A flexible model, and a fairy tale to match

Opinion Cyprus problemMaria Angela Holguin CuellarNicos AnastasiadesNikos ChristodoulidesTufan Erhurman A flexible model, and a fairy tale to match A Flexible Model, And A Fairy Tale To Match Relevant News A flexible model, and a fairy tale to match 14 July 2026 Even in this heat, they’re talking presidentials! 14 July 2026 A taste of the simple life 14 July 2026 Aristos Michaelides 14 July 2026 FacebookXWhatsAppEmailPrintViber A flexible model for solving the Cyprus problem, that’s what they’re calling it now. Because a British newspaper printed it. The Independent. Suddenly they love it. Yet when Nicos Anastasiades said exactly the same thing, nobody wanted to know. And when he dared, wrongly of course, to mention two states, they tore him to shreds. Now? Not a peep of objection. Because it isn’t called a two-state solution, it’s a flexible model of a loose form of federation. Never mind that the Independent is playing us for fools right in front of our eyes: apparently María Ángela Holguín is preparing “a looser solution” (what a “looser solution” actually means, nobody knows), hoping that “the structure will be such that Greek Cypriots can call it a federation and Turkish Cypriots a confederation, bridging the gap through a deliberate ‘constructive ambiguity'”. Throw in two constituent states with political equality and broad autonomy, a rotating presidential council (Annan Plan-style), the notion that most governmental powers would be exercised separately by the two constituent states while the central government gets a bit-part role, and you’ve got a soup we could stir forever without ever reaching the bottom of it. The Independent also thinks Tufan Erhurman looks readier to discuss such a framework, unlike Nikos Christodoulides, who comes across as more cautious and hemmed in by domestic political pressure. The cheek of it. Christodoulides is “hemmed in by domestic pressure”, but somehow they forgot to mention that Erhurman looks readier because this is his model. Not just now that Holguín has put it on the table, but long before he ever became Turkish Cypriot leader. Back on 17 May 2021, he told Yenidüzen that common ground could be found between the two sides on solving the Cyprus problem, and that it lay in a decentralised federation handing power to the founding states. And even earlier, when Anastasiades raised it in 2018, Erhurman, then serving as “prime minister”, said: “The side that wanted a strong central government was the Greek Cypriot side. The Turkish Cypriot side will neither create a problem nor drag out lengthy discussions over a loose federation” (25 October 2018). So what the British are peddling, and pinning on Holguín, is simply what the Turks have wanted all along: a confederation of two existing statelets. And that is precisely what our leaders have been discussing and quietly agreeing to for years, without ever admitting it out loud. Every single time the elements of the political system had to be agreed, the very elements that would define its shape, it turned out the Turks had one thing in mind and the Greek Cypriots another, even as both sides talked about a bizonal, bicommunal federation. Confederal fingerprints are all over both the Christofias-Talat agreement of 2008 and the Anastasiades-Eroğlu agreement of 2014. So where did this whole story always get stuck? Let me answer with a statement from Barış Burcu, spokesman for Akıncı, back when Anastasiades first floated this “flexible model”. He was referring to Mustafa Akıncı’s earlier remarks that he wouldn’t rule it out, provided the question of which powers would be transferred to the constituent states was clarified. “Effective participation by the Turkish Cypriot side in every decision taken jointly is non-negotiable,” Burcu said. That’s exactly where it snags. Whether we end up with a loose federation or a confederation, that “effective participation”, read: veto, over every single decision has to be guaranteed. In other words, we agree to fully autonomous statelets and a central government with barely any powers at all, but even that watered-down centre still needs a veto attached, so Ankara can keep its hand on the whole of Cyprus, Greek Cypriot statelet included. Beyond all this fanciful talk of a “flexible model”, sooner or later the real questions land on the table. Such as: will we have one economy, one central bank, one FIR, one EEZ? Such as: which territories get handed back? Such as: when do the occupation army and its so-called guarantees finally go to hell? Do Holguín and the British have a plan for that too? Subscribe to our Newsletter Latest News Even in this heat, they’re talking presidentials! A taste of the simple life State-of-the-art stadiums, apparently Popular contraceptive pills now carry brain tumour warning Bora Markovic promotes Cyprus abroad, waits 30 years for citizenship EU optimistic about rapid enlargement on ‘Super Tuesday’ Explained: Cyprus electricity supply risk and the hours that matter most Follow en.philenews on Google News and be the first to know all the news about Cyprus and the world.