Welcome back to This Week in Peace, our weekly summary of events in global peacebuilding.
In our first February edition, we cover efforts to restart the peace process in Cyprus, a breakthrough in Northern Ireland, continued international mediation to end the war in Gaza – which could include the recognition of a Palestinian state, and complicated negotiations in Mali.
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Signs of hope in the Cypriot peace process?
This year will mark the 50th anniversary of Turkey’s invasion and occupation of Cyprus. The northern third of the island remains occupied by the so-called Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, recognized only by Turkey. The UN, which controls a buffer zone between the two entities, has attempted to restart the peace process. UN Secretary-General António Guterres appointed former Colombian foreign minister María Ángela Holguin Cuellar as his personal envoy. Holguin, who was part of the team that negotiated the historic 2016 peace deal between Colombia and the FARC, struck an optimistic tone when discussing the task ahead of her, saying that she thinks her experience on that deal can help her resurrect negotiations in this instance.
She met with the President of Cyprus, and will meet with the Turkish Cypriot leader soon. While the two sides remain at odds on numerous crucial issues, and a peace agreement is unlikely in the short term, renewed international attention may lead to a long-term solution being found. In a positive sign, the Cypriot government took steps to build trust between it and Turkish Cypriots, reiterating that it sees them as citizens. However, the Turkish Cypriot leader criticized this measure, continuing to reject any solution besides two separate states, with the strong support of Ankara. In order for the conflict to be resolved, Turkey and the Turkish Cypriots will have to agree to negotiate and compromise, as their hardline stance will only lead to continued international isolation for the north, and a continuation of a conflict that benefits no one.
Read our coverage of Cyprus here, and keep an eye out for future stories on this issue.
A breakthrough in Northern Ireland
Following years of deadlock, Northern Ireland’s top political parties announced a resumption of a power-sharing agreement this week. The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) reached a deal with the British government to return to the framework in exchange for relaxed border checks between the territory and the rest of the United Kingdom. Northern Ireland is perhaps the only territory in the world that effectively has a hard border with its own country, a consequence of Brexit and the peace agreement that ended decades of separatist unrest. When the Good Friday Agreement ended decades of violence in 1998, it removed border checkpoints with Ireland. After Brexit, this presented a problem, and resulted in what has been called a hard border in the Irish Sea, retaining the Good Friday Agreement while separating the rest of the UK from the EU single market. The return to power-sharing in the Northern Irish legislature is important, as it helps to maintain one of the most successful, high-profile, and enduring peace agreements since the end of the Cold War.
Growing options for a postwar Palestinian state
Negotiations in Paris are ongoing to reach a deal which would entail a pause in the fighting in Gaza, the release of some Israeli hostages still held in Gaza by Hamas, and the release of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails. There is a framework for an agreement, developed with input from high-ranking American, Egyptian and Qatari officials, but the leaders of both Israel and Hamas continue to take hardline public stances, each making demands that the other side has said are impossible.
As negotiations continue over a resolution to the short-term conflict, there have been positive indications that key international actors may be taking unprecedented steps to work towards a long-term solution. UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron said this week that “irreversible” steps towards a Palestinian state are essential to the peace process, and that Israel’s security policy since the Oslo accords has been a “failure”, significant statements from a historically close backer of Israel. In an even more significant development, reports emerged this week that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken had asked for options for postwar recognition of a Palestinian state. While no course of action has been decided on, these are important steps towards making a two-state solution, which most international actors agree is the only viable solution for peace, a reality. Despite the numerous obstacles to an end to the conflict and a successful two-state solution, the high-level international discussion of this issue, especially by actors who have unconditionally supported Israel for decades, is a positive sign that a peaceful long-term resolution may yet be found.
You can read our past articles on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict here.
Mali’s junta exits a peace deal – and says it wants to work towards another
Mali’s military junta continues to take steps that threaten the fragile security situation in the country. This week saw the official end of a 2015 peace deal with Tuareg rebels, allegedly due to Algerian interference. The next day, they announced they were beginning a “national peace dialogue”, with few specific details. Tuareg rebel groups acknowledged the end of the previous deal, and appeared suspicious of the new initiative, refusing to join. Fighting broke out last year between the government and rebels, and the junta ordered the departure of UN peacekeepers and French troops, who had fought separatists and jihadist groups active in the north of the country. Since then, violence has spiked, and there is an urgent need to prevent a return to full-scale conflict, especially after Mali and its allied military regimes in Niger and Burkina Faso announced their departure from the regional bloc ECOWAS this week.
Read more about Mali here.
