To talk or not to talk

Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat told the Financial Times in an interview from Brussels on Wednesday before his second round of direct talks with President Christofias that the most difficult issues at the talks are the property issue, the redrawing of the map that will mark out the separate Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot parts of the island, and the nature of future power sharing. He also contended that, because the Greek Cypriot government was already in the EU and eurozone and was recognised by the United Nations, it had fewer incentives than the Turkish Cypriots to strike a deal. “The EU can contribute by encouraging the Greek Cypriots to pursue a solution. The Greek Cypriots don’t have enough incentives to find a solution. They don’t need a solution, actually,” Mr Talat said.

He also said his talks with Mr Christofias should not need to continue into 2009 because “the Cyprus problem is a very well-known problem” and they were not starting from scratch in tackling the issues. “We may first identify where we converge and where we disagree, and we’ll collect these issues in two separate files,” Mr Talat said. “I have the idea that it won’t be possible to agree on everything by the end of the year, so we will need some kind of help, if not arbitration.” Under this timetable, a comprehensive settlement could be signed by next June, he said – though it would still need approval by both communities in simultaneous referendums.

He added that the atmosphere was good for the time being. “It’s a new situation, really new, so we’re hopeful this time, though we have a lot of difficulties. Are we going to preserve it to the end? That’s another matter. I’m not sure.”


The Cyprus government yesterday refused to comment on Talat's statements after the talks to Turkish TV saying it will stick to its commitment not to say anything that may adversely jeopardise the atmosphere, Government Spokesman Stefanos Stefanou said yesterday. He added that the government had so far been very careful to avoid making statements and expressed the hope that Mr Talat would follow suit.


Greek Cypriot daily Phileleftheros says that according to diplomatic sources, Thursday's negotiations were tough despite starting off from areas of convergence, but had not yet reached the stage of give and take. It says that the G/C side supports a strong central government with powers of a federal state, namely federation, whereas the T/C side's approach is based on greater powers being allocated to the constituent states, in other words, confederation.