Talks focus on economy

The leaders of the two communities in Cyprus and officials exchanged views on the economy at their talks on Tuesday, the UN's Special Envoy in Cyprus, Alexander Downer said.

The meeting began about 10 o’clock in the morning, with a break for lunch, and went on until about 5 o’clock in the evening.

He added that the representatives and technical officials will be meeting again on Friday [26 February] for further discussions on the economy.

When pressed to say whether the discussion had focused on anything else, Downer said: "The leaders also had a separate meeting with their representatives on all aspects of the negotiations; a broader discussion rather than just on the economy". He added: "I chose my words very carefully and they met separately to discuss all aspects of the negotiations, all aspects of the problem".

This was corroborrated by President Christofias who said that he and Mr Talat had had a tete-a-tete meeting during which “we freely exchanged views on current issues that each side could put forward and also on all aspects of the Cyprus problem”.

Downer said the next three meetings in March will cover the chapters of economy, EU matters and property “and whatever else can be discussed, if there is time”. The two men are due to meet on March 4, 16 and 30.

He said the two leaders still had “a significant number of aspects to the economy chapter” which “they need to go through”. “President Christofias for his part would like to concentrate on economic matters,” he said.

Although the talks between the two leaders are scheduled to end on March 30, Downer said that the Turkish Cypriot side would like negotiations to continue beyond that date. “The Turkish Cypriots would like it to be two more meetings on top of that but in any case there will be these four meetings and the last of which is planned for the end of March, so there will be a fair bit of activity,” said Downer.

The process could thereafter be disrupted because the ‘TRNC’ has elections scheduled for April 18 and 25 where Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat will battle it out with ‘Prime Minister’ Dervis Eroglu for the ‘presidency’.

“Whoever wins the elections will lead the Turkish Cypriot side. If Talat wins, there will be continuity; if it is Eroglu, we don’t know how he will approach it,” said Downer. He added that the United Nations would deal with how to approach the outcome of the elections in the north when the time came to do so.

Asked about the extent to which there had been progress towards a solution of the Cyprus problem Downer commented that a solution was attainable but that the two leaders would have to work their way through a number of issues they had not yet completed in order to do so.

“This is obviously a difficult problem. I said this on many occasions that the Cyprus problem would have been solved long ago if it wasn’t difficult to solve,” he said.

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso’s personal representative to the Cyprus talks Leopold Maurer was also present at the talks, according to reports.

The two leaders will meet again for their second all-day session next Thursday.

The Turkish Cypriot assembly has unanimously passed a resolution saying that Turkey’s guarantees are “vital and the most fundamental element” of the solution to the Cyprus problem, the Turkish Cypriot press reports.

The resolution was issued in response to a resolution passed unanimously last Thursday by the Cyprus House of Representatives denouncing Turkey’s “arbitrary” interpretation of the 1960 Treaty of Guarantee.

The Cyprus Mail reports that Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat, fearful of any reciprocal measure by the Turkish Cypriot parliament, had called on President Christofias and DISY leader Nicos Anastassiades to hold back the resolution but to no avail.,

Speaking after the talks on Tuesday, Talat said that he discussed the issue with President Demetris Christofias during their meeting.

Talat described the decision by Greek Cypriot parliamentarians as a bad one: “We can’t do much about this issue. What’s happened has happened. It was bad. It was wrong. The climate has been ruined. The positive climate between us, whatever level it was at, has been ruined. That’s why it wasn’t a good thing.”

Talat also emphasised that the Greek Cypriot side had yet to agree to his request for an extra four meetings beyond the four already scheduled to take place before the elections in the north on April 18.

Meanwhile in a secret ballot on Tuesday, DIKO central committee members last night voted by an overwhelming majority to stay in the government coalition, following weeks of speculation and meetings.

At the start of the meeting, which ran for nine hours, DIKO President Marios Garoyian, analysed the course of the Cyprus problem and the talks currently underway, underlining that the results from this negotiation process had been “zero”.

DIKO’s well-known objection to the handling of the Cyprus problem were forcefully stated earlier in the week by DIKO Vice President Nicolas Papadopoulos when he said of the offer by Christofias to include a representative from DIKO in the negotiation team: “What will this person do, promote the rotating presidency, promote the strategy of Demetris Christofias, which we area seeking to change? It’s a gift not worth having”.

At the meeting of the central committee, Fotis Fotiou, spokesman for DIKO, said that the party saw itself as a guardian of the norms and prospects of the country, and the good of the land, and emphasised that “there is no possibility that we will abandon this mission of ours”. He said that, even if DIKO were to remain in the government, it reserved the right to disagree and made it clear that the party did not support all the positions of Christofias and the government.

DIKO’s primary objections when it comes to the talks are the issues of the rotating presidency, weighted voting and the right of 50,000 Turkish settlers to remain on the island.

Fotiou emphasised that DIKO’s offer to stay in the government did not constitute a carte blanche and that, in the instance where the direct negotiations process proceeded to the realisation of an “unforgivable” solution DIKO reserved the right to withdraw from the government.

DIKO votes to stay in government

DIKO’s Executive Bureau last night voted by a majority to remain in the government coalition, a decision that will be put for ratification before the party’s central committee on Tuesday, the Cyprus Mail reports.

A heated debate began at 10.30am and continued for nine hours, ending with a vote on whether DIKO should stay in government with AKEL. Eighteen members voted for and eight against while four abstained.

“DIKO does not diverge from its positions on the Cyprus problem, disagreements with the president remain. We have decided to remain in the partnership to contribute to the country. If things are not going well we will re-evaluate our position,” party spokesman Fotiou said.

Party leader Marios Garoyian began the session by reading out a letter written by Christofias regarding the future of the government partnership. He then proceeded to argue in favour of DIKO staying in government.

CyBC, last night reported that Christofias’ letter aimed to address the main concerns of the hard-line element within the party that was pushing to abandon government.

The most vocal party officials, including deputy leader Georgios Colocassides, vice-president Nicolas Papadopoulos and general secretary Kyriacos Kenevezos, have been calling for DIKO to walk out unless the president retracts contentious proposals from the negotiating table. The biggest concerns remain the rotating presidency in a federal government, weighted voting and the right of 50,000 Turkish settlers to remain on the island.

Earlier in the week, Garoyian and Christofias met twice in an effort to reach some sort of understanding on government policy towards the Cyprus problem which would help placate the more restless elements within the party.

The result was a letter to DIKO written by Christofias which reportedly highlights that the negotiations are an open process, giving the president, as chief negotiator, the ability to amend positions, add to them or replace them at any moment.

According to CyBC, Christofias also refers to the principles of a solution, as set out by the National Council last September, and to the letter he sent DIKO between the first and second week of the 2008 presidential elections.

The Cyprus Mail’s satirical columnist Coffeeshop says he was praying for DIKO to decide to stay in the government tent, for the good of the country. Prayers do not always work, especially when the Archbishop is praying for the other side in what has become a struggle for the soul of the historic party founded by the great Spy Kyp. In one camp we have the hard-line opportunists, represented by party leader and personality of the year Marios Garoyian who has been valiantly upholding the party’s proud traditions and values, bequeathed by his mentor Spy. In the other camp are the narcissistic, hard-line lawyers who see themselves as the keepers of the late Ethnarch’s proud legacy of negativity and have been agitating for an acrimonious divorce from the government. This legal tendency is represented by Junior, Colocassides, Angelides and Associates, and has the full backing of two TV bosses – the Archbishop and Loukis P.

It goes without saying that Spy’s son and heir, foreign minister Marcos Kyprianou, is in the Garoyian camp and wants to maintain the alliance because he is very fond of foreign travel. And he has a bigger claim to the party than Junior who, like his father, never embraced the traditional values and ideals of DIKO - horse-trading, rusfeti and total focus on the spoils of power.

Has it not occurred to the smart, idealistic lawyers who put their patriotic principles above everything else that they might be in the wrong party? If they want to belong to a party that sacrifices power for nebulous principles they should join EDEK instead of arrogantly trying to impose an alien ideology on their hard-line opportunist comrades.

If all goes well and DIKO votes to stay in the tent for now, the comrade will have to start planning his next moves for keeping the alliance going. His safest bet would be to help the dour Dervis Eroglu get elected pseudo-president as he would ensure the talks grind to a halt. With prospects of a settlement hitting zero, the comrade’s concessions would be irrelevant and DIKO would stay in the alliance and help the comrade get re-elected. EDEK might even return when the threat of a settlement ceases to exist. All that remains now is for the comrade’s poodles to find out how to send money to the Eroglu election campaign fund. They should ask the Archbishop, who is a big admirer of dull Dervis and may have already contributed to his election kitty.

Makarios Droushiotis writing in Politis says that although talks between Christofias and Talat are restarting on Wednesday they are doing so without an agenda or programme. The Greek Cypriot side wants to talk about the economy while Talat wants to finish the chapter on government and power sharing. Meanwhile the UN wants there to be intensive talks leading up to the announcement of broad convergences to help Talat in the elections in April. Talat wants this as well, but Christofias told the National Council he would not be getting into intensive talks. The writer says the picture that Christofias gives regarding progress at the talks is confused and depends on who he is talking to. Recently, speaking to a bicommunal delegation he was positive and painted a picture of the glass being half full, while one week earlier at the National Council he painted a dull picture of a glass half empty and heading to failure.

Three weeks have already gone by since UN S-G Ban Ki-Moon’s visit to the island and the talks have ground to a standstill. Prospects for the four forthcoming meetings are dim. No preparatory work has been done whatsoever. It’s difficult to see how in four meetings any results can be achieved.

Clearly Talat feels the urgency for more meetings and tangible results as the only way he can win the elections. Yet Christofias has said Talat’s reelection is not his responsibility. This attitude has been interpreted by the other side as an indirect wish for Eroglu to win, so he can get out of the talks with the other side taking the blame.

On the other hand the G/C side believes that whether Talat gets reelected or not it is all a test of Turkey ie if Turkey truly wants a solution it will find a way to help Talat and will not let the opportunity go to waste. What’s worse, the domestic situation in Turkey is becoming more and more difficult. Western diplomats warn that things could get out of control and the opportunity of a steady government in Turkey, combined with a moderate Turkish Cypriot leadership offering the prospect of a solution could be lost.

Four more meetings yet Christofias insists he's not stalling

Four more meetings between Messers Christofias and Talat will be held in the framework of the direct negotiations on the Cyprus problem. They will be held on 24 February, 4 March, 16 March and 30 March, it was announced yesterday.

Announcing the dates, Government Spokesman, Stefanos Stefanou said the government expected “the Turkish Cypriot side to proceed to the negotiations in a constructive way, as our side always does, to be able to find more convergences and to move the process forward with a view to achieve a settlement of the Cyprus problem.”

He added that if the Turkish Cypriot side remains consistent with the previously agreed basis of the negotiations and tables positions compatible with that basis, then progress will be made and steps taken forward. If not, then we’ll have a problem, Stefanou noted.

Asked what chapter will be discussed at the first meeting, Stefanou was not in a position to say. “When we are ready, we shall inform you,” he said.

According to the Cyprus Mail, the fact that they will meet only four times in a six week period does not appear to reflect well the call of the UN Secretary-General following his visit to Cyprus for the talks to go “farther and faster”.

According to diplomatic sources, Talat was keen to have as many meetings as possible before the ‘presidential’ elections in the north. However, the Greek Cypriot side proposed to have four meetings until April and no more, a figure the Turkish Cypriot side eventually agreed on.

The paper says Christofias appears less willing to fill his timetable with meetings with someone who may not be sitting at the opposite side of the negotiating table come May. Limiting the talks to four meetings could be interpreted as a desire by Christofias not to get deeply into negotiations on the highly sensitive and complex chapters that remain, at least until he knows who his opposite number will be for the next phase of the talks.

The target might be to tie up most of the loose ends in the EU affairs and economy chapters, while leaving the more emotive chapters of property, territory, security and guarantees for the following period.

President Christofias yesterday was forced to deny that he was stalling on the talks after receiving a letter from the leader of the Democratic Rally party, Nicos Anastasiades in which he said that there was a danger that Greek Cypriot side would be blamed fro stalling and consequently undermining the prospects for a solution.

This was in spite of Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat’s declared willingness to continue the intensified dialogue during the period before the elections in the Turkish Cypriot community, Anastassiades said.

In his reply Mr Christofias accused “certain circles” of orchestrating efforts to present the Greek Cypriot side as being against continuing the negotiations ahead of the Turkish Cypriot elections in April.

I say certain circles, because when I met the ambassadors of the five (UN Security Council) permanent members and explained our position to them, their unanimous stance was that they appreciate very much our initiatives, understanding and patience in relation with the dialogue,” he said.

Both letters were made public yesterday.

Mr Christofias said Mr Talat had asked him to interrupt the talks after the UN Secretary-General’s visit to Cyprus at the end of last month so that he could concentrate on his election campaign to which he had agreed.

“On the last day of the intensified dialogue, Mr Talat returned with a new request to continue our meetings after February 1, 2010 because he judged it would be beneficial for him,” Christofias said, adding that he had again agreed and suggested four meeting dates to Talat and the UN.

He said that Mr Talat’s potential election is not his responsibility and rejected any attempts to blame the Greek Cypriot side for Mr Talat’s potential failure in the elections.

The president reiterated that no substantive progress has been achieved on the various aspects of the Cyprus problem since the talks started some 18 months ago.

And this was not due to the positions of the Greek Cypriot side, Christofias added.

He blamed the lack of progress on the Turkish side and stressed that he would not make any unacceptable concessions for the sole purpose of assuring Talat’s re-election.

A Cyprus solution will elude the two leaders unless there is a “further concerted push”, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has said.

In an op-ed published in the Cyprus Mail yesterday, Ban said: Cyprus is at a critical juncture. The Greek Cypriot leader, Demetris Christofias, and his Turkish Cypriot counterpart, Mehmet Ali Talat, are working hard to reach an agreement. But it will elude them without a further concerted push”.

He urged the leaders to do “what they know to be right”. “There will be sceptics and critics every step, and there will be those who seek to divert or derail the process in pursuit of their own interests and agendas,” the UN Secretary-General said.

The Cyprus Mail’s satirical column Coffeeshop refers to Lyndon B. Johnson’s comment regarding his decision to keep J. Edgar Hoover as head of the FBI, “Better to have him inside the tent pissing out than outside the tent pissing in” and says this may have been why the comrade wanted to keep EDEK and DIKO in his government alliance. He adds, however, that this piece of wisdom does not apply to our crazy country. EDEK may have been in the tent but it still insisted on pissing inside, just like DIKO has been doing for close to two years.

The comrade president did not seem bothered with the stench of the piss flooding the tent as long as the two parties stayed inside. He was quite happy to put on his rubber ring and flippers and swim in it for another three years, if it guaranteed the two parties backing his bid for re-election in 2013.

I really cannot see any other reason why he could have been upset about the patriotic socialists’ departure from the government tent. It was not as if he has lost their support – he never had it – so why would he want the principled socialists to stay in the tent, provocatively pissing on his policies every day, and why did he reward them with a share of the spoils of power if he were not thinking about the presidential elections?

He also refers to an email sent by leader of the Socialists and Democrats group in the European parliament, Martin Shulz, to Omirou urging him not to leave the alliance as this would “seriously destabilise the government at such an important moment in the negotiations about the future of Cyprus”. Nobody informed Shulz that his friend Yiannakis is not very keen on the continuation of the negotiations and had been destabilising the government long before the socialists’ defection.

The president of the Party of European Socialists (PES) Poul Nyrup Rasmussen also wrote to Omirou, telling him that his departure from the tent, “could not be regarded credible political solution by EDEK”, as it created “doubts and uncertainty”. Rasmussen praised the comrade and said that, in contrast to EDEK, the PES would carry on supporting the “negotiations and the peaceful solution”.

On Tuesday the comrade will meet with personality of the year, DIKO chief Marios Garoyian, to persuade him to stay in the alliance. Being a more principled opportunist than Yiannakis and with a second term as House president being dangled in his face, Marios will not need much persuading to stay in the tent.

As for the hardline freedom fighters of his party, who have been agitating for a heroic departure from the alliance, the comrade will assure them, via Marios, that there will be no settlement. Anyone who has watched the way he has been negotiating for the last 18 months, holding out for Eroglu’s election, will know that he was sincere.

And DIKO is much too principled a party to sacrifice the spoils of power for nothing.

Erdogan says European Parliament was being unfair

Turkish Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday said it was unfair that the European Parliament still considers Turkey and the Turkish Cypriot side as responsible for the lack of a solution in Cyprus despite all the positive steps they had taken over the past few years, Turkish Cypriot daily Kibris reports.

Recalling that the Turkish Cypriots had voted yes at the referendum in 2004 while the Greek Cypriots had voted no, he wondered why Turkey and the Turkish Cypriots are still portrayed as guilty?

"Is the European Parliament blind? Let them open their eyes a little bit. Let them open their ears to the truth, to the reality. And let their tongue speak the truth, the realities.”

Speaking at a lunch with the ambassadors of the EU member states in Ankara , Mr Erdogan said the recent resolution by the European Parliament had created great disappointment in Turkey. “The European Parliament is acting like a spokesperson for the Greek Cypriot side,” he added.

He said Turkey had encouraged the Turkish Cypriots to submit the package of proposals on governance and power sharing, and that in doing so they Turkish Cypriots had shown great flexibility thereby offering a real chance for a breakthrough.

He also said that he had requested the UN Secretary-General's personal involvement at the General Assembly in September and that this had happened with a delay of four and a half months.

"It is clear that the negotiations cannot continue forever. The Turkish Cypriot side is the victim of the status quo on the island and has proved its will for a solution. And this should not be allowed any more. The forthcoming period is of vital importance from the point of view of the fate of the process. We believe that the EU member states have a special responsibility on the issue of encouraging the Greek Cypriot side to show the necessary will on the road to a solution.”

European Parliament calls on Turkey to withdraw troops

The European Parliament yesterday called on the Turkish Government to contribute "in concrete terms" to the comprehensive settlement of the Cyprus issue.

The strongly worded resolution drafted by Dutch MEP Ria Oomen-Ruijten and MEPs said Turkey would help "facilitate a suitable climate for negotiations by immediately starting the withdrawal of its forces from the northern part of the island and addressing the issue of settlements of Turkish citizens".

Progress on concrete reforms remained limited in 2009, the resolution added. The European Parliament recalled that the opening of negotiations in 2005 was the starting point for "a long-lasting and open-ended process". Furthermore MEPs deplored the non-implementation of the Additional Protocol to the EC-Turkey Association Agreement for the "fourth consecutive year". "Failure to do so may further seriously affect the process of negotiations", they warned.

According to the Cyprus Mail, Cypriot MEP Ioannis Kasoulides described the resolution as the strongest yet to come out of the parliament. It adds that during the debate before the vote, Spanish Minister for European Affairs Lopez Garrido stressed that implementation of the Ankara Protocol, which requires Turkey to open its ports and airports to Cypriot ships and vessels, was a necessity for the continuation of accession negotiations.

“If there is no progress on this, no more chapters can be opened,” Garrido underlined. He also said that one of the decisive factors for Turkey's assessment included its contribution to the efforts to reach a solution in Cyprus.

EDEK quits the government

The Central Committee of EDEK last night voted to quit the government coalition by an overwhelming majority .They were responding to leader Yiannakis Omirou’s call for withdrawal based on the party’s “total disagreement” with President Christiofias’ strategy on the Cyprus problem.

Omirou said that EDEK’s support for Christofias in the second round of the presidential elections in February 2008 had been given “on the basis of specific written commitments on the solution we want and call for”, but “unfortunately, we consider that those commitments have not been kept”.

“The President rescinded the 8 July (2007) agreement in practice,” he said and entered into direct negotiations with Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat “without the existence of suitable grounds”, all of which EDEK had disagreed with.

He said Christofias had for the last 17 months been following a mistaken strategy involving unilateral concessions such as the matter of the rotating presidency “which are not acceptable to the overwhelming majority of Cypriot Hellenism”.

“Our disagreement with the President’s strategy on the Cyprus problem is now total… We cannot co-operate over concessions that are unacceptable to us. We cannot endorse a strategy that is harmful. We cannot participate in a course that is leading us into a dead-end, nor hide behind this.”

Omirou confirmed that Agriculture Minister Michalis Polynikis and Communications and Works Minister Nicos Nicolaides would be tendering their resignations to President Christofias, but said that in line with common practice, EDEK will not be giving up its membership of the boards of various semi-governmental organisations.

The Cyprus Mail reports that Omirou ignored a reporter’s question as to why they had chosen to withdraw now and adds that a report in Sunday’s Politis newspaper suggested that the decision may have been driven by the results of an analysis carried out by PR expert and party member, Costas Panagopoulos . According to Politis, EDEK has three main benefits - EDEK would be seen to be acting out of principle over the Cyprus problem; it would enable it to attract disaffected DIKO members and thus gain third place in the 2011 legislative elections ; Omirou would have a good chance of becoming President of the House of Representatives, and his party could play the role of king-maker in the 2013 presidential election.

President Christofias said that he was not surprised by EDEK's decision to withdraw from the government, but that he was saddened that they should do so at this moment in time.

"Unfortunately, throughout our cooperation, despite participating in the government, EDEK has functioned as an opposition party both in the Cyprus problem as well as in many other issues".

He added that while it was public knowledge that they had differences, nevertheless it is not true that these differences were as wide as is being presented.

"There have been no new developments in the talks on the issues on which we disagreed to warrant taking a decision to withdraw from the government", he said.

"It is true that there are problems, and that the prospect for a solution is problematical. But noone should condemn the result in advance, or what's more, claim that we have supposedly become trapped going down a dangerous road", he added. "Such an accusation is unfounded and wrong". Besides, he added, the principle that "nothing is agreed until everything is agreed" on which the talks are based, should not be forgotten.

He also denied that the National Council was being briefed after the fact and called on all the political parties to continue the dialogue in an effort to reach consensus and unity.

"From the moment I was elected, my one concern was to find a solution to the Cyprus problem and put an end to the occupation. My ideology is Cyprus - its reunification and salvation".

Coalition parties threaten to leave the government

Uncertainty reigns over the future of the government coalition with the domestic political front showing signs of disarray in the wake of the UN Secretary-General’s visit and the conclusion of the intensified negotiations, the Cyprus Mail reports today.

Following President Christofias’ briefing of the National Council on Friday, government partners DIKO and EDEK are both holding meetings this week to consider whether to leave the coalition.

EDEK spokesman Demetris Papadakis said the main factor influencing his party’s support was the national issue.

DIKO spokesman Fotis Fotiou yesterday confirmed that three members of the executive office raised the issue of leaving the coalition on Friday - Andreas Angelides, Nicolas Papadopoulos and Kyriacos Kenevezos. The three have expressed their opposition to Christofias’ proposals in the talks on a rotating presidency, allowing 50,000 settlers to stay, weighted voting, and problem-solving mechanisms.

Angelides even warned yesterday that the future of the Republic of Cyprus was at risk. “What’s important now is not whether we will stay in government or not, but how we can save the Republic of Cyprus.”

Fotiou noted that if a decision was taken to leave the government on Tuesday, then it would be raised at the central committee meeting the following week. However, he said: “As things stand, I don’t see it happening, that is for the majority of the executive office to decide to leave the government, but you can’t prejudge these things.”

DIKO member and Foreign Minister Marcos Kyprianou had a different view: “If we felt that there was a policy which was putting the Republic at risk, we should have walked out a long time ago, and I would not have stayed in government either.” He added that what was important at the moment was how DIKO could contribute towards finding a good solution.

Meanwhile, EVROKO leader Demetris Syllouris yesterday continued the campaign to remove UN Special Adviser Alexander Downer, saying he was undermining the negotiations process. The Australian diplomat faced a barrage of criticism from EDEK, DIKO, EVROKO and the Greens on Friday for his alleged involvement in Ban Ki-moon’s visit to Mehmet Ali Talat’s offices, something which the UN has consistently denied.

Former president George Vassiliou said Downer was being used as a scapegoat by those who were not happy with the negotiations. “Any attacks on Mr Downer have nothing to do with Mr Downer himself, but are going against the negotiations rather than the person who in no way can be blamed for anything.”

“Downer is simply a coordinator, and enjoys the full trust of the UN in any case,” he added.

He added that the constant talk of withdrawing from government was an effort to put pressure on Christofias’ positions at the talks.

Makarios Droushiotis writing in Politis says that the UN have set an indirect timeframe to clarify (not necessarily to solve) the Cyprus problem through Ban Ki-Moon's visit to the island. The elections in the north on 18 April are critical. If Eroglu is elected the UN considers that the talks will be meaningless and for him not to be elected there must be some kind of spectacular progress in the talks in all chapters. Thus the talks must proceed intensively between now and then otherwise they will inevitably come to an end.

Ban Ki-Moon is the sixth UN S-G who undertakes an initiative to solve the Cyprus problem and possibly the last. While on the island he said the solution has lasted for decades and "now is the time for a solution". He called on the leaders to show greater "courage, flexibility and vision as well as a spirit of compromise”, while to the people he said "your destiny is in your hands".

In short Mr Ban Ki-Moon conveyed the message that time is running out and that if there is no drastic movement now time will not be revived.

Turkey meanwhile has since September set the April elections as clear timeframe for a solution and has been actively working in this direction. More than just because it's a regional power, its arguments ring positive in the ears of the international community. It accepts a timeframe; it wants the active involvement of the UN; it proposes procedures (five party meeting, four party meeting, conference outside Cyprus etc).

In other words Turkey has a clear policy that it has been implementing successfully. In contrast Cyprus has been following a policy of just reacting to developments, just like in 2004 under Tassos Papadopoulos.

Talat has asked for two rounds of intensive negotiations with the aim of substantial convergence on the three chapters of governance and power sharing, economy and EU) so that something positive could have been announced to help Talat win the elections. Christofias agreed to the intensive talks assuring party leaders these were just so as to help Talat and publicly said there was no chance of a solution before April and that he would continue the talks with whoever was elected. Talat then announced his willingness to proceed to another round this time on the property issue, and with the document he submitted he made clear that his intentions were beyond simple pre-electoral politics. The G/C side, aiming at a slower process, outright rejected the document as being confederationist, whereas in reality they viewed it as positive, proof being that despite Byzantine bargaining tactics and hair-splitting, there was broad convergence as regards governance and power sharing. The writer says that both UN circles as well as government circles have confirmed to the paper that this chapter has practically been closed.

It was in view of this progress, and with Turkey's commitment for a speedy negotiation of the remaining chapters that the UN went ahead with Ban Ki-Moon's visit. The aim of the visit was to announce this progress, to commit the leaders to carry on at the same speed, to come close to an agreement in all chapters, to announce this, for Talat to be reelected, and for the talks to conclude by June. The reason Christofias held back was that he felt he was losing control of public opinion and his cooperation with the coalition parties. Nonetheless Ban Ki-Moon came and spread his message of urgency.

Meanwhile Alexander Downer is busy trying to arrange the dates for the continuation of the talks though not at an intensive rate. The Turkish side is increasing pressure wanting talks up until the day before the elections, while Talat himself is proposing a conference outside Cyprus.

The international community credits Christofias with decisiveness to solve the Cyprus problem, but finds that Talat more eager to speed things up while Christofias is trying to slow things down, something that could prove fatal if Talat loses the elections.

If the G/C side does not cooperate in making full use of the time up until the April elections, then they will also have to bear the responsibility. And that is the dilemma that Christofias faces today.

The Cyprus Mail's satirical column, Coffeeshop, this week says that everyone appeared to be pulling fast ones and setting traps before, during and after Ban Ki-moon’s much-hyped visit to the island of martyrdom and victimhood.

But what do you expect when the hastily-arranged visit itself was declared a diplomatic scam by several of our conspiracy-busting hacks and politicos. It was allegedly set up by the devious Big Al and the Yank at UN HQ Lyn Pascoe, who forced Ban to visit by feeding him misleading information about the peace talks.

Worse still, they supposedly arranged the visit without consulting the comrade president beforehand; the hunky Aussie was said to have announced the news to our bemused leader, who was not too keen on having Ban over, for fear he might demand that talks moved faster than at the current snail’s pace. But he could not come out and say that he did not want the Secretary-General to visit.

The comrade got his own back on the scheming Al, by pulling a fast one when Ban was here. He dug his heels in when it came to announcing the big progress made in the talks, with the UN having to play it down in Ban’s official statement. He also refused to agree to any arrangements for a new bout of intensive talks, even though he agreed in principle to continue meeting.

So Ban had nothing tangible to show for his visit and had to regurgitate the predictable platitudes about the time for a solution and the two leaders’ courage and determination.

This was not the only punishment inflicted on Ban for visiting. At the official banquet at the people’s palace on Sunday night, the comrade arranged for the South Korean to be seated next to the lethally dull Marios Garoyian, which was pretty vindictive.

The award for the stitch-up of the visit had to go to duplicitous Mehmet Ali Talat, who double-crossed Big Al big-time, set up Ban for an embarrassment and infuriated the comrade, not to mention the fact that he sparked mass hysteria among our ruling elite.

I refer to the way he deceived the UN (even though many Greek Cypriots have accused Downer of being party to the scam) and met Ban in his pseudo-office instead of his pseudo-residence as he had pseudo-officially agreed. The UN had been informed about the Turkish trap while Ban was on his way to the pseudo-presidential compound and Big Al called Talat to ask him to revert to the original plan.

But Talat refused to budge, reportedly telling the Aussie that the red carpet leading to his office had already been laid and it was too late to change his arrangements. If the UN did not want the meeting taking place in the pseudo-office, the visit would have to be called off, Talat supposedly told Al. The Aussie, we suppose, decided that calling off the meeting would have been more embarrassing for the UN, even though he knew that his decision to go ahead with the meeting would boost Greek Cypriot thirst for his blood.

You had to feel some sympathy for poor old Ban Ki-moon, a good man, who ended up being a pawn in their games or, to be more poetic, a prawn in their egg-fried rice.

A positive consequence of the meeting at the pseudo-office was the re-deployment of the Ethnarch’s most powerful diplomatic weapon – the cocktail party boycott – by the bash-patriotic parties. And how fitting that the boycott was staged on the very same evening a gathering to honour the Ethnarch’s memory was being held. It was a reminder that his legacy lives on. DIKO, EDEK, EUROKO and the Greens all stayed away from the reception given by Ban at the Ledra Palace Hotel on Monday evening, to underline their strong disapproval of the meeting in the pseudo-office. Ban did not seem too disappointed with the snub, relieved that he would be spared the ordeal of engaging in conversation, however brief, with Garoyian for a second night running.

The DISY fuhrer was at the reception and provided the only entertaining moment. As Talat was about to leave, he approached him and said, quite loudly, “Get a move on Mehmet, you’re going to be late for Tassos Papadopoulos’ memorial event.”

The bad news is that the visit was not a meaningless exercise or part of Turkey’s communications games as the town-criers of negativity and rejection had been claiming. In fact not only had significant progress been made (the chapter on power-sharing and governance was almost completely agreed), but the comrade was told in no uncertain terms that the talks needed to continue by hook or by crook.

He was not happy about the UN turning the screw, but he also realised that his favoured slow motion approach would not be tolerated and he ran the risk of being blamed if there was no more progress. The comrade had become the Hamlet of the Cyprob, fearing taking any decision because whatever he did, he would be crucified and the guy’s only desire is to be loved.

He is still dithering, but at Friday’s National Council meeting he decided to spill the fasoulia about the progress made and his intention to carry on talking. He could no longer keep the party leaders in the dark, even though they remained in denial spurting their torrents of negativity, like always

Garoyian, Omirou et al insisted there was no progress even after Friday’s meeting. Omriou, the high priest of negativity, said after the meeting: “Our view was that the general account of the talks was negative; the general account of the Secretary-General’s visit was negative...”

On Monday the EDEK central committee is meeting to discuss the general negativity surrounding the Cyprob. It could decide to take a positive step and leave the government alliance so it can spread its negative message without restrictions.

The Bash Patriots at DIKO met immediately after the National Council meeting and will meet again on Tuesday to decide whether they would leave the government. The party is split in two. Junior and the Ethnarch’s disciples want out, but Garoyian and the DIKOites serving as government ministers, believe the national interest would be better served if they did not give up their posts.

Garoyian wants to stay because next year there will be parliamentary elections and he knows that without AKEL support he would not get another term as House president. And the House presidency, like the foreign ministry, is definitely worth turning a blind eye to the large-scale concessions made by comrade president at the talks.


Sevgul Uludag writing in Politis remembers growing up in Famagusta/Varosha. She says that in 50 years time my son will be 70. He will remember the house he grew up, the places he visited, the beaches he walked along, the colour of the sky, he will have his own memories of this island and the things he loves. He has never seen Varosha so he will never have any memories of my aunt's house there. He has never smelled the strong smell of the sea there, mixed with flowers, fresh and fruity like nowhere else. He has never visited that house and does not remember climbing up that green spiral staircase, the little pond full of goldfish, nor does have memories of walks along the beach, smelling coconut oil suntan lotion, the heat, walking for miles in the heat with our feet in the water staring at the tourists and the sea.

My aunt would wake up early in the morning to make breakfast, boiled eggs and home-made apricot jam, while my uncle did his exercises in the bath. We would then go by bike to the Palm Beach Hotel, then the Constantia and spent all morning at the beach. This beach with its white sand, and turquoise sea, the beach where i would practice speaking English to the tourists. I was 15 years old and dreaming aof a wonderful world, unbeknownst of what was about to happen to us all. The beach that hadn't yet been hit by the war, where i could dream a million dreams with a small red transistor radio to my ears learning all the words to the songs, my long hair flying, my tanned body and a purple bikini. My uncle and aunt settled in Famagusta long before i was born having first lived many years abroad but always dreaming of a house by the sea. They eventually came back, bought some land by the sea and built a two-story house. The doors, i remember, were painted a light green colour and the floors of some of the rooms were wooden. My uncle had a collection of seashells which i used to secretly touch when they weren't looking lest they scold me for fear that i would break them. All my life since i have been collecting seashells and people always wonder why. They don't realise that i'm trying to recreate the memories of my 15 year old self and life at the fabulour beach in this house in Famagusta.

The house is still there but a tree has grown through it. Snakes and mice live there now and Famagusta is a dream that exists only in our memories, because it is a ghost town. Famagusta will one day open up, but my uncle will not see it as he died years ago and nor will my aunt who is nearing 100. And neither will my son ever have memories of that house in Famagusta. In 50 years time there will be noone to remember all that went on in Famagusta. We will die with our memories of places and beaches, and shells and happiness, of what Cyprus used to be like many years ago. Future generations will have other memories of different places, different houses, different beaches they loved. Only geography will determine what we love or don't love. I am now the same age my aunt Fattush was when she made apricot jam in that house in Famagusta. The women of my family live very long, they are strong and remember very well all the smells, the recipes, the walks, the jokes they ever knew.

But it is all in their memories. None of it exists, because Cyprus has changed, Cyprus has been changed and will continue to change. In the same way Famagusta exists in her memory as it is in mine and as it is in everyone else who once lived there. But all these memories will die along with us and we will never have Famagusta as we remember it. Famagusta will exist one day, but not as we lived it. I will always have memory of Famagusta, the smell that i can find nowhere else, the white sand, the turquoise sea, my uncle's shells, the wooden floor, the starry nights and being 15 years old and listening to John Vickers on the radio in 1974. Because that was the last time i ever was in Famagusta.

Ban Ki-Moon press conference and aftermath

U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said it was time for a Cyprus solution as he urged the leaders to find the courage needed to do so, the Cyprus Mail reported.

“For decades, the world has heard about the Cyprus problem. Now is the time for the Cyprus solution,” Ban said at a joint news conference with President Christofias and Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat before leaving Cyprus.

“We will need even more courage and determination in the period ahead to bring these talks to a successful conclusion. No one is under the illusion that any of this is easy. Peace negotiations never are.”

Ban’s words of encouragement came as four Greek Cypriot political parties snubbed the international mediator’s reception because he had met Talat at the ‘presidential palace’ in the north.

The meeting was to have taken place at Talat’s residence but was changed at the last minute by the Turkish Cypriot side, which reportedly presented the UN delegation with a fait accompli.

Christofias expressed his “displeasure” to Ban over the visit to Talat’s office when he met separately with the Secretary General afterwards.

This left Ban’s Special Envoy Alexander Downer to defend the UN’s position, while the diplomatic community was said to have been disgusted over the snub by coalition partners DIKO and EDEK, plus the European Party and the Greens.

“Mr. Ban has committed a gaffe of monumental proportions. He is unacceptable, out of order and has lost all credibility to monitor the peace talks,” declared Evroko MP Rikos Erotokritou.

Downer tried to play down the issue telling reporters:: “It's well known that the United Nations recognise the Republic of Cyprus, you are aware of that.”

“The Secretary General met with Mr Talat in his capacity as the leader of the Turkish Cypriot community in the context of the negotiations for a solution for the Cyprus problem. The venue of the meeting has no political significance,” he added.

But one disgusted diplomat didn’t mince his words: “The man is here to help find a solution, and this is how he is treated. These people want the kind of solution that is non-negotiable,” he said.

If Ban was frustrated by the reaction of the Greek Cypriot parties, he did not show it during the joint news conference with the leaders.

He said the world was seeing two leaders who were rising to the challenge. “I am encouraged that the two leaders personally assured me of their shared commitment to a comprehensive solution as early as possible.

He added that he was convinced the two leaders could achieve a mutually beneficial solution and stressed the importance of building on the momentum of what had been achieved so far.

The two, in a joint statement read out by Ban, said they had achieved “important progress” on the issues of governance and power-sharing.

“Over the last three weeks we have worked hard during our intensified negotiations, mainly on the Chapter of governance and power sharing and achieved important progress,” said the statement.

The leaders expressed their “strong commitment to continue to work on this and the rest of the chapters.”

“We express our confidence that with good will and determination, we can achieve a solution in the shortest possible time,” the statement said.

Christofias and Talat are expected to continue the negotiations in the run up to the elections in the north in April when the future of the negotiations are at stake if Talat is ousted in favour of hardliner Dervis Eroglu.

“I am ready to continue to negotiate with him (Talat) in spite of the elections,” Christofias said. “This is our common desire, this is our common decision … soon we are going to be able to announce when our next meeting will be.”

Talat said he was satisfied with the convergences in general and said he hoped the negotiations will continue in order to achieve more convergences.

Other than his meetings with the leaders Ban also went on a walkabout through the Ledra Street crossing yesterday and was mobbed by well wishers on the Turkish Cypriot side. He inaugurated construction work aimed at stabilising buildings in the vicinity of the crossing, inside the buffer zone.

“As a citizen of Korea, I am coming from a country where it is still divided between the south and north. I have seen for myself the very sad reality, the emptiness and destructions and such very painful feelings I share with the people of Cyprus,” Ban said.

The United Nations Secretary General Mr Ban Ki-moon said on Wednesday he was encouraged by what he saw and heard in Cyprus.

“The leaders did good progress but talks need to go farther and faster", he said speaking to reporters after briefing the members of the UN Security Council on his recent visit to London, Ethiopia and Cyprus.

"My Special Adviser Alexander Downer will work to keep up the momentum of this Cypriot led process. I do believe a solution is within reach but it will require even more courage, compromise and commitment.”

He said he was also encouraged and touched by the strong support of the people from both sides, chanting, shouting for a solution now. These all voices were clear and loud voices from the general population, regardless of where you are from, both from Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot. That was quite moving for me and I felt strong sense of responsibility, what the United Nations can do more to facilitate this . My observation was that the solution was possible and within reach and having made significant progress in power sharing and governance that was quite important and encouraged me. Of course there are many more important issues; property, border and security issues. I hope they will continue.

He added that he was touched by the calls for a solution now he heard from the general population on both sides and felt the UN had a strong sense of responsibility in doing more to facilitate these "Cypriot led and Cypriot owned negotiations". He said President Christofias had told him that he would ensure some sort of a plan for further negotiations despite the elections in the Turkish Cypriot side.

The UN Secretary General on Thursday met with Alternate Foreign Minister of Greece, Mr Demetris Droutsas during which they specifically discussed developments in Cyprus and the negotiating process in particular.

Turkish Cypriot daily Afrika on Thursday reported that the Turkish Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan told journalists that he was the one who asked the UN Secretary-General to visit Cyprus.

“We asked him to step in, to use his influence and he did. I thank him for that".

He also said that when he met Christofias at the UN, and Christofias asked him when would they meet face to face, he had replied:
"I will not meet face to face with you. Your interlocutor is esteemed Talat. You will meet with Talat. If you want four-party or five-party meeting, you could hold this meeting under the chairmanship of the UN, with Turkey and Greece as guarantor powers, and Britain if necessary, and you and Northern Cyprus as the parties’. And you will never guess what he said to me. ‘Under what capacity will Northern Cyprus participate’, he asked. When he told me this, I said the following: ‘You held 41 meetings until now. You will meet esteemed Talat with the same capacity he had when you held with him these 41 meetings’. And it remained there. However, Papadopoulos had said the same thing, because they are not different, due to the fact that they are products, which came out from the same mill. Ban Ki-moon gave them a very beautiful answer yesterday. I believe that justice will be sooner or later manifested. However, this is a journey of patience, it needs patience. It cannot happen with enthusiasm and things like that. We will face it out with patience. We have nothing to lose. Sooner or later we will be the ones who will win.”

Turkish Cypriot daily Yeni Duzen reportedon Thursday that the Turkish Cypriot leader, Mehmet Ali Talat has said that their aim is for the negotiations to continue without interruption during the “election” period in the north.

In statements to KANAL SIM television , Mr Talat said that the negotiations had reached a “mature stage” and that they had summarized the situation to Mr Ban Ki-moon, who was satisfied when he saw the points on which the leaders have agreed.

Mr Talat alleged: “We secured very serious convergences on the content of the package which we have put onto the table. We have consciously not put the final full stop, because the Greek Cypriot side worries that uproar will start, if the points of convergences are announced. Now we want to put aside the point we have reached and move on to new chapters.”

Mr Talat said that the Turkish Cypriots had worked for a solution and the world saw this.

"Our entire aim is to find a solution which the grandchildren of our grandchildren will see, a lasting and secure solution", he said. The least painful solution for us is the result which will emerge through the negotiations we are holding now. If in spite of all our good will, the Greek Cypriot side does not come close to the solution and if the international community acknowledges this, that is, if we do not leave the table as those who are responsible for the non-solution, if the Greek Cypriot side is accepted as responsible for this, then the recognition of the TRNC could come onto the agenda. However, there is no such climate at this moment.”

The Government Spokesman Mr Stefanos Stefanou, asked to comment on Talat's statement that President Christofias has made some move towards the Turkish proposals and that these convergences were not announced so as not to upset the Greek Cypriot side, the Government Spokesman said: “Mr Talat is not telling the truth. This is my reply to Mr Talat and we should be very careful when we make statements”.

President Christofias yesterday briefed the National Council on the latest developments in the Cyprus problem, after which some party leaders reacted negatively.

The Greens and EVROKO called on Downer to step down, while DIKO leader Marios Garoyian accused the Australian diplomat of operating beyond his mandate.

Speaking after the meeting, Garoyian said Ban’s visit to Talat’s ‘presidential palace’ in the north was not by chance but a result of efforts made by his advisers. He further accused Downer of acting beyond his mandate. “It was not an accidental outcome, it was a conscious effort by some of (Ban’s) associates” who orchestrated the visit after failing to get an interim agreement or recorded convergences.

He added: “There is a Downer issue. It’s not the first time he operates beyond his mandate. It’s not the first time he operates in a way which presents a fait accompli or puts the Republic of Cyprus in a difficult position.”

EVROKO leader Demetris Syllouris called for Downer to step down as Special Adviser, saying he was “not an objective official of the UN” and had damaged Cyprus. Greens leader Ioanna Panayiotou concurred.

EDEK leader Yiannakis Omirou described Ban’s visit to Talat’s offices as “provocative” and accused Downer of refusing to take responsibility for it.

The UN has consistently denied that Ban was knowingly sent north to meet Talat at his offices. Various sources maintained that the original plan was for the UNSG to meet Talat at his residence next door, adding that the UN team, including Downer, was “totally surprised” to find out just moments before that the meeting would be held at the ‘palace’.

The DIKO leader and House President also argued it was wrong to use the word “progress” when discussing the talks.

“There have been some steps forward. It is very early to talk about progress, it’s misleading and serves the PR games of the Turkish side and the UN which wanted to justify Ban’s visit here at a time when there were no substantial reasons or convergences,” he said.

Even opposition DISY leader Nicos Anastassiades, who has continuously propped up the government when its coalition partners failed to do so over the talks, released a statement saying adjectives such as “remarkable” or “impressive” progress did not match reality. Noting that steps forward had been made in some areas of governance, he added that other important aspects of the Cyprus problem had yet to be negotiated. “And we are just weeks away from elections for a new Turkish Cypriot leader. Unfortunately, this does not permit anyone to talk about optimistic prospects,” he said.

Government spokesman Stefanos Stefanou, was more upbeat: “There have been steps forward; there have been further convergences which for us constitute progress. From there on, the political parties give their own interpretations and their own positions.”

No joint statement was released as is usual practice, due to one party objecting to it, said Stefanou.

The spokesman reiterated that progress had been made in the talks but not because of a shift in the stance of the Greek Cypriot side towards Turkish positions, as Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat had claimed.

After the party leaders have been briefed on the areas of convergence, “no one can claim that our side has endorsed unacceptable positions that fall within the framework of the Turkish proposals,” he said.

Asked about Downer and the position of a number of political parties that he should be removed from office, Stefanos said the government was not a political party, and did not act like one but handled issues tactfully and not in the public eye.

"Your destiny is in your hands", says UN Secretary-General

A solution to the Cyprus problem is possible and within reach, despite the difficulties, United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said when he arrived in Cyprus on Sunday evening.

But, he stressed, the process belongs to Cyprus.
“The destiny is in your hands. You have taken responsibility for finding a solution”, he said.

“I am here to show my personal support to the Cypriot-led talks to reunify the country", Ban told reporters at Larnaca airport. “My visit is a reflection of the importance I will attaché to the current efforts of their excellencies, Mr. Christofias and Mr. Talat to reach a settlement.”

He said for over 45 years the UN has been in Cyprus helping to keep the peace and contributing to the efforts to bring about normalcy on the island.
“So I am under no illusion that the Cyprus problem is easy to solve or about the difficulties you face. At the same time, I am confident that a solution is possible and within reach,” he said.

The UN Secretary General said he was impressed by the enormous personal commitments shown by the two leaders over the past 16 months and the significant progress that has been achieved recently on governance and power-sharing,

“I am here to encourage the two leaders to bring these talks to a successful conclusion. Reaching a mutually-acceptable solution will require courage, flexibility and vision as well as a spirit of compromise.”


The UN Secretary General last night attended a banquet hosted by President Christofias in his honour

Speaking at the banquet, President Christofias said: “Our aim is the reunification of this country: the people, the institutions, the economy, and to ensure that the United Federal Republic of Cyprus will be a functional and viable state, able to work effectively as a member-state of the European Union”.

He said the aim was for these negotiations to succeed but admitted that there are important chapters which have not even been touched upon, or which have not been sufficiently discussed.

The president assured Ban that he would "spare no effort in striving to overcome all obstacles and finally reach a solution: a viable, functional and , under the circumstances, just solution, to which both communities will agree, so as to rid the agenda of the United Nations of this long-standing problem.”

On his part, the UN S-G reiterated the UN’s continued support for the peace process in Cyprus and the great importance they place to the current efforts.

"From the beginning, this has been a Cypriot-owned and Cypriot-led process with the Cypriots taking responsibility for reaching a settlement" .

He told President Christofias: "You have been given a clear mandate by the people to solve this issue. And you are delivering" .

"Together with Mr. Talat, I am confident that you can bring the negotiations to a successful conclusion. To bring this successful conclusion to a mutually acceptable way will require confidence, vision, and flexibility as well as a spirit of compromise. A settlement of the Cyprus problem will create enormous opportunities for this country. It will also have a positive impact on the wider region. And as your Excellency knows, the international community has high expectations for your efforts, and it supports you", he concluded.