Self-Determination in Cyprus: Future Options within a European Order

Abstract

Applies critical normative debates on secession to the "Cyprus question." The choice & remedial theories of secession are the two main schools of thought in this regard; here, focus is on Allen Buchanan's (1998) remedial theory of seccession. Its utility is explored for the early period of the Cyprus case, 1963, the outbreak of intercommunal violence, to 1974, Turkish military intervention & island partition. At issue is whether, in the case of Cyprus, with its de facto secession by way of war, territorial occupation, & human rights violations, remedial rights arguments have any traction. For this decade, it appears that the Turkish Cypriot community had a remedial right to secession. However, events of 1974 are examined in terms of Buchanan's theory & just war theory, casting doubt on this conclusion. Looking at contemporary circumstances, a different set of normative principles are employed in pursuit of possible resolution. Factors sustaining the intercommunal factor include separate systems of governance; lack of social, cultural, or economic relations; intercommunal socioeconomic disparities, & the Greek-Turkish rivalry. The potential for radical pluralism theories to offer more appropriate justification for Turkish Cypriot demands for separate sovereignties in Cyprus is considered. It is then suggested that EU membership might provide the basis for settling the conflict; issues to be settled for this to bear fruit are discussed. J. Zendejas