ANGRY Kyrenia refugees say they are left with no choice but to reject outright the UN-drafted settlement plan they say precludes the return of all displaced Cypriots to their homes.

A bitter Mayor of occupied Karavas, Yiannakis Papaioannou, accused politicians of lying to Kyrenians for years despite promises that they would be allowed to go back to their homes under any settlement.

“Our politicians had been telling us all along that we would return to our homes under any plan, but this one has nothing to do with what we’ve been told,” the mayor of occupied Karavas, Yiannakis Papaioannou told The Cyprus Weekly. 

Papaioannou said representatives from 40-plus Kyrenia District organisations at a gathering on Wednesday unanimously declared their opposition to the plan they consider to be a sell-out.

Speaking on behalf of fellow mayors of Lapithos and Kyrenia, Papaioannou said a 15-member delegation will head to Athens tomorrow for talks with Greek President Costis Stephanopoulos, Prime Minister Costas Simitis and other political leaders in a bid to scupper the settlement plan if it is not amended to include the right of return for all.

Victims
“How can Karavas residents accept such a plan when their village has been Greek for eons and there has never been even an inch of Turkish Cypriot-owned land? Why should we become the victims?” said Papaioannou.

Papaioannou said Kyrenia District organisations are even considering taking out full-page adverts in newspapers to sensitise other Cypriots over what they consider to be a gross injustice against them.

Kerynians will again voice their anger at an anti-occupation rally in Nicosia’s Falcon Institute tomorrow at 8:00 pm, whose keynote speaker will be Kyrenia native and House President Demetris Christofias.

Christofias has treated the plan with caution, careful not to dismiss the plan outright and sticking to his line that any settlement should benefit both Greek and Turkish Cypriots. 

Representatives of an estimated 50,000 Kyrenia District refugees are the first and loudest to register their rage over the settlement plan because they have the most to lose among the island’s 180,000 displaced persons.

Papaioannou said Kyrenia District comprises almost half of the 28% of territory that will remain in Turkish Cypriot hands under an agreement - more than any other District. 

Gradual
But the UN plan envisages the gradual return of only a fraction of Kyrenia refugees to their homes and property according to a timeline stretching over decades.

The plan is formulated in such a way so as to keep returning Greek Cypriots in the minority relative to the Turkish Cypriot population of any specific locale or community.

Papaioannou said Kyrenians will also reject any financial compensation they would be entitled to under the plan if they are not allowed to return. 

The Karavas mayor said incensed Kyrenia leaders have even asked for a private audience with President Clerides to plead their case, but were told the President’s schedule could not accommodate them.

The government has been at pains to avoid an open confrontation with the UN plan’s detractors so as not to cast a shadow over delicate bargaining ahead.

But others, including Nicos Falas, Chairman of the Coordinating Committee of Karpasia have also come out against the plan.

Falas told The Cyprus Weekly that the “unacceptable” plan has “thrown fundamental human rights” by the wayside.

Inconceivable
“It’s inconceivable that we would approve such a plan when fundamental human rights are being ignored,” said Falas.

He suggested that the plan offers little to Karpass refugees and dismissed it “a face-saving exercise” that leaves no room to right the wrongs committed by the Turkish invasion.

According to one of the two UN maps included in the plan, Greek Cypriots could opt for keeping a Swiss-style canton in the upper half of the Karpass peninsula that would include the villages of Yialousa, Ayia Triada and Rizokarpasso.

But Falas said that option falls way short of the expectations of many other Karpasia refugees who would not be permitted to return to their property.

He also branded a planned referendum put to Greek Cypriots in March, 2003, to either accept or reject the plan as a “sham” because “huge political and economic interests” favouring a settlement would guarantee its approval."