historical interest now; much of his story depends on the personalities of the two main negotiators from the island, Clerides and Denktash. Also the fundamental dynamics of the problem changed in 2004, after Hannay's engagement had finished, with the Turkish Cypriots (other than Denktash) really keen to reach an agreement and the Greek Cypriots not quite in the same place; for most of the last thirty years it had been the other way round.[return][return]I had to smile at his reference to a "group of Belgian academics of Turkish ethnicity" who eased the Turkish Cypriots (and the rest of the process) over one particular hurdle. I am pretty sure he is referring to this (Word) document, which includes me in the acknowledgements (and I think I may have written a sentence or two of the electoral system section). Neither of the two credited authors possesses either Turkish ethnicity or Belgian citizenship.[return][return]I was aware of a lot of the basics about the situation from general background reading and from previous dabbling. Two things that I learnt particularly from this account were, first, the way in which everyone (Hannay in particular, one supposes, though he is modest about this) bent over backwards to assure the maximum possible synergy between the EU accession process and the settlement negotiations; secondly, that at a late stage in the day the British added some extra lubrication to the negotiations by offering to give up almost half of the UK sovereign base territory on the islands.[return][return]Despite all this, of course, the talks failed. Hannay concludes (in a judgement that I think has general applicability):[return][return] ...the negotiations between 1999 and 2003 did, in my view, demonstrate that external pressures and assistance do have their limitations and cannot, unaided, deliver a settlement. On no previous occasion were external pressures applied so consistently and in such a sustained manner; on no previous occasion was the raw material that emerged from the views of the two sides so skilfully blended and merged. And yet all that was not enough to achieve an agreement. [return][return]Or put more briefly, you can bring a horse to water, but you cannot make it drink.

[Will James · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was looking for a good account of the 'Cyprus Problem', and this book provides a brilliant diplomat's view of the process from 1996 to the Annan Plan. Lord Hannay gives a balanced and detailed account of the negotiations between the Greek and Turkish Cypriots, while showing the powerful progress that can be achieved when governments (like the US, UK) and international institutions (like the UN and EU) work together.