Convergences and divergences

Demetris Christofias and Mehmet Ali Talat yesterday continued direct talks on the issue of the legislature in a future Cyprus settlement.The UN Secretary-General’s Special Adviser on Cyprus Alexander Downer said afterwards that the two leaders were “making steady progress” on the issue of governance and will meet again this morning.

“This is an enormously important negotiation for the people of Cyprus and inevitably it’s going to take time and inevitably the negotiations are going to be difficult negotiations but they are making progress,” he said.Asked to define what he meant by progress, Downer said: “There are points of convergence in the discussion, and as they reach points of convergence they are able to move on and there are obviously points of divergence as well and it’s the points of divergence that constitute the debate.”Whether there was more convergence or divergence he would not say although some points of divergence will be discussed by the leaders’ representatives – George Iacovou and Ozdil Nami – on Friday in relation to the legislature.

“As you can imagine for any country governance and power sharing is an enormously important issue. This is a central issue. So it is hardly surprising that it takes a while and I think it is very important to be understanding and tolerant with that frankly. An expectation that you can just suddenly solve all of these problems overnight after so many years is unrealistic,” he said. Discussions were held on the competencies of the federal government, on the executive, the role of the executive and how the executive was elected, he added.

Speaking to reporters afterwards, Christofias,like Downer, said there had been convergence and divergence but refused to elaborate beyond saying that “there must be convergence on the philosophy of the kind of state we want, on how unified, firm and functional this state will be and this is a topic we shall be discussing until the end.” He added that was why they had authorised their aides to meet again on Friday to discuss issues on which final convergence can be reached."If we had the same positions right from the start, the problem would have been solved before we began". He said they would not necessarily agree on everything before moving on to another chapter. “Once we conclude the discussions on all the aspects of the Cyprus issue, then we shall go back to see what give and take we can achieve, where and how,” he said.

Turkish Cypriot daily Kibris reporting on the meeting between the two leaders says under the headline “The kiss of life from the UN” that there was an intervention from the UN inthe negotiations which are proceeding slowly and that Downer participated in the tete-a-tete meeting between the two leaders. Yeni Duzen likewise says “The process was safeguarded”, while Star Kibris also says that “the two leaders passed the 7th crossroad”. 2. UN SG

Meanwhile the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon yesterday warned that unnecessary scepticism might not be desirable for the ongoing process for reaching a comprehensive solution to the longstanding Cyprus problem and called on the international community to encourage “this very fragile negotiation process”.

He also said he was impressed by the two Cyprus leaders’ very strong political will to resolve the problem and expressed the belief that the ongoing dialogue “will be much better than before”.
He was speaking during his monthly press conference in New York and replying to a journalist's question on whether reports of an impasse at the Cyprus peace talks were correct and if he planned on taking any measures on that, the UN Secretary-General.

The National Council met the day before yesterday and discussed the course of the ongoing UN-led direct talks between Mr Christofias and Mr Talat. Its agenda also included the restructuring of the National Council with a view to making it more effective.

Government Spokesman Stephanos Stephanou announced that the functioning of the National Council will be discussed at the next session of the House of Representatives, which will be held specifically for this matter on November 24. During the meeting Mr Christofias briefed the body on the talks and the members submitted their views and positions.

Mr Stefanou asked to comment after the meeting of the National Council, on the fact that four political leaders felt that the talks are not going well, said: “We know that there are difficulties in the negotiations. We knew this well before we started this process. As I have said before, the Cyprus issue is in itself a difficult problem and a lot of hard work will be needed, with commitment to principles and with determination and flexibility. We are still at the beginning of the negotiating process. We remain focused and dedicated to this process so that, with our own effort and hopefully with the necessary response from the other side, the road to the solution of the Cyprus problem may open.”

Mr Christofias, commenting yesterday on press reports referring to the opinion of the majority of the National Council, said he disagreed with talk about majority or minority opinions in the National Council. He said what was important was not how many members of the Council say one thing and how many another. "What counts is the strength of the parties".

According to press reports, Tassos Papadopoulos was in favour of the G/C side withdrawing from the talks. In statements afterwards he objected to the fact that what was said in the meeting having been leaked to the press saying that during his presidency this sort of thing never happened.

The UN Secretary-General’s Special Adviser on Cyprus Alexander Downer is due to have separate meetings today with the leaders of the two communities in Cyprus. Speaking to the press after meeting with Mr Christofias, Downer said׃ “I had a very good meeting with the President and it’s a good opportunity for me to hear what he has to say, to listen and discuss some of the issues in relation to the negotiations that are taking place. It is very useful to have a discussion with him.”

Asked whether he was optimistic, Mr Downer said׃ “I am. This is inevitably going to be a difficult negotiation and why would anybody expect otherwise. There is a long history here and if these problems were easy to solve they would have been solved a very long time ago. They haven’t been (solved), but the political will has to be there above all to solve the problem of Cyprus and I think that the two leaders do have that political will. Inevitable the details of the negotiations are going to be from time to time difficult. You just couldn’t expect it to be easy. It all comes down to political will and statesmanship of leaders and I think they have the capacity to ultimately deliver an agreement.”