U.N. Ineffectiveness in Yemen Shows Cyprus Was Right to Reject 2004 Annan Plan by Michael Rubin

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"European diplomats and many United Nations officials, ... are optimistic that they can make progress on the fifty-one-year dispute, especially after residents of the self-styled Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus ousted hardliner Ersin Tatar in favor of the more moderate Tufan Erhürman, a mild-mannered lawyer and former negotiator. ...

Still, Erhürman’s election showed the unease even among Cypriot Muslims about Erdoğan’s religious agenda, which is foreign to the tolerant, laid-back practices that Turkish Cypriots traditionally favor. ...

Unfortunately, too many U.N. officials, Western diplomats, and Turks blame Greek Cypriots for the failure of the U.N.’s 2004 Annan Plan to make Cyprus a bi-zonal, bi-communal federation. In the subsequent referendum, Turkish Cypriots accepted the plan by a two-thirds majority, while three-quarters of Greek Cypriots rejected the plan.

In the decades since, Turkish diplomats and many frustrated U.N. and European officials have heaped blame upon Greek Cypriots for missing the opportunity for peace. Turks responded by increasing their unilateralism.  ...

Greek Cypriots were correct to reject the Annan Plan for two reasons:
First, it laundered Turkish aggression.  ... the idea that it would have brought peace to the island is nonsense.

It would have allowed both the Turkish Army and Turkish settlers to continue their occupation permanently. Turkey and its proxy state would collect concessions within days, while Greek Cypriot rights would only kick in years later. Should Turkey or Turkish Cypriots violate the Annan Plan, there would be no recourse or consequence. Put another way, the Annan Plan was all smoke and mirrors, but no substance. ...

The United Nations pulled the same stunt nearly a quarter-century later in Yemen. The United Nations does not recognize the Houthi government of Yemen and views its 2014 seizure of Yemen’s capital Sana’a as illegitimate. Still, the United Nations sends mixed message by maintaining its offices in the occupied capital even though it recognized an alternate government based in Aden. As it appeared an Emirati-led force might attack the main Houthi port at Hudaydah, many within the U.N. system pursued the need for an agreement to bring calm to Yemen, if not peace. ...

The Stockholm Agreement did neither. The Houthis retained control over customs and port operations, albeit with a uniform change and the facade of being apolitical port workers. Inspections became optional; the agreement only mandated boarding for those ships that officially declared themselves to inspectors. The Houthis thrived and strengthened. Yemeni Foreign Minister Khaled al-Yamani resigned in disgust at the U.N.’s willingness to substitute a virtue signaling and a signing ceremony for meaningful peace and security. History has proven al-Yamani correct. Tens of thousands of Yemenis have died since the Stockholm Agreement as a result of its perpetuation of Houthi rule. ..."

U.N. Ineffectiveness in Yemen Shows Cyprus Was Right to Reject 2004 Annan Plan - Middle East Forum "Tens of Thousands of Yemenis Have Died Since the 2018 Stockholm Agreement as a Result of Its Perpetuation of Houthi Rule"