This work traces the attempts by the United Nations to bring about the reunification of Cyprus prior to the island's accession to the European Union on 1 May 2004. In addition to charting the course of previous efforts to solve the Cyprus issue, the book recounts the direct discussions between the two sides from January 2002 through to April 2004 and analyses the reasons why the UN plan was rejected in a referendum.

The prospect of Cyprus' EU membership was long hoped to act as a catalyst for a settlement of the island's conflict, yet the island remained divided when it joined the EU in 2004. This study analyzes the case of Cyprus and the EU, exploring the accession process, EU policies towards the conflict, and projections for the resolution of the conflict within the EU framework.

The five versions of the comprehensive settlement plan for Cyprus, which UN Secretary-General Annan tabled between 2002 and 2004, raised a variety of international law and European law questions. This book contains the first systematic analysis of the Annan plan, thereby providing an overview of the legal aspects of the Cyprus problem. It also discusses how the plan was intended to be accommodated in the European legal order. Did it comply with the fundamental principle of democracy, rule of law and human rights? Would a united Cyprus have been able to speak with one voice and to implement EU law properly? The Author, who has worked both for the European Commission and for the UN Special Advisor on Cyprus, presents a precise account of facts and thorough legal assessments. He also tackles current legal problems arising out of Cyprus’ membership in the EU and the suspension of the acquis communautaire in the northern part of Cyprus. He finally analyses how the question of recognition affects the relations between Cyprus and Turkey. The book is an ideal choice for practitioners and researchers because it combines first hand information on the most recent developments on Cyprus with legal evaluations from an international official trained in international and European law.

For nearly 60 years--from its uprising against British rule in the 1950s, to the bloody civil war between Greek and Turkish Cypriots in the 1960s, the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in the 1970s, and the United Nation's ongoing 30-year effort to reunite the island--the tiny Mediterranean nation of Cyprus has taken a disproportionate share of the international spotlight. And while it has been often in the news, accurate and impartial information on the conflict has been nearly impossible to obtain. In The Cyprus Problem: What Everyone Needs to Know®, James Ker-Lindsay--recently appointed as expert advisor to the UN Secretary-General's Special Advisor on Cyprus--offers an incisive, even-handed account of the conflict. Ker-Lindsay covers all aspects of the Cyprus problem, placing it in historical context, addressing the situation as it now stands, and looking toward its possible resolution. The book begins with the origins of the Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities as well as the other indigenous communities on the island (Maronites, Latin, Armenians, and Gypsies). Ker-Lindsay then examines the tensions that emerged between the Greek and Turkish Cypriots after independence in 1960 and the complex constitutional provisions and international treaties designed to safeguard the new state. He pays special attention to the Turkish invasion in 1974 and the subsequent efforts by the UN and the international community to reunite Cyprus. The book's final two chapters address a host of pressing issues that divide the two Cypriot communities, including key concerns over property, refugee returns, and the repatriation of settlers. Ker-Lindsay concludes by considering whether partition really is the best solution, as many observers increasingly suggest. Written by a leading expert, The Cyprus Problem brings much needed clarity and understanding to a conflict that has confounded observers and participants alike for decades. What Everyone Needs to Know® is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press.

Although Turkey has a long-held aspiration for European Union membership and has been a candidate for more than a decade, relations between the EU and Turkey have not received the attention it deserves from non-Turkish researchers thus far, and consequently the international literature on EU-Turkey relations is rather limited. In light of recent global economic and political challenges for the EU and Turkey, a need has emerged for an interdisciplinary approach to study EU-Turkey relations within the wider international political and economic context. Turkey's Accession to the European Union: Political and Economic Challenges, edited by Belgin Ak ay and Bahri Yilmaz, provides a timely overview of some of the most important issues and debates in the changing context of Europe, the change in domestic politics and foreign policy in Turkey, and the likely implications of these changes and developments for EU-Turkey relations. Within this framework, this collection includes articles emphasizing Turkey's reform process with a view to EU accession, despite EU's reservations about "absorbing" Turkey and the eventual decoupling of the Turkish reform process from European integration, as well as searching for alternative forms of cooperation or transitional arrangements which may be possible for Turkey at the time of accession.

From ancient times to the present, the history of Cyprus is provided in this useful reference, which includes hundreds of cross-referenced dictionary entries on its historical, political, social, cultural, and economic history.

Enlargement to Turkey is arguably the greatest challenge facing the European Union today. After the narrowly averted "train crash" over Cyprus in 2006, the second election victory of the Justice and Development Party in July 2007 opened new prospects for Turkish-EU relations. But in an EU emphasising a collective identity based on shared civilisational values, Turkey’s European credentials have been increasingly called into question. Amending national identity through political change has become the key to the success or failure of the Turkish integration project. This volume examines the EU role in strengthening the domestic pro-reform coalition within Turkey, the paradox - and potential limits - of Turkey’s europeanising Islamists, and the impact of Europeanisation through conditionality, including a case study of Turkish policy towards the Cyprus Question. Also addressed are the Western stereotypes of Turkish identity influencing the country’s EU prospects, notably concerning the role of Islam in precipitating acts of political violence and its association with sexual and political violence in the discourse of European opponents of Turkish accession. Finally, the dynamics of EU accession negotiations are analysed and the potential role of a norm-driven rhetorical strategy in promoting Turkish accession as a moral and democratic imperative is discussed.