Real progress

“I consider that we have taken a step forward towards the solution of the Cyprus problem,” President Christofias told reporters yesterday after his meeting with Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat. “There are many issues we have agreed on and many other issues we do not agree on. Consequently, it is a matter of a constructive stance by both communities, based on basic principles and good will, in order to reach a settlement.” He also clarified that there were no ‘stifling” timetables attached to the new talks’ process.Britain welcomed yesterday’s outcome. “It is for Cypriots themselves to agree on the shape of any eventual settlement but the UK stands ready to offer support to all parties,” a statement from the British High Commission said.

Politis publishes an opinion poll which shows wide support for President Christofias' decision to start direct talks. Especially among Akel and Disy voters, 4 out of 5 respondents was in favour, while 75% of Diko supports were also positive, and only 16% against.

Makarios Droushiotis writing in Politis outlines the work that has been achieved at the six technical committees and working groups. From information from reliable sources he says that in tow there have been complete agreement, in another three there was agreement in part, and only in one was very little work done. He says the greatest degree of convergence was on the economy and the EU, while on the issue of government there is agreement on the general competencies of the central government but disagreement as to the executive in so far as the g/c side proposes a presidential system with a president, vice president and council of ministers, while the t/c side proposes a presidential council. There is also disagreement as to the rotation of the presidency. He says the property question is the greatest challenge. While it is generally accepted that the problem will be solved by a combination of return, exchange and compensation, t/cs prefer overall exchange and compensation, whereas g/cs prefer the right of return or that the owner should have first say. Nevertheless ownership is acknowledged. Security and guarantees is another thorny issue yet there was significant agreement in the role of Cyprus in the new world order as well as the UN's role in implementing the solution. Disagreement exists in the role of the guarantor powers with the g/c side calling for a review of the Treaties and the t/c side wanting a return to the 1960 setup. No progress was made on territory. The t/cs agree that there will be territorial adjustments but nothing was discussed on a map. The writer says that the job of the committees and working groups was to write down the points of agreement and disagreement, not to solve the Cyprus problem. Yet, looking at the work achieved overall, one can only say it has been positive. It was obvious that on the big issues the two sides would come with their original positions. But if we compare today's positions with the positions the t/c side brought to the negotiating table in 2004 (separate sovereignty, permanent derogations, ethnically clean areas etc) it is clear that today the gap is much smaller. And of course the climate today is different. In 2003-2004 Papadopoulos and Denktash went to talks with the aim of clashing. Christofias and Talat are going with the intention of reaching an agreement.

It's show-time again, says the Sunday Mail's satirical column Coffeeshop. After a break of four-and-a-half years, the Cyprob circus will be back in town from September playing at our local, disused international airport for as long as it takes for the happy ending to materialise.There will be no suffocating time-frames this time, nor will the UN be asked to arbitrate if there are unbridgeable differences on some issues as these will be settled by the toss of a coin. The initial proposal, that contentious issues could have been settled by games of tavli, was rejected by our comrade presidente because he did not want provisions of a settlement to be determined by luck. This will be the first time in history that the show will be produced, directed and performed by an all-Cypriot team, in the hope that it could stage a crowd-pleaser, something that foreigners, despite repeated efforts, have never managed to put together. In fact, the last time foreigners put on the show it was such a flop the Greek Cypriot crowds have been moaning about it ever since. The forthcoming show will have the UN personnel restricted to providing refreshments and snacks as well as getting documents photocopied, while the Secretary-general’s special envoy, Alexander Downer, renowned for his attention-grabbing stunts, will be used to distract the media, which can make or break a show; invariably it does the latter. Despite the new production values, the ending of the show, assuming that neither of the protagonists will walk out in the middle of the performance, will be the same as before - separate, simultaneous referenda. And with the weakened Ethnarch not having the power to save the Republic, this time round we could well have an unhappy ending.Nobody loves a loser, as the poor old Ethnarch is finding out. Just five months after his election defeat, not even his party DIKO is willing to uphold his Cyprob philosophy of avoiding talks at all costs. In Thursday’s vote at the Party’s executive office over what stand to take on the start of talks only seven of the 30 members opposed leader Marios Garoyian’s pathetically half-baked proposal, which went along the following lines: the start of direct talks is unjustified because there is not an adequate basis for negotiations, but the party will support the president if he agreed to direct talks, as long as he adhered to positions of principle. Don’t you love it when a party shamelessly sacrifices its principles about the talks on condition that the presidente adheres to positions of principle? In the DIKO case, the principle of having access to the spoils of power outweighed the principle about there being adequate basis for talks. The same logic (if you could call it that) prevailed at the socialist party EDEK, which also expressed opposition to the start of talks but said it would support the presidente if he agreed to the start of talks. The poor old Ethnarch must feel deeply hurt and betrayed now he has realised that EDEK and DIKO were supporting him when he was presidente not so much for his patriotic principles but for his generosity in offering them a respectable share of the spoils of power.Evroko issued a statement expressing its disappointment that the comrade presidente had failed to turn up at an event to mark the black anniversary of the Turkish invasion, which was organised by Engomi Municipality. His absence was “inexcusable” said an Evroko councillor, pointing out that Christofias had chosen instead to watch the football match between Omonia and Milano Skopje. It is true that Evroko members are great idealists and put national duty above everything else but they should accept that not everyone is as patriotic as them. Even the presidente, not being a member of Evroko, is entitled to occasionally say: “To hell with the tediously, boring black anniversary events. I have been to 500 during my political career and I can’t take any more so tonight I am going to watch a football match.”