Last meeting before elections and statement

President Christofias and Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat in a joint statement on Wednesday after their last meeting before the elections in the north said they were encouraged by the progress they had made so far.

“We are encouraged by the important progress we have made so far on the Chapters of Governance and Power Sharing, EU Matters and the Economy and we are convinced that with perseverance we shall achieve a comprehensive settlement”, they said.

They also stressed that negotiations are being conducted under the overriding principle of the “integrated whole approach”, which means that “nothing is agreed unless everything is agreed”.

After the meeting, President Christofias clarified that “it is a simple statement; it is not a joint press release. There will not be a joint press release. We are not going into any details”.

The UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon congratulated the two leaders in Cyprus on their joint statement, saying it highlights their “stronger than ever commitment to a settlement”.

“The Cyprus problem has remained unresolved for too long. Both Mr. Christofias and Mr. Talat are leaders with courage and vision and they have taken enormous political risks to carry the process forward”, he said.
He called on them “to continue their work to find a solution to the Cyprus problem which would take into full consideration the legitimate rights and concerns of both Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots. A settlement is in the interest of all Cypriots, leading to stability, reconciliation and greater prosperity for Cyprus. It would also represent a critical peace dividend for the entire region. The United Nations is committed to continue supporting the negotiations, and stands with the people of Cyprus as they work towards finally resolving this longstanding problem”.

The joint statement by the two leaders was also welcomed by European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, who said it “shows the level of commitment and responsibility that the two leaders are putting in the settlement talks” as well as the progress achieved so far.

“These achievements clearly demonstrate that a settlement is in reach and that there is a chance to finalize the talks in the next few months” he added and reiterated the full support of the European Commission to these efforts aimed at reaching a settlement soon and its readiness to provide all the necessary support to the process. “The Commission follows very closely the development of the talks and hopes that this long standing conflict on European soil will come to an end", he said.

The British Prime Minister Gordon Brown joined in the chorus of praise for the two leaders’ joint statement describing it as a “breakthrough” in the talks.
Brown was quoted by AFP saying, “This breakthrough provides hope for a comprehensive solution, and shows what can be achieved with bold leadership and political will”.

The latest developments in the talks will be discussed next Wednesday in a National Council meeting while Greek PM Georgios Papandreou is due in Cyprus on April 12 to address party leaders on the subject.

Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat yesterday sought to boost his chances of re-election in the north’s April 18 election by claiming he and President Christofias had made “serious progress” in the ongoing reunification talks, the Cyprus Mail reports.

“So far, we have recorded serious progress in the areas of governance and power-sharing, the EU and the economy,” Talat told a large gathering of journalists and public figures in northern Nicosia yesterday morning.

He added that 31 convergence documents had been drawn up by the two sides, something he described as “a first in the 40-year history of intercommunal negotiations”.

Talat was speaking two days after winding up his 71st meeting with Christofias – a meeting in which he failed to persuade Christofias of the need for a joint declaration of progress made so far.

Talat explained the Greek Cypriot leadership had been worried that such a document could be construed as interim agreement, binding in international law. In the absence of a joint statement, Talat and Christofias had decided that each leader would, if they so wished, publicise issues that had been agreed separately to their own communities.

On many of the unresolved issues, agreement was said to have been reached in principle, and all that remained was to agree on how they would be implemented once the whole package was in place.

Despite the high levels of convergence on these three chapters of the negotiations, critics say the hardest issues are yet to be tackled. Indeed, the thorny matters of territory, property, and security and guarantees are yet to be discussed in detail.

Talat and his team however played down the idea that negotiations might come unstuck when discussing these more taxing issues by outlining that on the property issue at least there had been a broad agreement to set up a property commission to resolve refugee issues after a solution.

As one of the negotiators pointed out, “Both sides agree on how a property commission should work; the only point of argument for us is that if all Greek Cypriot refugees are allowed to return, what will happen to the idea of bizonality”.

Perhaps most thorny of all is the issue of the Turkish guarantee, and with both sides so far refusing to budge on the matter, many believe that if this issue can be resolved there will be little left to argue about.