A New Hope for a Permanent Peace in Cyprus

Executive Summary

The new era of negotiations aimed at establishing a bi-zonal, bi-communal federal state in Cyprus and ensuring a lasting peace environment has created renewed hope both on and off the island. The election of pro-solution candidate Mustafa Akıncı with 60.5% of the vote in the second round of the presidential elections held in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) on May 1, 2015, paved the way for the resumption of the negotiation process, which had been suspended the previous October by the President of the Republic of Cyprus, Nicos Anastasiades.

The increasing regional dynamism surrounding discussions on transporting Eastern Mediterranean energy reserves to Europe had gained further momentum following the acceleration of negotiations after Anastasiades’ election. However, Turkey’s decision to send the Barbaros Hayrettin Paşa seismic research vessel, accompanied by several naval ships, to the waters off the TRNC in response to Southern Cyprus initiating drilling activities without reaching a final agreement in negotiations led to a new interruption in the process. As a result, Anastasiades withdrew from the negotiation table and unilaterally suspended the talks.