Rauf Denktaş

It is not yet certain when the two people of Cyprus will be asked to go to separate simultaneous referenda to vote on an agreement uniting the divided island in a bi-zonal and bi-communal federation. Indeed, as for now, it is not certain either if there ever will be an accord to crown the almost 50 years of intercommunal talks.

The latest round of Cyprus talks collapsed once again due to what Turkish Cypriots claimed were the "maximalist demands" of the Greek Cypriot side, and Greek Cypriots lamented the uncompromising position of the Turks. Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akıncı has most probably earned the title of being "the saddest Cypriot." 

When they started in a Beirut hotel back in 1968, probably neither of the two communal negotiators believed that the exercise they started would carry on for very long. Almost 50 years later, the process launched by the Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktaş and Greek Cypriot negotiator Glafkos Klerides will this week be carried to Mont Pelerin, Switzerland, for what many people see as a final mak

When they started at a Beirut hotel back in 1968, neither Greek Cypriot negotiator Glafkos Clerides nor Turkish Cypriot counterpart Rauf Denktaş probably thought the problem of power sharing between their two peoples would outlive them.