Two leaders meet again

President Christofias and Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat met for four and a half hours yesterday morning at the residence of UN Special Representative for Cyprus Taye-Brook Zerihoun to review progress in the working groups and technical committees and to clarify the basis for new talks.Although a date was not fixed for the beginning of new negotiations, the leaders pledged to meet again on July 25 for a final review of the working groups and technical committees. It is widely expected that a date for talks in the autumn will be announced then.Zerihoun read out a brief statement after the meeting saying the atmosphere had been positive and cooperative. The statement said: "They discussed the issues of single sovereignty and citizenship which they agreed in principle. They agreed to discuss the details of their implementation during the full-fledged negotiations. They agreed to meet on 25 July when they will undertake the final review of the Working Groups and Technical Committees".

The Cyprus Mail covers the story by saying that the way has now cleared for full-fledged negotiations since a major concern of the Greek Cypriot side was addressed and agreed in principle between the two leaders. It says that Christofias, who had some concerns, now appears to be on board after clarifying the importance of including sovereignty and citizenship in the framework of new talks with Talat. The issue had strained relations somewhat since the leaders last met on May 23, an encounter that had led to different interpretations of what had been agreed that day. Diplomatic sources told the Mail that the new joint statement had gone a long way to easing the concerns of the Greek Cypriot side on what the basis of new talks would be. “The new joint statement does not supersede the agreement of May 23. It augments and clarifies it,” said the sources. “It will form part of the basis of what the talks will be about. It satisfies Greek Cypriot concerns over the basis for negotiations or at least goes a long way towards doing that.”The general impression was that the two leaders left the meeting satisfied. Christofias said as much when he returned to the Presidential Palace. He also said he would be briefing the National Council later today on the meeting with Talat.The paper adds that the fact that former Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer revealed he would be taking up the post of UN special Cyprus envoy has also come as confirmation that direct talks are around the corner. All that remains is for the UN Secretary General to officially announce Downer’s appointment as special envoy, which he is expected to do as soon as a date for the talks is fixed. Speaking to an Australian newspaper, Downer said he was looking forward to the challenge. “It's not going to be a cakewalk,” he told The Australian, pointing to the many failed attempts to solve the Cyprus issue in the past. “These things are always untidy. It's never easy to do. We ended the civil war in Bougainville. We played our part in Iraq and Afghanistan. Why not try to fix up Cyprus as well?"

Greek Cypriot press
The Cyprus Mail's editorial says the communique proves the pessimists wrong. It was a long meeting, followed by a brief communiqué by the UN which, implicitly, announced the imminent start of direct talks. Neither President Christofias nor Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat spoke to journalists afterwards but the ‘common language’ was established, thus clearing the way for the start of ‘full-fledged negotiations’.The outcome must have confounded the gloom merchants in a section of the press that was claiming yesterday that efforts to keep the procedure moving had “hit upon the intransigence of the Turkish side” which “did not seem prepared to accept a reference to single sovereignty”. Yesterday’s communiqué proved the pessimistic headlines wrong, saying that the two leaders “discussed the issues of single sovereignty and citizenship, which they agreed in principle”.Having secured this commitment from Talat, Christofias could no longer object to direct talks, the start of which would be officially announced at their next scheduled meeting on July 25. Yesterday’s meeting would help Christofias keep at bay his critics who had been accusing him, after the May meeting with Talat, of making big concessions. In fact, it would be no exaggeration to say that the main objective of yesterday’s meeting was to help Christofias sell the start of talks, to which he had already agreed, to the public.And given the negativity of a section of the Greek Cypriot media towards the peace process he needed to show something before the date for the start of talks was announced. Yet the truth is that both leaders had conveyed their readiness for negotiations to the UN Undersecretary-General, Lyn Pascoe, during his visit to the island last month; they also gave their approval to the appointment of Alexander Downer as UN special envoy. The UN had made it clear that it would not appoint a special envoy unless both sides were fully committed to the start of talks, and Downer was named special envoy before yesterday’s meeting.Having been helped out of the corner he had put himself in, with the rhetoric about the ‘common language’, Christofias now needs to tread more carefully and show less sensitivity to criticism from the hardliners’ camp. He should resist the temptation to take a swipe at Talat every time he is put under pressure by opponents of the talks. Talat should also avoid public statements about the negotiations and his objectives – even if he is well-meaning there is always the danger of his words being misinterpreted and being used to undermine the peace process.This is not too much to ask of the two leaders now that their alleged differences, played up by the media, have been bridged. And in fairness, there is very little to say from now on. The ‘common language’ has been agreed while the start date for ‘full-fledged negotiations’ will be announced in three weeks. Nothing else needs to be said.
Politis also says that the two men agreed to the start of talks and would be announcing it at their next meeting on 25 July in the presence of Alexander Downer who will pay a four-day visit to the island. The paper says that admittedly yesterday's meeting was difficult because it was hard to persuade Talat to agree to put the terms of "one sovereignty and one nationality" down in writing, which he did in return for a firm commitment on direct talks in September without the prerequisite of achieving progress at the working groups first.

Alithia also says the road is now open to direct talks. An article by Pambos Charalambous says that we won what we had already won. It says that Christofias had been bothered by criticism from Tassos Papadopoulos after his first meeting with Talat that no reference had been made in the joint statement as regards the single sovereignty and nationality, a criticism that was totally without foundation because the T/C side has never shown it doesn't accept these basic parameters for a solution. Besides, these principles had been contained in the Annan plan which we rejected and the T/Cs accepted. The paper also says that the various parties reacted differently to the communique, Disy and Akel welcomed it, whereas Diko, Edek, Evroko and the Greens talk of a step backwards.

Simerini says the joint communique is vague and can be misinterpreted. Savvas Iacovides in his column says a meeting that lasts four hours, a wierd statemement, no statements afterwards all equal an unbreachable deadlock.

Turkish Cypriot press
Kibris covers the meeting under the title “Bargain for citizenship and sovereignty”, while Yeni Duzen's headline readas “One sovereignty, one citizenship”. Volkan says “We reject this humiliation” and writes that Talat succumbed to Christofias and accepted the one sovereignty and one citizenship under the roof of the Republic of Cyprus, thereby trampling on both his oath and the “constitution”. “Therefore he does not represent the Turkish Cypriots. The things he has accepted do not bind the Turkish Cypriots. Under the title “The crisis was prevented”, Kibrisli reports in its first page that the only success after the four and half hours meeting between the two leaders was the prevention of a crisis. The paper also writes that President Christofias continued to be reluctant as regards the launching of comprehensive negotiations and tried to gain time. The paper also writes that the meeting came very close to a breaking point and it was due to Talat’s efforts that the crisis was overcome. Vatan says “Again on the 25th of July”, and writes that the issues of citizenship and sovereignty were the only issues discussed at the four and a half hour meeting. Under the title “Once again no date for negotiations!”, writes Halkin Sesi and adds that Mr Talat will brief the Turkish Cypriot political parties about the meeting this afternoon. Afrika reports on the same issue under the title “One citizenship, one sovereignty” and writes that these were the main issues discussed over the Christofias -Talat meeting.

Kibris also reports that the Republican Turkish Party (CTP) stated that it is not satisfied with the fact that comprehensive negotiations are not starting following yesterday’s meeting. The party also stated that the fact that the two leaders are meeting on the 25th of July is very positive and calls for a date for direct talks to be set then. Volkan reports that Serdar Denktas, the chairman of the Democratic Party (DP), reacted sharply to the agreement on one citizenship and one sovereignty and stated that they will fight against this agreement. He said that they will never adopt the approach of one sovereignty whatever its principle and its content may be and that they will oppose this tothe end. He added that the Turkish Cypriot “people” are far from accepting this approach and that Mr Talat must act as a “president” approaching issues according to the will of the people and not with the views of CTP.