Turkish side makes proposals

The United Nations on Thursday handed to President Christofias Turkish Cypriot proposals on governance and power-sharing.

These will be discussed at the first round of intensive talks between President Christofias and Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat that is due to start on Monday.

President Christofias conveyed the proposals to Greek Cypriot party leaders and summoned them to an informal council meeting on Sunday.

UN Special Envoy in Cyprus, Alexander Downer told the press: “The main thing is that the leaders have the chance to sit down and discuss these issues at the beginning of the coming week and will be able to decide about them on their own,” said . “I hope the two leaders will be able to make substantial progress.”

The UN envoy reiterated there has been some convergence in the past 15 months although differences remained. He said he hoped the procedure would speed this convergence up.

More intensive meetings have been scheduled for January 11, 12 and 13 followed by three more meetings on 25, 26 and 27 January. It has been announced that President Christofias will be visiting Athens on 18 January after the first round to discuss the developments with the Greek leadership.

Downer added that the talks would not be completed by the end of January, but this was a good chance to take the procedure forward.

Greek Cypriot daily Politis says that it has obtained a copy of the Turkish Cypriot proposals and that in essence the document describes a confederation rather than a federation.

The paper says this is a serious blow to the talks and shows no signs of convergence. It says the only positive thing for the Greek Cypriot side in the 7 page document comprising 10 points, is their acceptance of the Greek Cypriot proposal for a rotating presidency and a weighted vote or cross vote. This would mean that both communities would vote for president and vice president though the Greek Cypriot vote would be weighted based on the population ratio between the two communities.

The remaining points favour the separate autonomy of the federated states. It proposes that Turkish nationals should enjoy the same rights EU nationals would have in Cyprus after a settlement, ie freedom to enter, travel around, settle and buy property on the island, until Turkey joins the EU. Another calls for two Flight Information Regions, while a third says that the President and Vice President of the country would have veto powers.

Replying to a question by the press on whether Mr Talat’s proposals, at first glance, constitute a step forward, President Christofias declined to comment. However, he expressed the hope that Turkey would act more rationally so that all that she says she would like to see happen in 2010 become a reality rather than just for the sake of appearances and public relations. Asked if the proposals were prepared in Ankara, President Christofias replied: “Is there anything that happens here in Nicosia without the consent of Ankara? The answer is obvious.”

Mr Christofias was also asked whether the Turkish Cypriot leader Mr Talat, who has just returned from a visit to Ankara where he met with the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, had invited the UN Secretary General to visit Cyprus. President Christofias said that the UN Secretary General has been planning to visit Cyprus for some time now, and would do so if and when there was sufficient progress to merit it.

The Spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General, Mr Martin Nesirky, yesterday said that the UN Secretary-General discussed the upcoming two intensive rounds of substantive negotiations that the Cypriot leaders will have this month, in separate phone calls with the Cypriot leaders. He encouraged both leaders to remain committed and to show flexibility and leadership. He is convinced that win-win solutions in many different areas are available and he is confident that together both leaders have the political courage and vision required to make progress. The Secretary-General assured both leaders of the United Nations and his personal support.

Turkish Cypriot daily Kibris reported yesterday that the Turkish Cypriot leader, Mehmet Ali Talat, had returned to Cyprus after visits to Brussels and Ankara where he had meetings with European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan respectively.

Speaking to reporters, Talat said he had informed Barroso on the negotiation process in Cyprus and reminded him of the EU's commitments. Talat quoted Barroso as saying that he would do his best on the issue. Talat said he also held fruitful talks in Ankara, and had discussed the Cyprus issue with Erdogan.

He added that the UN Secretary-General Ban had called him while he was in Ankara during which he had expressed the UN's expectations regarding the process of intensive talks starting next week. Ankara Anatolia news agency reported that Mr Talat had the invited UN Secretary to Cyprus and that he had accepted invitation.