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.