Today marks 21 years since the referendum on the Annan plan, when 76% of Greek Cypriots expressed their opposition to the proposed solution to the Cyprus problem by then UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan.
According to the final results, the Greek Cypriot side rejected the proposed plan with 75,83% against 24,17% who voted in favor of the plan. 313.704 Greek Cypriots voted "no" and 99.976 voted "yes", 3.676 ballots were blank and 11.231 were invalid.
In the simultaneous referendum held in the occupied territories, the Turkish Cypriot side voted overwhelmingly in favor of the plan, at 64,91%, in view of the island's imminent accession to the EU, while the plan was rejected by 35,01%.
The then President of the Republic of Cyprus, the late Tassos Papadopoulos, had opposed the Annan plan and in his dramatic television address on April 7, 2004, he had called on the Greek Cypriots to vote "No".
"Taking into account all the facts with composure and objectivity, but also with full awareness of the historicity of the moments and the weight of responsibility that falls to me and that you have assigned to me, I sincerely regret that I cannot accept and sign the Annan Plan as it was ultimately formed. I received an internationally recognized state. I will not hand over a 'community' without the right to speak internationally and in search of a guardian," the former President of the Republic had stated in his address.
President Papadopoulos closed his address by saying, "Greek Cypriot people, on the scale of YES and NO, the consequences of YES will be much heavier and much more burdensome. I call on you to reject the Annan Plan. I call on you to say a strong NO on April 24th. I call on you to defend your justice, your dignity and your history."
Immediately after the announcement of the result, a spokesman for Kofi Annan had stated that the UN Secretary-General respects the outcome of the referendums in the two communities of Cyprus, adding that he would carefully consider the implications of the result. In a statement, which was read in Nicosia by the UN Secretary-General's Special Adviser on the Cyprus Problem, Alvaro de Soto, Mr. Annan said that "since the plan was accepted in the Turkish Cypriot referendum and rejected in the Greek Cypriot referendum, then the fundamental agreement will not enter into force."
In his first statement, President Papadopoulos expressed regret that the Annan Plan that was put before the Cypriot people was not such that they could accept it so that we could celebrate "the reunification of our homeland."
Athens, through the then Government Spokesperson, Theodoros Roussopoulos, stated after the announcement of the result that the Cypriot people had decided and the result was respected by all. “Greece will continue to stand by Cyprus, offering it support and, in cooperation with the Cypriot Government, will seek to keep the process of resolving the Cyprus problem open,” Mr. Roussopoulos had said.
The referendum was politically capitalized on by Turkish officials, who argued that the results showed which side did not want a solution. The then Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul had also stated that Ankara would make every effort to end the political and economic “isolation” of the pseudo-state.
A few days after the 2004 referendum, on 1 May 2004, the Republic of Cyprus became a full member of the EU in its entire territory, with the suspension of the application of the acquis communautaire in the occupied areas.
Source: KYPE
