Parliamentary Assembly of Council of Europe speeches

President Christofias speaking before the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) in Strasbourg earlier this week, called for an agreement to abolish military exercises on both sides in Cyprus, as well as complete demilitarisation of old Nicosia. He said he believed the two measures would improve the climate surrounding the Cyprus negotiations and would help the talks succeed.

Christofias revealed that he had asked the UN S-G to promote an agreement to abolish the annual military exercises Nikiforos and Toros that the Cyprus National Guard and the Turkish military forces hold each autumn in and around the island, as well as measures of military de-escalation, such as the disengagement of forces, particularly in the Nicosia region, including the full demilitarisation of the old town of Nicosia within the Venetian walls, the designation of a demilitarised zone, and other measures.

As regards the talks he said Cypriots did not have the luxury to fail this time around. “No solution is not a solution, as some people claim,” he said. “I believe that we can and that must succeed. The will of the Cypriot people for a solution is essential. However, it is not in itself, sufficient. Turkey, too, must contribute to the process in a positive way.”

Later at a news conference Christofias said he would even be willing to go back and live in his home village of Dikomo in the north and live under Turkish Cypriot administration in order to build confidence after a solution .

While in Strasbourg, Christofias also met up with Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat. The Cyprus Mail reported that Christofias, on hearing that Talat was in a nearby auditorium, knocked on the door and asked if he could "commit a peaceful invasion”. He said they sat together for about ten minutes and when Talat asked him what he was going to say in his speech he said "I am going to say that I love you. which I did today, I think, in the political sense of the word, of course, and I expect Mr Talat's response tomorrow". He added that it was a friendly meeting between friends from the two communities.

In contrast, Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat addressing the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) a day after Christofias, listed a litany of grievances against the Greek Cypriots and blamed them for obstructing a settlement.

The Cyprus Mail reported that unlike Christofias, who talked about “all Cypriots” and mistakes of the past, Talat spoke little about his vision of a shared future, and only about how Turkish Cypriots had been wronged. He listed Turkish Cypriot grievances from isolation through to education, missing persons and the Annan plan, about which he said he could not forget "the state-led ‘no’ campaign and the negative role played by the Greek Cypriot leadership, namely, Mr Tassos Papadopoulos, and today’s Greek Cypriot leader and my dear friend Mr Demetris Christofias".

Speaking of the new peace process, Talat said the Turkish Cypriot people were ready to work for an early, comprehensive settlement. “The party that needs to contribute to the process and prove that it wants solution is the Greek Cypriot side,” he said.

He added that the difficultie that existed "do not emanate from Turkey, as argued by Mr Demetris Christofias. These difficulties emanate from the fact that the Greek Cypriot side is reluctant to share the sovereignty of Cyprus with the Turkish Cypriot people.”Talat said he personally showed a lot of flexibility so that the Greek Cypriot side would sit at the table, and that to “strengthen Christofias”, he had given his approval for joint statements to reflect a common language, even though it was not part of the initially agreed procedure.

“Today, I regard the initiation of comprehensive settlement negotiations as a great improvement, but I have to say that the main obstacle in front of further progress is the reluctance of the Greek Cypriot side to give effect to the Turkish Cypriots’ political equality,” said Talat.He called for an end to the isolation of the Turkish Cypriots and appealed to the Parliamentary Assembly to support proposals that would contribute to the solution instead of supporting “unilateral initiatives”.

He went on to outline his administration’s efforts to review history books and called on PACE to urge the Greek Cypriot side to “eliminate language in their own text books that encite enmity and hatred against Turkish Cypriots”. He added that while Greek Cypriot schools in the north were unfettered in their operation, it was “very saddening” that Turkish Cypriots living in Limassol had not been afforded the same opportunities amd called for the setting up of a separate school for Turkish Cypriots that would provide children with education in their mother tongue.He also referred back to 1963 on the issue of Turkish Cypriot missing persons.Talat said ultimately the Cyprus problem was a problem of cohabitation of two peoples on a small island, and although Turkish Cypriot people “had been the victim of the Cyprus problem for many years now”, they were determined to solve the problem “without being enslaved by any feelings of revenge”.

He added that the responsibility of the Turkish Cypriots who make up 20 percent of the island’s population in the creation and continuation of the Cyprus problem is very small compared to others.

Talat’s address to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) has sparked a disappointed reaction among Greek Cypriot politicians. Government Spokesman Stefanos Stefanou said that for there to be any hope of a solution, he added, “we need to look ahead” and work based on the principles and agreements that the two communities have reached over the years. “What will count now is how the two communities are presenting themselves at the negotiations table, now the direct talks have begun,” he said.

DISY president Nicos Anastassiades described the speech as “completely negative”. Instead of speaking about his vision for the future of this country, he said, Talat attempted through reproaches and referring to the past, to justify unacceptable views regarding a resolution to the Cyprus problem. The DISY leader added that it was time everyone realised the need to cultivate a good climate, not just through words but in action.

The Cyprus Mail reports that the Turkish Cypriot media had a completely different take on Talat’s statements in Strasburg, which some described as a “historical speech”.

Later the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council (PACE) issued a resolution on Cyprus. In it the organisation said Cyprus should lift its objection to the direct trade regulation for Turkish Cypriots, and the breakaway north should stop asking for a separate state, said. It also called on the Greek Cypriot side to change its history books, and on the Turkish Cypriot side to halt property development on Greek Cypriot land. In addition, the organisation said Turkey should reduce its military presence in the north and normalise its relations with Cyprus, while Greece should facilitate dialogue between Turkey and Cyprus.

After hearing the views of both Cypriot leaders this week, and examining its own report on Cyprus, PACE said in a resolution that even with a new and more positive climate between the two communities, mistrust between them was still deep. New efforts were needed to reactivate inter-communal contacts, encourage dialogue, promote reconciliation and restore confidence, PACE said. However, it commended the political will and determination shown by the leaders of the two Cypriot communities and fully endorses their efforts. It urged them to develop and to maintain a climate of reconciliation, confidence and mutual respect, as well as to avoid all action or declarations that could harm the ongoing constructive dialogue and accentuate tensions.

The PACE resolution welcomed the efforts made by the EU and by Cyprus aimed at improving the situation of Turkish Cypriots, but that more needs to be done in order to facilitate Turkish Cypriots’ integration into Cyprus and Europe. It therefore called for new goodwill steps to be taken to allow increased international trade, educational, cultural and sporting contacts of the Turkish Cypriot community, "it being understood that these activities cannot be misused to attain political purposes incompatible with the aim of reunifying the island.

In this context PACE called on the Republic of Cyprus to lift objections to the adoption of the Council of the European Union’s direct trade regulation put forward by the European Commission allowing free direct trade between Turkish Cypriots and the EU through their own ports.

PACE also said the Turkish Cypriot side needed to confirm its commitment to reunifying Cyprus, and should refrain from insisting on the existence of a separate state in the north of the island. The Turkish Cypriot side should also consider specific aid to help the Turkish settlers to leave the island, and place the deserted city of Famagusta under UN control.The Assembly said it was hopeful that, despite deep-rooted differences between the parties on a number of key issues to be negotiated, the current situation offered the best opportunity in many years to reach a settlement. “President Christofias and Mr Talat are conscious that they cannot afford to fail.” All the internal and external actors involved must do their utmost to maximise the chances of success,” the resolution said.

Meanwhile the Cyprus Mail reports that U.N. Special envoy for Cyprus, Alexander Downer, will be arriving on the island on Wednesday ahead of Friday’s talks between the two leaders. Downer will arrive on the same day as Elders Jimmy Carter, Desmond Tutu and Lakhdar Brahimi, who will visit the island for two days to help boost the negotiations process.The paper says the UN is not thrilled with the slow progress being made by Christofias and Talat, whose speech to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe further strained relations this week.Downer was in New York earlier in the week to brief UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on progress since the leaders first met on September 3. According to reports from New York, Downer feels the two sides have not shifted their views and positions, which has slowed the process down.He also spoke of fatigue, saying if the negotiations continued at their current pace, the initial momentum would be lost.Mediators are now deliberating on the possibility of putting the issues back to the working groups, letting them take care of the details and leaving the political decisions up to the two leaders.Otherwise endless and open-ended debating of the issue would continue.The behaviour of the two leaders once they leave the meetings has also left mediators puzzled. While the atmosphere inside is said to be cordial, once they emerge, they begin criticising each other. Downer is scheduled to meet with the five permanent members of the UN Security Council on Monday , and will then fly to Brussels to meet EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn before arriving in Cyprus.

President Christofias yesterday briefed the National Council on how the negotiations in the Cyprus problem are going. Speaking after the four-hour meeting, Government Spokesman Stefanos Stefanou said the parties had submitted their views on the subject and a fruitful and creative discussion had ensued.

Asked to comment on reports that UNFICYP Chief of Mission Taye-Brook Zerihoun had intervened to promote Confidence Building Measures (CBMs), Stefanou said the government did not comment on such information. “We are centering our attention on the core discussion for the Cyprus problem, because the Cyprus problem is not going to be resolved with CBMs, but with agreement on core issues,” he said.

President Demetris Christofias reached out to Turkish Cypriots in his speech to mark Cyprus' Independence Day, urging them to join Greek Cypriots in forging a new future.“Cyprus belongs to all Cypriots,” he said. “It is time to learn from the bitter experiences of the past to join hands and act as Cypriots and to close our ears to interfering voices who are only seeking to lead us into accepting foreign solutions to the detriment of our own interests.”Christofias said Cyprus was too small to be divided but “sufficiently large to accommodate all of its children”. “A reunified Cyprus can be the common home for Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, respecting the ethnic, cultural, linguistic and religious particularities of each community,” he said.

“The Republic of Cyprus is the solid basis on which our people can enjoy progress and prosperity. This requires the preservation of the entity of the Cyprus state,” he said. The objective of reunification and the transformation of Cyprus into a bizonal, bicommunal federation remained a priority and commitment, he added, as "non-solution is not a solution and partition equals disaster.

“The reunified Federal Republic of Cyprus will be the joint state of the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities. There will neither be a Greek state, nor a Turkish state. It will be a common home for Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots as was the Republic of Cyprus, the unitary state of 1960.”

Christofias said the mistakes of the past must not be repeated and that there is no alternative method of resolving the Cyprus problem other than peaceful negotiation under the auspices of the United Nations.