Greek Cypriot Acceptance of Bicommunal Federation Was Key Concession in Cyprus Settlement Talks
Former Greek Cypriot chief negotiator Andreas Mavroyiannis has described the Greek Cypriot side’s acceptance of a bicommunal federation after the 1974 Turkish invasion as their greatest concession in pursuit of a Cyprus settlement. This agreement, initiated with the 1977 Makarios-Denktash deal, was intended to secure progress on key issues such as territory, security guarantees, troop withdrawals, property rights, and refugee returns.
Mavroyiannis argued that the strategy of waiting for more favorable conditions, often called the “long struggle,” has failed, as time has only complicated resolving the conflict due to changes on the ground. He emphasized that previous negotiations overly focused on governance while largely avoiding security and troop presence until the 2017 talks in Geneva and Crans-Montana addressed the entire package.
Recalling past rejected initiatives, Mavroyiannis stressed the importance of negotiating all proposals rather than outright rejection and criticized the collapse of Crans-Montana talks, attributing it to Turkish refusal on guarantees and troop withdrawal rather than Greek Cypriot hesitation. He called for future talks to build on previous frameworks and protect the progress already made, highlighting the 2017 negotiations as a peak opportunity strengthened by Cyprus’ EU membership.
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