Lyn Pascoe tries to patch things up

UN Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Mr Lynn Pascoe who is in Cyprus for a one-day visit in order to review progress at the working groups and technical committees and possibly set a date for a new meeting between the leaders, had separate meetings yesterday with Christofias and Talat. Speaking after his one-hour meeting with Christofias, Mr Pascoe said they had had a very constructive discussion on all issues and that they would be seeing each other later at a dinner that evening.

Talat after his meeting with Pascoe said he would not be attending the dinner with the UN envoy, which was to bring the two leaders together informally. Talat had said in an interview in Politis on Sunday that he wanted to discuss with Pascoe the events of recent days so the damage caused could be kept in check. He said he was not against dinner and did not totally exclude a joint meeting with Pascoe and Christofias. “However, there is no usefulness in having a dinner,” he said, adding that the damage had already been done.

The Turkish Cypriot side is upset over the memorandum signed between Nicosia and London, and over the wording of a new UN Security Council resolution on Cyprus.

Government Spokesman Stefanos Stefanou said yesterday it was clearly in the interests of both leaders to get together. “But the most important thing is for the two sides to speak the same language,” he said.

In the Politis interview, Talat called for an immediate start to talks because given the events of the past week (the Anglo-Cypriot memorandum) there was a “strong possibility that the positive atmosphere will come to an end”. “We should not allow this to occur,” Talat added. The Turkish Cypriot leader complained that while he and Christofias had come to an agreement under their joint statement on May 23, the Greek Cypriot side had then gone and made a different agreement with the UK. “Britain has provided gifts to Christofias and has in return sabotaged our agreement and additionally the trust one party had in the other. Britain has for years ensured that Turkish and Greek Cypriots fought with one another to retain its bases within Cyprus. They are now doing the same thing again,” he said. Talat also complained over the UN Security Council resolution last Friday, which he said implied that Turkish Cypriot isolation was an exaggeration.

He also mentioned the concept of the “virgin birth” as a solution. “I did not state that we will ensure that the new state will be born with parthenogenesis as expressed within the Annan plan. This is nonsense. Parthenogenesis has gained content which I had never suggested. And I in all cases will refrain from mentioning of it. This is because the logic which I attempted to express has been distorted,” Talat said. He said his main objective at this moment was to begin negotiations with Christofias. “Despite the events of recent days, we both know we have no other option. We have a chemistry together that I hope can overcome the problems,” Talat said.

Politis says that Mr Pascoe aims to tackle two issues with his visit. He would like to get a firm commitment as to when direct talks would begin and second he wants to sound out the two sides as to the appointment of a new UN Special Envoy to Cyprus.

Pascoe was due to hold a press conference this morning on his talks before leaving the island.

The UN Security Council unanimously adopted on 13.06.2008 Resolution 1818 (2008) on the extension of the UNFICYP mandate for another six months. The resolution reaffirms all its relevant resolutions on Cyprus and urges the parties to build on the present momentum and continue their efforts to identify to the greatest possible extent areas of convergence and disagreement, while preparing options where feasible on the more sensitive elements, and to work to ensure that fully-fledged negotiations can begin expeditiously and smoothly, in line with the agreement of 21 March and the Joint Statement of 23 May. It also calls on the two sides to continue to engage, as a matter of urgency and while respecting UNFICYP’s mandate, in consultations with UNFICYP on the demarcation of the buffer zone, and on the United Nations 1989 aide-memoire, with a view to reaching early agreement on outstanding issues.

The President of the Security Council, Permanent Representative of the US at the UN, expressed the hope that the dialogue between the two sides in Cyprus will result in full-fledged negotiations and a comprehensive and lasting settlement after so many years of division. "Cypriots must determine their own future, and they can count on the support and goodwill of the international community in this effort", he said. "In their May 23 Joint Statement, the leaders themselves sketched a broad outline of a reunited Cyprus. They foresee a partnership, a bi-zonal, bi-communal federation, with two politically equal constituent states sharing one federal government and enjoying one international personality. The United States welcomes this joint vision and is committed to supporting the leaders as they strive to achieve it in the months ahead".

The Cyprus government expressed satisfaction with the resolution. Government Spokesman Stefanos Stefanou said that the resolution reaffirms the basis of the pursued solution for the Cyprus problem, namely, a bizonal bicommunal federation with political equality, as defined by the relevant resolutions of the international organization’s Security Council. “Based on the conviction of the UN Secretary-General, which is also shared by the Security Council, that the responsibility for finding a solution to the Cyprus problem lies, above all, with the Cypriots” he added, “we reiterate our good will and intention to continue working for a solution and for reunification, within the framework of a bizonal, bicommunal federal state with one sovereignty, one citizenship and one international personality, as provided by the High Level Agreements of 1977 and 1979 between the leaders of the two Cypriot communities and the relevant UN Security Council resolutions. Asked to comment on the stance of the US, which, according to press reports, tried, at the last minute, to remove from the resolution reference to a bizonal bicommunal federation, the Spokesman said they were saddened by the stance of the US, because, Turkey and the Turkish Cypriot leadership are encouraged, in this way, to continue making arbitrary interpretations and to insist on unacceptable positions regarding the solution of the Cyprus problem. However, he pointed out that in the end the US voted in favour of the resolution and as a result the decision was unanimous.