Downer encouraged

The new UN special representative for Cyprus, former Australian Foreign Minister, Alexander Downer, who is in Cyprus for contacts on the Cyprus problem, said he was encouraged after meeting the leaders of the two communities. Downer met President Demetris Christofias in the morning and later crossed to the north to meet Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat.
“Clearly you have two leaders who are sincere in their commitment and in their engagement to move forward together towards a comprehensive settlement, and this commitment, evident through their joint statements of their recent meetings, have defined the parameters of the solution and the end game, and they have given the process a good deal of momentum”, Downer told a news conference.

The Cyprus Mail reports that he had asked the leaders how best they would like the UN to help them move the process forward, adding that he was encouraged by what he heard during what he described as “extensive discussions” on a wide range of issues.
Nevertheless he stressed that developments over the past months have fostered a genuine sense that prospects have perhaps never been better to achieve a comprehensive settlement, favourable to all Cypriots. “It is looking quite promising, but there is no doubt that this is a very difficult process for them,” he said. “One of things that has impressed me is the way there is convergence on quite a number of issues, but of course there are many unresolved issues still to be addressed.”

Asked whether he had a timeframe in mind for a solution, Downer added: “This is not a process anyone would like to see roll on endlessly.” “It is a process that needs to move forward constructively and as quickly as is practical,” he said. “This process is under the auspices of the UN, but the UN role is to provide help as best we can and we look forward to doing that.”He said he would be travelling to Cyprus “as needed” during the process that will begin on September 3. Downer left this morning and will return for the “formal launch of the talks” in September.