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Monday, June 15, 2015 1:00 PM

The US must stop the arms embargo in Cyprus

George Papadopoulos: The blessing or curse of the talks at the moment

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Heisa
Greek
American,secondgenerationimmigrant,withparentsfromThessaloniki.Giorgos
PapadopouloswasbornandraisedinChicago.HemadehisMastersinPolitical
EconomyandSecurity.Overthelastfiveyearshehasbeenworkingwiththe
HudsonInstitute,theAmericanthinktank,whichover50yearshasbeenworrying
aboutAmericanpolitics.Assheexplains,itisnocoincidencethattwomonthsafter
itsownpublicinterventiontostoptheUSarmsembargoontheRepublicofCyprus,
aheateddebatehasbegunfromCongresstoproceedwithitslifting.Theaimofthe
InstituteistobuildaclosepartnershipofCyprus,Greece,Israel,EgyptandtheUS
forstabilityandpeaceintheMiddleEastandthiswillbeanalyzedthismonthin
Congress.

Writtenby:AntigoniSolomonidouDroussiotou


Q:Forthethirdconsecutiveyear,doyouvisitCyprus?
CA:Yes, with the help of the Press and Information Office, we hold official meetings and seminars
for better information on US-Cyprus relations in all areas including foreign policy, security and
energy.Over the past 5 years, I have been working as a researcher at the Hudson Institute and have
researched the security of the Eastern Mediterranean and what it means.We are the first think tank
to organize a conference on the US, Cyprus, Israel, Greece and Washington relations in 2013 where
the ambassadors of the countries spoke to members of the Congress.After this conference, we have
published articles in American, Cypriot, Greek, Israeli newspapers on what US policy should be in
the Eastern Mediterranean, especially today,given the discovery of hydrocarbons in Cyprus and
Israel and support from Turkey to the jihadists in Syria and Iraq.As the Hudson Institute we
believe that Cyprus has the potential to create political stability on this side of the world because it
has very good relations with Lebanon, Egypt, Israel and Greece.It is very important that Cyprus
first develop its ties with its neighbors and that if Turkey at some point in the future changes the
policy of supporting the jihadists, then it will be able to integrate into this alliance where Cyprus
will be at the center.Egypt, Israel and Greece.It is very important that Cyprus first develop its ties
with its neighbors and that if Turkey at some point in the future changes the policy of supporting
the jihadists, then it will be able to integrate into this alliance where Cyprus will be at the
center.Egypt, Israel and Greece.It is very important that Cyprus first develop its ties with its
neighbors and that if Turkey at some point in the future changes the policy of supporting the
jihadists, then it will be able to integrate into this alliance where Cyprus will be at the center.

Q:CangeopoliticaldataandfindhydrocarbonsbeapressureleverforTurkeyin
ordertoproceedwithasolutiontotheCyprusproblem?
AP: Talks can be a blessing or curse for Cyprus at this particular moment.If the Republic of Cyprus
is unable to maintain the political and security relations established over the last five years with
Israel, Egypt, Lebanon, Greece, the United States, France and Italy, because of a new solution, it
will overturn stability in the Eastern Mediterranean.If the solution is a continuation of the
Republic of Cyprus, the Land will continue to be a member of the EU, the United Nations etc., then
it will be a blessing.

Q:AsolutionthatspeaksofvirginbirthratherthanthecontinuationoftheRepublic
ofCypruswillnotgothroughareferendum.
AP: If it means resolving the Turkish troops on the island, I do not think anyone cares because
Turkey, as I said, has problems with the whole region of the Eastern Mediterranean and I do not
think anyone wants the Turkish troops to remain in Cyprus.

Q:WhatistheUSpolicyontheCyprusproblemandstabilityintheEastern
Mediterranean?
A: There is no uniform US policy for this region of the world, Congress has other views from the
National Security Council and others from the State Department.Since the relations between
Turkey and Israel have deteriorated, Congress has maintained a more hostile attitude towards
Turkey, and this has helped pressure groups from the Greek-American and Israeli-American
lobbies, basically trying to pass legislation that would harm Turkish interests.Over the last 5 years,
many Senators have publicly stated that Turkey is no longer our ally because it supports the
jihadists.That is why we believe that cooperation between Cyprus - Greece - Israel should be the
foundation of the American policy in the region, because it is the three unique democracies on this
side of the world.

Q:WhatdoestheAmericanStateDepartmentbelieve?
AP: As the government's diplomatic wing, its goal is not to find Turkey isolated.They believe it is
important for Cyprus to maintain very good relations with Israel in the field of security and politics,
but they do not want this cooperation to isolate Turkey from a possible export market.It is very
positive that Israelis and Cypriots work together to export natural gas to the Egyptian market, but
the State Department does not want Turkey isolated because it is a very large and important
country member of NATO.
Q:TheNationalSecurityCouncil?
A: 2014 was a very important move by Vice-President Biden to visit Cyprus, support Confidence
Building Measures and express US support for the talks.He said that Cyprus is a very important US
partner for security in the region.In 2014, the US Navy made for the first time in its history joint
exercises with Cypriots.At the same time, Cypriots for the first time allowed the British bases to be
used to beat ISIS in Syria and Iraq.

Q:DidyoucirculatealittlebookaboutthebenefitsofthevisitofUSVicePresident
JoeBidentoCyprus?
A:Yes, because people from Congress, the National Security Council, the State Department read
the Hudson Institute's work and there are not many tanks of thoughts that focus on the
Mediterranean.The US government is listening to our recommendations.Congress has invited us
this month to present our findings in the Eastern Mediterranean in recent years.We will basically
discuss what we wrote in the publication of the small Monograph book on the Security Program in
the Eastern Mediterranean and explain what should be the US foreign policy and energy policy in
the Mediterranean.This is a tangible proof of what the Hudson Institute does in Washington.

TurkeyisnolongeranIsraelipartner

Q:WhatbringsyouthistimetoCyprus?
AP: It is the third year that I come as a guest of the Press and Information Office. I had high-level
meetings for the purposes of our Program and with the drilling companies on the island to gather
the latest information on the issues we will be discussing in Congress this month.They also invited
me to speak at an energy seminar organized in Nicosia in the presence of Foreign Minister
Kasoulides.I took part in a closed workshop organized by the University of Nicosia with the
collaboration of the Press and Information Office, which was attended by state officials and foreign
actors on energy issues.

Q:WithMonograph,doyoufinishthestudy?
AP: No, our study will continue.I recently spoke at a conference in Athens with the Besa think tank
from Israel and we will organize a conference in Washington that will not only bring American,
Israeli, Cypriot and Greek officials together as we did in 2013 but will also bring Egyptian officials
for the first time in Washington.The common conclusion from the seminar in Greece organized
with the University of Piraeus was that Turkey is no longer an Israeli partner and rapprochement
will not be in the near future.The new policy of Israel at this time is the close relationship with
Cyprus and Greece and Egypt, and one day, if Erdogan stops supporting Islamists and jihadists like
ISIS, Hamas, then he can have better relations with Turkey, but until then there is a relationship.

Q:WiththisdatahowcanwesolvetheCyprusproblem?
CA: As I said at the beginning, the incentives for Turkey at the moment are that Cyprus is a
potential exporter of gas and a solution to the Cyprus problem will allow them to have a success in
their foreign policy in an area that is all collapsing.

Q:Thenextyear'selectionsintheUSwhatwillchange?
BA: I believe the new president will not have such a devastating foreign policy as Obama's where
the Middle East broke out in front of our eyes.The lack of US involvement in the Middle East has
led the jihadists to destroy Syria and Iraq.The reason is that the US troops withdrew from Iraq in
2011 and this vacuum was exploited by the jihadists.

Q:CantheJihadistsbedealtwith?
CA: Only with ground raids.Obama has one more year and is unwilling to send an army.This will
be one of the issues that will monopolize the pre-election struggle of this time.

Q:Whatisyournextgoal?
AP: Let's introduce Monograph to Congress this month and continue to work to show American
support in Cyprus, Greece, Israel, Egypt.We believe that US support for the relationship that
Cyprus has with the neighboring countries is very important for peace in the region.

TAKESPARTTOTURKEY

Q:DoesTurkeyhavethesolutiontotheCyprusproblemnow?
A: Because Turkey has its own foreign policy for this part of the world including Egypt, Syria, Iraq,
and even Libya, it may want to support the negotiations for two reasons.The first is to raise its
image, because a solution to the Cyprus problem will be a success for the foreign policy of the
Erdogan government.The second is that Cyprus is a future energy market for Turkey, which does
not have its own natural gas reserves.For these two reasons, Turkey may have an interest in
supporting the reunification of Cyprus.

Q:Canitsupportorachieveasolutionbecausewecantalkforanother50years?
AP: It depends how independent the leader of the Turkish Cypriot community is.From what I
understand, Akinji wants to keep distances from the Turkish government.Erdogan, as you know,
when Akinji was elected, stressed that Turkey does not see the so-called republic of northern
Cyprus as a separate entity but as a part of Turkey.It all depends on how far the Turkish Cypriots
themselves can create from Turkey and what international support they will have in their fight to
cut off from Erdogan.If Turkish Cypriots can not build a distance from Turkey, there will be no
solution.

Erdoganbecamearrogant...

Q:WheredotheHudsonInstitutepositionsdifferwiththeUS?
CA:The only area that is different from the policy of the US government is that Turkey should not
be isolated; not forgetting that Turkey is NATO's second largest military force.It would be in the
interest of all if Turkey was a solid and reliable ally on this side of the world.

Q:HowdoyouexplainthisattitudeofTurkey?
AP: In that Erdogan became arrogant and at the same time that the interests of Turkey and the USA
are not identical at the moment.Erdogan at the time of the Arab Spring with the overthrow of
Mubarak when the Muslim Brothers were elected to Egypt went and thousands of people were on
the streets with Turkish and Egyptian flags.I think this was the biggest moment of the impact of
Turkish politics on this part of the world.After a year, the Muslim Brothers were overthrown in
Egypt, and since then Turkey is the number one opponent of the Egyptian government because the
ideology of the new Egyptian government is completely different from the Islamic one supported by
Turkey, with the doctrine of Davutoglu.