Christofias and Talat 'condemned' to finding a solution

Former Cypriot President George Vassiliou has said he is more convinced than ever before that Christofias and Talat “are condemned to finding a political settlement”. Vassiliou, who is currently head of the working group on EU issues at the talks, also said that substantial progress has already been achieved.

In an interview with the Cyprus News Agency (CNA) to mark the end of the first round of direct negotiations, which started in September last year, he said that “it is wrong to say that the community leaders are wasting their time. For the first time frank negotiations are being held”.“I hope that in the second phase of the talks, which begins in early September, more progress will be achieved until we get to the give-and-take phase. It could be this year, on the other hand it may not be,” he said.

Asked about the Turkish Cypriot position that an agreement could be reached by the end of this year to hold a referendum in the beginning of 2010, Vasiliou said: “This can be done but it’s up to them. If they come to the negotiating table with acceptable to us and reasonable views, then we can reach a solution even in October,” he said.

The former President firmly believes that the benefits of a solution far outweigh the fallout of a non-solution.Tourism would increase, so would investment, he said. There would be compensation, and foreign assistance would pour into the country for its reconstruction, something that would give the economy a boost. “Every Cypriot has to understand the benefits he will have from a solution,” said Vassiliou.

On the other hand If there is no solution, he said, in years to come the Turkish Cypriot identity will cease to exist as such and the Greek Cypriots could continue to live with just the hope of a solution without an actual solution.Vasiliou believes that progress has been achieved on EU matters because the Turkish Cypriots “have realised, after a lot of discussion, that this cannot be negotiable”.The fundamental values of the EU such as the four freedoms cannot change because these form the foundations of Europe, he said. The issue of guarantees was irrelevant at present since Cyprus is a member of the EU but Vassiliou said this issue should be settled within Europe.

A Cyprus solution, he said would benefit Turkey as well, which is facing financial difficulties and understands fully that the Cyprus problem is an obstacle to the role of mediator it wishes to have in the region. "Anybody who believes that in December Cyprus will put Turkey inthe dock is mistaken. The EU does not function in this way", he said. “If there is no possibility of reaching an immediate agreement in Cyprus, then they will find a way to postpone the decision on Turkey’s accession process. I do not honestly believe that the EU will confront Turkey or break off its relations with Ankara in December. They will try to find a way out,” he said.

'First reading' ends

The leaders of the two communities met yesterday first in a tête-á-tête session for about an hour and a half and after that in a full session with the United Nations in the last of their meetings before their summer break. They discussed the issue of citizenship, aliens, immigration and asylum.

Alexander Downer, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Adviser on Cyprus, said this was the last of what he called 'the first reading'. The first meeting of the second reading, he added, would take place on September 3, and would focus on the issue of governance and in particular the executive. Once they have finished discussing that issue, they will move to the question of property and then beyond property they will discuss other outstanding issues. He added that the leaders would be revisiting areas where there have been points of disagreement and addressing and endeavouring to resolve those differences.
"Certainly, from the perspective of the United Nations, we would say that this is good progress, and it shows that there has been significant progress in these negotiations", he said.

The last point I want to make is that the leaders have agreed that their representatives Mr. Iacovou and Mr. Nami should, with Mr. Zerihoun the Special Representative of the Secretary General, visit Limnitis and the visit will take place on Monday.

On his part President Christofias said progress in reunification talks between the two communities has fallen short of expectations, “Personally, I had been expecting greater progress…but that does not mean that no progress at all has been achieved,” he told newsmen when asked to assess the course of negotiations to the present day. “It has been a round of both convergences and differences,” he added. “There are matters where I really had expected us to move forward with greater speed…and with more mutual understanding. Therefore, the second round will be an attempt at greater mutual understanding, and I hope we will achieve this.”

Talat sounded more upbeat in his own appraisal of the talks, noting that “important things” had been achieved during the first reading. Though no timeframe had been set for the conclusion of negotiations, Talat said the aim was to speed through the second round of talks. That the two sides had—for the first time in the history of negotiations since 1974—prepared joint documents was significant, he added. Asked which issue he ranked as the most crucial for the second round, Talat said it was the property issue, “because this is what concerns people the most, compared to other matters, which are more theoretical. “People [in the north] keep asking me about the property issue…unfortunately, I cannot give them updates, because progress on this matter has been the least.”