UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has said that now it is time for both leaders in Cyprus "to be more seriously considering to make necessary compromises and show flexibility so they can move ahead". The UN S-G was replying to questions at his regular press briefing at UN headquarters yesterday.
He said: “I am reasonably optimistic about the prospect of resolving this long-standing Cyprus issue. I am encouraged by the commitment and continuing negotiations led by the two leaders, Mr. Christofias and Mr. Talat". He added that they have built up good political atmosphere on the basis of mutual trust and commitment and now it is time for them to make a real progress, demonstrating flexibility and arguing on compromises”.
Meanwhile, all the Turkish Cypriot newspapers report today about the visit to Ankara of the Turkish Cypriot leader, Mehmet Ali Talat, who had a two-hour meeting there with the Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ahmet Davutoglu. According to the paper the property issue was discussed in the meeting.
Asked by a journalist whether a new opening is expected as regards Cyprus, Mr Talat said that the Cyprus opening has been continuing incessantly, since 2004. “We are the side which is active”, he stated. He also said that at his meeting with Davutoglu the delegations had worked on issues related to property and had discussed the governance issue. He added that the aim of the visit was not to determine new strategies but to continue the current pro-active approach.
Moreover the Cyprus Mail reports that while Talat was in Ankara and Christofias in Brussels for the European Council meeting, their aides met yesterday to prepare the ground for their meetings on Monday and Friday next week on property.
The paper says that the two aides have been charged with preparing a list of criteria involved in the property question as to what kinds of properties are affected and what potential solutions are available. Christofias and Talat have stated they are standing on opposite sides of the fence in terms of their positions on property solutions. While the Greek Cypriot side wants the original owner to have final say on what to do with the property, the Turkish Cypriots argue in favour of giving the current user more weight.
Turkey has suggested it plans to take steps very soon to speed up the talks and play an active role in solving the problem. On the other hand, Davutoglu has hinted that it cannot wait around for ever and if there is no solution by April, the date of the presidential elections in the north, then Turkey will start working on alternative solutions. The latter statement has been interpreted by the Greek Cypriot side as a veiled threat to pursue international recognition of the ‘Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus’ or some other action aimed at cementing the de facto partition.
In an interview with a Turkish newspaper, Talat described the election of Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou as a “significant advantage” to helping solve the Cyprus problem, noting that Papandreou was an important figure who had influence in the Greek Cypriot community. He also said he was less optimistic now than he was at the beginning of the process. “Time does not work in the other side’s favour,” he was quoted saying.
Moreover according to reports in the press, the UN has enlisted the help of an expert on property issue who arrived on the island and has been incorporated in Alexander Downing's team.
Britain's Guardian newspaper said today that Cyprus' President Christofias urged Europe to get tough with Turkey, likening the EU's concessions to Ankara to the appeasement of Adolf Hitler in the 1930s. He also played down expectations of any breakthrough in the search for a settlement in Cyprus, saying that more than a year of negotiations with his Turkish Cypriot friend and counterpart, Mehmet Ali Talat, were in trouble. "Unfortunately, my expectations have not been justified," he said in an interview. "We have differences and divergences, deep, deep differences", he said and rejected talk of a deadline as artificial suggesting the Turkish side was exploiting Talat's electoral problems to blackmail him.
Christofias's gloomy remarks ran counter to diplomats' hopes that the Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders represented the best chance for a settlement in a generation. If the talks fail, warned Hans Van Den Broek, the former Dutch foreign minister who sits on the Independent Commission on Turkey, "the island will certainly head towards partition. Tensions will rise in the eastern Mediterranean and EU-Turkey tension will deepen."
With much at stake in the Cyprus talks, Christofias laid a large part of the blame for the stalemate on the Turkish leadership of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. "We don't agree on anything with Mr Erdogan," he said.
The paper adds, however, that hopes for a solution to the Cyprus problem have been raised by the approach adopted by Greece's new prime minister, George Papandreou, who visited Turkey shortly after he was elected, where he met Erdogan. Christofias's negative comments reveal how difficult the task will be. "I don't compare Turkey with Nazi Germany," he said. "But it is not reasonable to say don't challenge Turkey because it will get angry. There are rules and unfortunately Turkey does not respect those rules ... This reminds me of the situation before the second world war, appeasing Hitler so he doesn't become more aggressive. The substance of fascism was the substance of fascism. Hitler was Hitler."
Friday 30 October 2009
Wednesday 21 October 2009
Papandreou promises active involvement
The Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou promised active involvement in the effort to find a solution to the Cyprus problem. Speaking before an extraordinary plenary session of the House of Representatives yesterday on his official visit to Cyprus, his first since taking office, he stressed that Greece's steadfast aim is to prevent the legitimization of the 1974 Turkish invasion in Cyprus and to reverse its consequences.
Throughout his visit Papandreou said repeatedly that Greece was once again by the side of Cyprus, adding, “not just in words but in practice”. He highlighted that assisting President Demetris Christofias to achieve a just and viable solution of the Cyprus problem based on the agreed parameters was a priority of his government.
Speaking at a joint press conference with President Christofias, he said Greece and Cyprus will “cooperate closely” on the Cyprus problem while keeping all options on the table until the EU’s December evaluation on Turkey’s accession path. He said it was necessary to utilise the European framework in the most effective way, adding that the European Council of December was important because Turkey’s EU course would be objectively assessed.
“The message I have conveyed to the people of Turkey was that we want you to be a friendly country, a country which has the right to join the EU but also one which I will always be sincere with, talking about the problems which divide us and which we have to solve,” he said. One of those problems, he said, is the Cyprus problem and the fact that “there is still occupation in the Republic of Cyprus”.
Papandreou called on Ankara to meet its obligations towards the EU, including normalising relations with Cyprus and contributing to a resolution of the Cyprus problem. “There is stagnation in Turkey’s accession process in relation to issues which the EU has set out for Turkey, and we need to give an impetus with a view to help not only Turkey’s EU course but also the settlement of major issues, such as the Cyprus question,” said Papandreou.
Throughout his visit Papandreou said repeatedly that Greece was once again by the side of Cyprus, adding, “not just in words but in practice”. He highlighted that assisting President Demetris Christofias to achieve a just and viable solution of the Cyprus problem based on the agreed parameters was a priority of his government.
Speaking at a joint press conference with President Christofias, he said Greece and Cyprus will “cooperate closely” on the Cyprus problem while keeping all options on the table until the EU’s December evaluation on Turkey’s accession path. He said it was necessary to utilise the European framework in the most effective way, adding that the European Council of December was important because Turkey’s EU course would be objectively assessed.
“The message I have conveyed to the people of Turkey was that we want you to be a friendly country, a country which has the right to join the EU but also one which I will always be sincere with, talking about the problems which divide us and which we have to solve,” he said. One of those problems, he said, is the Cyprus problem and the fact that “there is still occupation in the Republic of Cyprus”.
Papandreou called on Ankara to meet its obligations towards the EU, including normalising relations with Cyprus and contributing to a resolution of the Cyprus problem. “There is stagnation in Turkey’s accession process in relation to issues which the EU has set out for Turkey, and we need to give an impetus with a view to help not only Turkey’s EU course but also the settlement of major issues, such as the Cyprus question,” said Papandreou.
Sunday 18 October 2009
Two sides close to agreement on governance
The two sides are converging on the issue of governance but have yet to reach the finish line, President Christofias said on Friday after the second of two consecutive meetings this week with Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat.
However, according to the UN Special Representative, Taye-Brook Zerihoun, the two leaders “discussed each other’s proposals in a very constructive manner”.
Talat on his part said the talks went well, adding that both sides presented “wise and correct” proposals responding to the concerns of the other.
The two leaders will continue discussing governance and external relations next week and begin the second reading on property. If they fail to come to agreement on executive power, the issue will likely be moved to the third “basket” of issues for which no convergence has been found. These issues will then form the fodder of a give-and-take session between the two leaders in the final round of negotiations.
“We expect difficulties in the near future and everyone must show the utmost self-restraint, political maturity and determination to claim our rights without violating our principles,” said Christofias.
Before yesterday’s session, the two men met representatives of civil society from both sides when fifty NGOs handed a resolution to the two leaders, pledging to support the process by “opening and maintaining channels of communication, building mutual trust and promoting reconciliation between the two communities”.
The resolution calls on both leaders to properly inform the general public on the negotiations so that it may discuss the details of any progress achieved and possibilities for the future “in a positive and constructive way”. Clarification on the ongoing negotiations will help avoid vagueness, confusion, unfair and uninformed criticism, said the NGOs.
The two leaders pledged to do all they could to achieve an agreed and mutually acceptable solution which will reunify the island. Diverting from the tactic of his predecessor, Christofias praised the role of the NGOs, noting “we need a Cyprus for the Cypriots”. The president identified foreign intervention as the greatest source of the island’s problems.
“We want the foreigners to be helpful without intervening in the internal affairs of the United Federal Republic of Cyprus…We want a Cyprus, which will belong to its children, both Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots,” said Christofias. To achieve this, he added: “We have to work in a friendly atmosphere, understanding and meeting the concerns of both communities.”
Talat highlighted that the will and support of the people for an agreed solution was needed “to really establish a peaceful country, a peaceful United Cyprus”. He added that support from the international community, of “any power which may have any positive say”, was also needed in the talks.
An editorial in the Cyprus Mail says there were no surprises in the European Commission’s eagerly-awaited progress report on Turkey. While it noted Turkey’s failure to implement the Ankara protocol and to normalise relations with the Cyprus Republic, the Commission avoided any reference to punitive sanctions which our political parties had been demanding.
This caused widespread disappointment among the Greek Cypriot political parties which had argued that Turkey should have been penalised for the refusal to implement the protocol. The mood of the politicians could not have been improved on hearing Turkey’s EU negotiator welcoming the report and describing it as “positive and balanced”.
We were deluding ourselves if we thought the Commission could have allowed Ankara’s failure to implement the Protocol to turn a positive report negative and include sanctions. This would not have encouraged the Turkish government to proceed with the reforms the EU considered of vital importance at this stage in accession procedure. But as usual, most of the politicians in Cyprus betrayed their tendency for wishful thinking in raising sanctions’ expectations.
It appears that the only politician who made a realistic evaluation of the situation was DISY leader Nicos Anastassiades. He had predicted that the Commission would not consider sanctions, especially while peace negotiations were in progress in Cyprus. He also pointed out that there was no way the European Council would impose sanctions against Turkey in December because unanimity, which was necessary for such a decision, would never be achieved. He proposed a pragmatic approach, by which discussion of sanctions could be put back to June. In the intervening period the Cyprus government could undertake a series of actions that would strengthen its position and help it secure certain practical advantages.
It is no coincidence that the party leaders who wanted sanctions imposed on Turkey are those who are opposed to the current peace efforts. They would have been overjoyed if sanctions were imposed and the talks collapsed as a result, because for them, punishing Turkey is an end in itself. Scoring a meaningless victory which they could brag about on the radio stations is all they seem to care about, because the success of the peace talks is not a concern.
Meanwhile, Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou will be visiting Cyprus tomorrow on an official trip, during which he is scheduled to meet with President Christofias and the political leadership as well as Archbishop Chrystostomos.
Papandreou said on Friday that the Cyprus problem is Greece’s basic priority. “Finding a fair and viable solution to the Cyprus problem, with the UN decisions as the basis, the principles and treaties of the EU and full respect to the European acquis communitaire, is our basic priority,” he said.
Unlike his predecessor, Costas Karamanlis, who chose to sit on the fence, Papandreou is expected to take a more active role in efforts to resolve the Cyprus problem. “We fully support the intensive efforts of President Demetris Christofias,” Papandreou said. He added that his country will once again stand next to Cyprus not just verbally but with actions.
Shortly after his election, Papandreou paid a flash visit to Turkey. He spoke to Turkish Premier Tayyip Erdogan about the need to show a more “conciliatory” approach on Cyprus. He also spoke directly to the Turkish people on the need to talk straight about problems and to solve them. He called on both countries to help free Cyprus of motherlands, occupation troops, walls and division.
4. Coffeeshop
The Sunday Mail's weekly satirical column Coffeeshop last week referred to Papandreou's election in Greece. He says he seems a rather mild-mannered, laid-back, softly-spoken chap, with the appearance of a kindly, secondary school headmaster, not the Alpha-male type of autocratic leader who would intimidate, bully and inspire fear in anyone. This is one of the reasons why Greeks condescendingly refer to him as Giorgakis - he looks and behaves like a boy - even though nobody ever accused him of being a Playstation devotee, like his predecessor was supposed to be. The consensus is that he is a bit wet, despite the moustache.
However the election of this liberal and gentle man has spread fear and panic on the island of love, where a section of the population view him as a Turk-loving, US-worshipping, champion of the A-plan, who will push for the speedy closure of the Cyprob. Last Friday’s visit to Turkey where he met Prime Minister Erdogan and his foreign minister, confirmed the worst nightmares of the island’s hard-liners and ‘never’ campaigners, because they realised that good relations with the savage Turks would be the priority of Giorgakis’ foreign policy. To achieve this ignoble objective, he would start to meddle in our affairs, pushing for an unfair settlement and urging us to pull our pants down for his friends the Turks. Apart from all the pro-Turk foreigners, we would have the new, Greek PM also nagging us to accept an unfair and unjust settlement.
Worse still, the ‘never’ supporters cannot resort to the customary, hysterical, hate-campaign they employ against all meddlesome foreigners, because he is Greek. His American mother may be brought into the picture, before long, as proof that he is not a pure Greek and therefore a legitimate bash-patriotic target. Papers like Simerini were seething because Papandreou had filled his cabinet with individuals who had publicly supported the “Annan monstrosity”. With these “Amerikanakia” (US-supporting kids) he would try to “close” the Cyprob, warned the paper, a firm believer in keeping it open for future generations.
Nobody really knows what comrade presidente is thinking about the Greek PM’s overtures to Turkey. I suspect he is not too happy with Giorgakis’ sense of urgency, because he likes things to move at a slow pace so he does not feel there are suffocating time-frames. Last Thursday he showed his commitment to slow-paced talks by getting the second scheduled meeting of the week cancelled on the grounds he had a stiff neck. If he were playing tennis with Talat, you could understand it but since when does a stiff neck prevent you from sitting down and talking? A skettos-drinking customer almost choked on his skettos when he heard the news. “How can he have a stiff neck?” he asked. “The guy doesn’t have a neck.”
However, according to the UN Special Representative, Taye-Brook Zerihoun, the two leaders “discussed each other’s proposals in a very constructive manner”.
Talat on his part said the talks went well, adding that both sides presented “wise and correct” proposals responding to the concerns of the other.
The two leaders will continue discussing governance and external relations next week and begin the second reading on property. If they fail to come to agreement on executive power, the issue will likely be moved to the third “basket” of issues for which no convergence has been found. These issues will then form the fodder of a give-and-take session between the two leaders in the final round of negotiations.
“We expect difficulties in the near future and everyone must show the utmost self-restraint, political maturity and determination to claim our rights without violating our principles,” said Christofias.
Before yesterday’s session, the two men met representatives of civil society from both sides when fifty NGOs handed a resolution to the two leaders, pledging to support the process by “opening and maintaining channels of communication, building mutual trust and promoting reconciliation between the two communities”.
The resolution calls on both leaders to properly inform the general public on the negotiations so that it may discuss the details of any progress achieved and possibilities for the future “in a positive and constructive way”. Clarification on the ongoing negotiations will help avoid vagueness, confusion, unfair and uninformed criticism, said the NGOs.
The two leaders pledged to do all they could to achieve an agreed and mutually acceptable solution which will reunify the island. Diverting from the tactic of his predecessor, Christofias praised the role of the NGOs, noting “we need a Cyprus for the Cypriots”. The president identified foreign intervention as the greatest source of the island’s problems.
“We want the foreigners to be helpful without intervening in the internal affairs of the United Federal Republic of Cyprus…We want a Cyprus, which will belong to its children, both Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots,” said Christofias. To achieve this, he added: “We have to work in a friendly atmosphere, understanding and meeting the concerns of both communities.”
Talat highlighted that the will and support of the people for an agreed solution was needed “to really establish a peaceful country, a peaceful United Cyprus”. He added that support from the international community, of “any power which may have any positive say”, was also needed in the talks.
An editorial in the Cyprus Mail says there were no surprises in the European Commission’s eagerly-awaited progress report on Turkey. While it noted Turkey’s failure to implement the Ankara protocol and to normalise relations with the Cyprus Republic, the Commission avoided any reference to punitive sanctions which our political parties had been demanding.
This caused widespread disappointment among the Greek Cypriot political parties which had argued that Turkey should have been penalised for the refusal to implement the protocol. The mood of the politicians could not have been improved on hearing Turkey’s EU negotiator welcoming the report and describing it as “positive and balanced”.
We were deluding ourselves if we thought the Commission could have allowed Ankara’s failure to implement the Protocol to turn a positive report negative and include sanctions. This would not have encouraged the Turkish government to proceed with the reforms the EU considered of vital importance at this stage in accession procedure. But as usual, most of the politicians in Cyprus betrayed their tendency for wishful thinking in raising sanctions’ expectations.
It appears that the only politician who made a realistic evaluation of the situation was DISY leader Nicos Anastassiades. He had predicted that the Commission would not consider sanctions, especially while peace negotiations were in progress in Cyprus. He also pointed out that there was no way the European Council would impose sanctions against Turkey in December because unanimity, which was necessary for such a decision, would never be achieved. He proposed a pragmatic approach, by which discussion of sanctions could be put back to June. In the intervening period the Cyprus government could undertake a series of actions that would strengthen its position and help it secure certain practical advantages.
It is no coincidence that the party leaders who wanted sanctions imposed on Turkey are those who are opposed to the current peace efforts. They would have been overjoyed if sanctions were imposed and the talks collapsed as a result, because for them, punishing Turkey is an end in itself. Scoring a meaningless victory which they could brag about on the radio stations is all they seem to care about, because the success of the peace talks is not a concern.
Meanwhile, Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou will be visiting Cyprus tomorrow on an official trip, during which he is scheduled to meet with President Christofias and the political leadership as well as Archbishop Chrystostomos.
Papandreou said on Friday that the Cyprus problem is Greece’s basic priority. “Finding a fair and viable solution to the Cyprus problem, with the UN decisions as the basis, the principles and treaties of the EU and full respect to the European acquis communitaire, is our basic priority,” he said.
Unlike his predecessor, Costas Karamanlis, who chose to sit on the fence, Papandreou is expected to take a more active role in efforts to resolve the Cyprus problem. “We fully support the intensive efforts of President Demetris Christofias,” Papandreou said. He added that his country will once again stand next to Cyprus not just verbally but with actions.
Shortly after his election, Papandreou paid a flash visit to Turkey. He spoke to Turkish Premier Tayyip Erdogan about the need to show a more “conciliatory” approach on Cyprus. He also spoke directly to the Turkish people on the need to talk straight about problems and to solve them. He called on both countries to help free Cyprus of motherlands, occupation troops, walls and division.
4. Coffeeshop
The Sunday Mail's weekly satirical column Coffeeshop last week referred to Papandreou's election in Greece. He says he seems a rather mild-mannered, laid-back, softly-spoken chap, with the appearance of a kindly, secondary school headmaster, not the Alpha-male type of autocratic leader who would intimidate, bully and inspire fear in anyone. This is one of the reasons why Greeks condescendingly refer to him as Giorgakis - he looks and behaves like a boy - even though nobody ever accused him of being a Playstation devotee, like his predecessor was supposed to be. The consensus is that he is a bit wet, despite the moustache.
However the election of this liberal and gentle man has spread fear and panic on the island of love, where a section of the population view him as a Turk-loving, US-worshipping, champion of the A-plan, who will push for the speedy closure of the Cyprob. Last Friday’s visit to Turkey where he met Prime Minister Erdogan and his foreign minister, confirmed the worst nightmares of the island’s hard-liners and ‘never’ campaigners, because they realised that good relations with the savage Turks would be the priority of Giorgakis’ foreign policy. To achieve this ignoble objective, he would start to meddle in our affairs, pushing for an unfair settlement and urging us to pull our pants down for his friends the Turks. Apart from all the pro-Turk foreigners, we would have the new, Greek PM also nagging us to accept an unfair and unjust settlement.
Worse still, the ‘never’ supporters cannot resort to the customary, hysterical, hate-campaign they employ against all meddlesome foreigners, because he is Greek. His American mother may be brought into the picture, before long, as proof that he is not a pure Greek and therefore a legitimate bash-patriotic target. Papers like Simerini were seething because Papandreou had filled his cabinet with individuals who had publicly supported the “Annan monstrosity”. With these “Amerikanakia” (US-supporting kids) he would try to “close” the Cyprob, warned the paper, a firm believer in keeping it open for future generations.
Nobody really knows what comrade presidente is thinking about the Greek PM’s overtures to Turkey. I suspect he is not too happy with Giorgakis’ sense of urgency, because he likes things to move at a slow pace so he does not feel there are suffocating time-frames. Last Thursday he showed his commitment to slow-paced talks by getting the second scheduled meeting of the week cancelled on the grounds he had a stiff neck. If he were playing tennis with Talat, you could understand it but since when does a stiff neck prevent you from sitting down and talking? A skettos-drinking customer almost choked on his skettos when he heard the news. “How can he have a stiff neck?” he asked. “The guy doesn’t have a neck.”
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