Talks between the Greek and Turkish communities continued on Tuesday and four more meetings were scheduled to be held by the end of next month.
The UN Secretary-General’s new special representative in Cyprus, Lisa Buttenheim, who took over from Mr Zerihoun, said that Demetris Christofias and Dervis Eroglu met for two hours and continued discussion on property.
She said the next meetings have been set for 23 June and 9, 22, and 28 July.
On his return from the talks, Christofias said the two sides had submitted their positions “and will proceed in accordance with the dates announced” both on leader and representative level.
It was also decided yesterday that the leaders’ representatives, George Iacovou and Kudret Ozersay, will visit the Limnitis area to see how work to open the checkpoint was progressing. The date for the visit remains to be agreed.
The UN Security Council yesterday adopted a resolution renewing the mandate of the peacekeeping force in Cyprus for a further six months.
The resolution was approved with 14 votes in favour and one against – Turkey’s.
Ankara’s permanent representative said his country did not vote for the resolution because since 1964 the resolutions refer to Cyprus as if there is only one side on the island.
Ertogrul Apakan said his country agreed with most of the parameters included in the resolution but objected to the addition of the words “if possible” – in reference to the timeframe of a solution -- that was included in the preamble.
In the resolution, the UN Security Council “emphasises the importance attached by the international community of all parties engaging fully, flexibly and constructively in the negotiations, echoes the Secretary-General’s view that a solution is well within reach, and looks forward to decisive progress in the near future building on the progress made to date consistent with the hope expressed by the two sides on 21 December 2009 that, if possible, 2010 would be the year of solution.”
The words ‘if possible’ were added after the Greek Cypriot side suggested that the original text effectively placed “suffocating deadlines” on the talks.
The Security Council welcomed the “the progress made so far in the fully fledged negotiations, and the prospect of further progress in the near future towards a comprehensive and durable settlement that this has created.''
It urged the two sides to fully exploit this opportunity, including by intensifying the momentum of negotiations, preserving the current atmosphere of trust and goodwill, and engaging in the process in a constructive and open manner.
The Security Council asked the UN Secretary-General to submit a report on implementation of this resolution, including on contingency planning in relation to the settlement, by 1 December 2010 and to keep the Security Council updated on events as necessary.
The Government Spokesman Mr Stefanos Stefanou, asked yesterday about Turkey’s reaction to the UN Security Council resolution extending UNFICYP mandate, said it clearly exposed who was satisfied and who wasn’t with the particular resolution.
“Persistent attempts were made by Turkey and its friends and close allies, to use the resolution for setting timeframes and altering the agreed negotiation basis”, he said adding that that had been averted due to the coordinated and targeted actions by the President of the Republic, the Cyprus Government and friendly countries.
“We had some drafts and with the assistance of friendly countries that have not abandoned us, as some have claimed, we managed to achieve a balanced and satisfactory resolution”, he further stated.
According to reports in the Turkish Cypriot press, the former Turkish Cypriot leader, Mehmet Ali Talat has said that the new Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu is not sincere when he talks about reaching a solution to the Cyprus problem by the end of the year.
In an interview to Cihan news agency, Mr Talat noted that finding a solution in Cyprus by the end of the year is possible, but one should have the necessary vision for this and work with this aim.
Mr Talat said the fact that Mr Eroglu started the negotiations from the property issue was a “mistake” as it was the “the thorniest issue on which absolutely no work has been done”. He alleged that doing so only helped the Greek Cypriots as it was tantamount to leading the negotiations to a “point close to a deadlock”. Mr Eroglu should not have accepted this proposal of the Greek Cypriots. “That is, they want to delay us anyway. In a sense, we are giving them a trump card by opening for debate a delaying chapter. I do not want to say that this was a vital mistake, but the correct thing to do was to continue with the governance and power sharing, because there is a lot of progress in this chapter. If this chapter was advanced and a broader agreement was reached, speeder progress could have been achieved on the other chapters. Mr Dervis, however, preferred the property thinking ‘let us postpone these issues’, because he is too sensitive especially for the issue of single sovereignty”.
Mr Talat also accused the Greek Cypriots of not want an early solution, because they think that as long as they corner Turkey in its accession process into the EU they will acquire more advantages.
Thursday 17 June 2010
Sunday 13 June 2010
Time running out for Cyprus
Makarios Droushiotis writing in Politis says that hopes for an agreed solution to the Cyprus problem are evaporating, not just in the minds of Cypriots but foreign observers as well. He says thoughts are now turning to Plan B, ie how Cyprus will be after the problem has been declared unsolvable.
This past week the G/C side did all it could to prevent the UN Security Council from adopting the UN S-G’s statement in his last report that he would be promoting the “objective aim” of reaching a solution by the end of 2010, that he would be “closely monitoring progress in the forthcoming months” and that he would be submitting another report by November.
What is important about all this is that the UN S-G has decided to put an end to the process once and for all either by a solution or by declaring a deadlock. It seems that the UN does not agree with President Christofias that the talks don’t have a deadline. Noone can force the UN to continue their good offices mission in Cyprus if they feel the process is useless. This is the message coming from the UN, but it seems it is falling on deaf ears in Nicosia. Clearly from various statements from UN officials their message is that the talks must be completed by the end of the year and the whole process will be evaluated in November. If there is no hope, the UN will disengage.
The two sides have already started playing the blame game. Christofias is trying to show that Eroglu is being intransigent, while the Turkish side, has brought Eroglu under control and accused the G/C side of delaying tactics.
The Turkish side seems determined for a repeat of 2004 and is committed to a solution by the end of the year. They are committed to the UN parametres for a solution and made sure that Eroglu tows the line. If the talks don’t go anywhere, at some point they will ask Downer to submit bridging proposals. In this case the pressure will be on the G/C side to reject them or not. The Turkish side has an advantage. The fact that it accepted the Annan plan and its desire to repeat this knowing that the G/C side has no room for manoevre.
The G/C side is in a spot. The more it demonises the UN parametres, the more it loses sight of reality. It focused all its efforts on a process with no deadline, which together with other refusals, gives the impression to outsiders that it is following a delaying tactics. This inflexibility has not gone down well abroad where no country, not even those friendly to Cyprus like France, Russia and even Greece, believes that Turkey is intransigent. On the contrary it is felt that it is Cyprus which is employing time wasting tactics.
An article in Politis says that as from Tuesday the property issue will come to the forefront of the agenda in the talks. What is being sought is a magic formula that would safeguard the rights of the legal owners of property without ignoring present users, while at the same time maintaining the element of bizonality. The key is to find a balance between compensation, restitution, and exchange of property. The paper says the international community has made clear to the Turkish side that the Greek side must obtain gains in the property issue if it is to have gains as far as government are concerned.
The paper says Downer’s team includes internation experts on property matters headed by an American lawyer Jeff Bates, who has a name for finding solutions to complex property issues along a win-win basis.
The editorial in today’s Sunday Mail says that for several weeks now, the UN has been at pains to make the Cyprus government understand that the stuttering peace process will not be allowed to drag on indefinitely, as seems to be the prevailing view in Nicosia. He first made this point after a visit to New York, during a break in the talks, and has repeated it publicly at every given opportunity.
This week the UN Security Council also made reference to an end of year deadline in the preamble of the draft resolution for the renewal of the UNFICYP mandate, but the Cyprus government objected to this and managed to have it slightly modified. It had the phrase ‘if possible’ added to the resolution’s expression of hope for a solution in 2010, and blamed Britain for introducing the time-frame, when it was clear this had the support of the Security Council as well as Ban. The European Commission also supports the time-frame – if there is no deal this year it will approve the direct trade regulation, it has warned.
In view of all this, how is it possible for the Christofias government to still be in denial and repeat the hackneyed slogan, which has become gospel for our political leadership, of ‘no to asphyxiating or artificial time-frames’? This nonsensical slogan was coined during the presidency of Tassos Papadopoulos, who did not want a settlement, so why was it zealously adopted by Christofias, who supposedly does? Perhaps he had hoped to keep the talks going until the end of his term, which is supported by his insistence on a slow-paced procedure.
But after almost two years of talks, only a fool would argue that a November deadline was ‘asphyxiating’ or ‘artificial’. By November the peace talks will have been going on for 27 months. If an agreement cannot be secured within this time, no sane person can believe that it will be achieved in the subsequent three years. Hence the deadline. If there is substantial progress by November and the UN consider a deal achievable, the deadline might be extended by a few months, but if there is not, the Good Offices Mission would be wound up, without the dreaded international conference and arbitration.
Christofias is smart enough to be aware of the stark choice he faces. Either he works constructively for a deal in the next few months or he starts playing tactical games in the hope that he would not be blamed for the breakdown. His refusal to attend the scheduled meeting 10 days ago indicated that he may have gone for the second option.
But this will not be as easy as he expects because Dervis Eroglu, on strict instructions from Ankara, is playing ball. And if there is one side, at least in the eyes of the UN and the EU, which has been dragging its feet it has been the Greek Cypriot side which opposed time-frames and repeatedly rejected the intensification of the procedure. Saying ‘no’ to a time-frame now can only be interpreted as opposition to an agreement, but Christofias seems incapable of understanding this simple truth, which means he will also lose in the blame game.
This past week the G/C side did all it could to prevent the UN Security Council from adopting the UN S-G’s statement in his last report that he would be promoting the “objective aim” of reaching a solution by the end of 2010, that he would be “closely monitoring progress in the forthcoming months” and that he would be submitting another report by November.
What is important about all this is that the UN S-G has decided to put an end to the process once and for all either by a solution or by declaring a deadlock. It seems that the UN does not agree with President Christofias that the talks don’t have a deadline. Noone can force the UN to continue their good offices mission in Cyprus if they feel the process is useless. This is the message coming from the UN, but it seems it is falling on deaf ears in Nicosia. Clearly from various statements from UN officials their message is that the talks must be completed by the end of the year and the whole process will be evaluated in November. If there is no hope, the UN will disengage.
The two sides have already started playing the blame game. Christofias is trying to show that Eroglu is being intransigent, while the Turkish side, has brought Eroglu under control and accused the G/C side of delaying tactics.
The Turkish side seems determined for a repeat of 2004 and is committed to a solution by the end of the year. They are committed to the UN parametres for a solution and made sure that Eroglu tows the line. If the talks don’t go anywhere, at some point they will ask Downer to submit bridging proposals. In this case the pressure will be on the G/C side to reject them or not. The Turkish side has an advantage. The fact that it accepted the Annan plan and its desire to repeat this knowing that the G/C side has no room for manoevre.
The G/C side is in a spot. The more it demonises the UN parametres, the more it loses sight of reality. It focused all its efforts on a process with no deadline, which together with other refusals, gives the impression to outsiders that it is following a delaying tactics. This inflexibility has not gone down well abroad where no country, not even those friendly to Cyprus like France, Russia and even Greece, believes that Turkey is intransigent. On the contrary it is felt that it is Cyprus which is employing time wasting tactics.
An article in Politis says that as from Tuesday the property issue will come to the forefront of the agenda in the talks. What is being sought is a magic formula that would safeguard the rights of the legal owners of property without ignoring present users, while at the same time maintaining the element of bizonality. The key is to find a balance between compensation, restitution, and exchange of property. The paper says the international community has made clear to the Turkish side that the Greek side must obtain gains in the property issue if it is to have gains as far as government are concerned.
The paper says Downer’s team includes internation experts on property matters headed by an American lawyer Jeff Bates, who has a name for finding solutions to complex property issues along a win-win basis.
The editorial in today’s Sunday Mail says that for several weeks now, the UN has been at pains to make the Cyprus government understand that the stuttering peace process will not be allowed to drag on indefinitely, as seems to be the prevailing view in Nicosia. He first made this point after a visit to New York, during a break in the talks, and has repeated it publicly at every given opportunity.
This week the UN Security Council also made reference to an end of year deadline in the preamble of the draft resolution for the renewal of the UNFICYP mandate, but the Cyprus government objected to this and managed to have it slightly modified. It had the phrase ‘if possible’ added to the resolution’s expression of hope for a solution in 2010, and blamed Britain for introducing the time-frame, when it was clear this had the support of the Security Council as well as Ban. The European Commission also supports the time-frame – if there is no deal this year it will approve the direct trade regulation, it has warned.
In view of all this, how is it possible for the Christofias government to still be in denial and repeat the hackneyed slogan, which has become gospel for our political leadership, of ‘no to asphyxiating or artificial time-frames’? This nonsensical slogan was coined during the presidency of Tassos Papadopoulos, who did not want a settlement, so why was it zealously adopted by Christofias, who supposedly does? Perhaps he had hoped to keep the talks going until the end of his term, which is supported by his insistence on a slow-paced procedure.
But after almost two years of talks, only a fool would argue that a November deadline was ‘asphyxiating’ or ‘artificial’. By November the peace talks will have been going on for 27 months. If an agreement cannot be secured within this time, no sane person can believe that it will be achieved in the subsequent three years. Hence the deadline. If there is substantial progress by November and the UN consider a deal achievable, the deadline might be extended by a few months, but if there is not, the Good Offices Mission would be wound up, without the dreaded international conference and arbitration.
Christofias is smart enough to be aware of the stark choice he faces. Either he works constructively for a deal in the next few months or he starts playing tactical games in the hope that he would not be blamed for the breakdown. His refusal to attend the scheduled meeting 10 days ago indicated that he may have gone for the second option.
But this will not be as easy as he expects because Dervis Eroglu, on strict instructions from Ankara, is playing ball. And if there is one side, at least in the eyes of the UN and the EU, which has been dragging its feet it has been the Greek Cypriot side which opposed time-frames and repeatedly rejected the intensification of the procedure. Saying ‘no’ to a time-frame now can only be interpreted as opposition to an agreement, but Christofias seems incapable of understanding this simple truth, which means he will also lose in the blame game.
Sunday 6 June 2010
Talks will continue till everything is agreed
The representatives of the leaders of the two communities issued a statement after meeting on Thursday whereby the latest hitch in the talks was purportedly overcome.
“The talks are continuing on the agreed United Nations basis. All chapters are being negotiated with the aim of increasing the points of convergence on the understanding that nothing is agreed until everything is agreed,” said the statement.
UN Special Adviser Alexander Downer read out the statement just before leaving the island on his way to New York to brief the UN Security Council next week.
The Cyprus Mail reported that Downer said he was satisfied with the fact that the two leaders’ respective aides, Georgios Iacovou and Kudret Ozersay, met for three and a half hours on Thursday and “thrashed out” the above two sentences.
“That has been agreed to by the leaders. And we are pleased that that matter has been resolved,” he said.
Downer noted the process was a Cypriot one and was not guided by the UN, so it was up to Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots and their respective leaders to decide whether they wanted a solution or not.
He said the two aides will meet again on June 9 to discuss property, noting that “the process is moving ahead”. While no specific date has been set for the two leaders to meet, Ozersay was quoted giving June 15 as a possible date.
Asked whether the UN should be more active in indicating who strays from the basis of the talks, Downer responded: “Well I think the UN, as usual, has done a very good job, and very honourable job, and a very decent job. But we are not party political players in Cyprus; we are not a political party; we are not spokespeople for a political party; we don’t play politics.”
He has been told repeatedly by the government and all the political parties “that the UN is not to exercise arbitration or mediation”, said Downer, noting that the UN has faithfully stuck to its commitment not to have arbitration or mediation.
Driving the message home, he added: “We are quite happy to take messages between the two sides. We always give our opinion if anyone seeks our opinion. But people can’t have it both ways; they can’t, on the one hand, say ‘we have to sort everything out and we the Cypriots are not responsible for everything’, but on the other ‘we don’t want any arbitration or mediation by the United Nations’. Our role is a very low key role.”
Asked whether he was optimistic about a solution, Downer said it’s not just the two leaders that have to want a solution, but the public too. If the UN is not to play a more active role in the talks, then it is up to the Cypriots to be “responsible for their own destiny, their own future and their own decisions”.
If the people of Cyprus want a solution, they can have one. “If they don’t want one it is clearly impossible to do. So all of them must ask themselves ‘do I really want an agreement?’,” he said.
“This is an agreement which is within the grasp of the leaders…But the question is whether people want it or not, not the leaders alone, but whether the public want it or not. The future of this country is in your hands,” he added.
“The talks are continuing on the agreed United Nations basis. All chapters are being negotiated with the aim of increasing the points of convergence on the understanding that nothing is agreed until everything is agreed,” said the statement.
UN Special Adviser Alexander Downer read out the statement just before leaving the island on his way to New York to brief the UN Security Council next week.
The Cyprus Mail reported that Downer said he was satisfied with the fact that the two leaders’ respective aides, Georgios Iacovou and Kudret Ozersay, met for three and a half hours on Thursday and “thrashed out” the above two sentences.
“That has been agreed to by the leaders. And we are pleased that that matter has been resolved,” he said.
Downer noted the process was a Cypriot one and was not guided by the UN, so it was up to Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots and their respective leaders to decide whether they wanted a solution or not.
He said the two aides will meet again on June 9 to discuss property, noting that “the process is moving ahead”. While no specific date has been set for the two leaders to meet, Ozersay was quoted giving June 15 as a possible date.
Asked whether the UN should be more active in indicating who strays from the basis of the talks, Downer responded: “Well I think the UN, as usual, has done a very good job, and very honourable job, and a very decent job. But we are not party political players in Cyprus; we are not a political party; we are not spokespeople for a political party; we don’t play politics.”
He has been told repeatedly by the government and all the political parties “that the UN is not to exercise arbitration or mediation”, said Downer, noting that the UN has faithfully stuck to its commitment not to have arbitration or mediation.
Driving the message home, he added: “We are quite happy to take messages between the two sides. We always give our opinion if anyone seeks our opinion. But people can’t have it both ways; they can’t, on the one hand, say ‘we have to sort everything out and we the Cypriots are not responsible for everything’, but on the other ‘we don’t want any arbitration or mediation by the United Nations’. Our role is a very low key role.”
Asked whether he was optimistic about a solution, Downer said it’s not just the two leaders that have to want a solution, but the public too. If the UN is not to play a more active role in the talks, then it is up to the Cypriots to be “responsible for their own destiny, their own future and their own decisions”.
If the people of Cyprus want a solution, they can have one. “If they don’t want one it is clearly impossible to do. So all of them must ask themselves ‘do I really want an agreement?’,” he said.
“This is an agreement which is within the grasp of the leaders…But the question is whether people want it or not, not the leaders alone, but whether the public want it or not. The future of this country is in your hands,” he added.
Friday 4 June 2010
Hitch in talks
A hitch in the new phase of negotiations on Cyprus occurred yesterday when President Demetris Christofias tried to postpone the planned meeting between him and Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu’s ten minutes before it was due to start.
According to reports, Christofias took offence to Eroglu’s statements earlier in the week that statements made by the UN Secretary-General and Alexander Downer do not bind him.
UN Special Adviser Alexander Downer said Christofias’ aide Georgios Iacovou called him at 9.50am seeking to postpone the talks.
However, Eroglu was already on his way to the UN-controlled Nicosia Airport where the talks are taking place. The president briefly considered sending Iacovou instead but once Eroglu arrived at the location, Christofias gathered his team, arriving an hour late.
The Cyprus Mail reports that Eroglu jokingly told Christofias that he was 55 minutes late, while Christofias responded that he only came out of respect for him.
The two leaders spoke for about 15 minutes about the lack of clarity over the basis of the talks, before wrapping up the brief session with an agreement to let their aides discuss the matter later in the day.
They were due to discuss property. On leaving the talks, the president told reporters: “We are trying not to have any complications”.
Christofias explained that he asked for a postponement to avoid a crisis and complications in the talks, noting that the Turkish Cypriot leader agreed to let the two aides meet to figure out a way forward.
“It is clear that Eroglu came under big pressure from his opposition last week and it seems that it is under this pressure that he made these statements. Everyone is under some pressure. Either we have the courage to go on, on the basis which is crystal clear or every time that we are under attack from our domestic front we will review our positions,” he said.
Christofias acknowledged that he too was no stranger to domestic pressures. “I myself am under attack from various sides but I continue not because I don’t take them into consideration. But I have committed myself as President of the Republic, as interlocutor and leader of the Greek Cypriot side and I want to honour these commitments towards the UN and the other side,” he added.
He stressed that if Turkey means what it says, that it wants a settlement by December, then a settlement will be found, assuming the two sides continue from where they left off and honour the commitments already undertaken. “Otherwise we will not be able to find a settlement by December or any December,” he said.
Christofias argued that the UN Secretary-General’s statement on the basis of the talks as read out to the two leaders on their first meeting could not be changed. Even the Turkish Prime Minister said Eroglu would start from where they left off, he noted.
Downer is due in New York next week to brief the UN Security Council. However, the aides agreed yesterday after a three-hour meeting that the leaders would meet again on June 15. In the meantime, Iacovou and his Turkish Cypriot counterpart Kudret Ozersay will meet again on June 9.
The UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon has appointed Lisa Buttenheim of the United States as his Special Representative in Cyprus and Head of the UN Peacekeeping force in Cyprus, to succeed Mr Taye-Brook Zerihoun.
According to reports, Christofias took offence to Eroglu’s statements earlier in the week that statements made by the UN Secretary-General and Alexander Downer do not bind him.
UN Special Adviser Alexander Downer said Christofias’ aide Georgios Iacovou called him at 9.50am seeking to postpone the talks.
However, Eroglu was already on his way to the UN-controlled Nicosia Airport where the talks are taking place. The president briefly considered sending Iacovou instead but once Eroglu arrived at the location, Christofias gathered his team, arriving an hour late.
The Cyprus Mail reports that Eroglu jokingly told Christofias that he was 55 minutes late, while Christofias responded that he only came out of respect for him.
The two leaders spoke for about 15 minutes about the lack of clarity over the basis of the talks, before wrapping up the brief session with an agreement to let their aides discuss the matter later in the day.
They were due to discuss property. On leaving the talks, the president told reporters: “We are trying not to have any complications”.
Christofias explained that he asked for a postponement to avoid a crisis and complications in the talks, noting that the Turkish Cypriot leader agreed to let the two aides meet to figure out a way forward.
“It is clear that Eroglu came under big pressure from his opposition last week and it seems that it is under this pressure that he made these statements. Everyone is under some pressure. Either we have the courage to go on, on the basis which is crystal clear or every time that we are under attack from our domestic front we will review our positions,” he said.
Christofias acknowledged that he too was no stranger to domestic pressures. “I myself am under attack from various sides but I continue not because I don’t take them into consideration. But I have committed myself as President of the Republic, as interlocutor and leader of the Greek Cypriot side and I want to honour these commitments towards the UN and the other side,” he added.
He stressed that if Turkey means what it says, that it wants a settlement by December, then a settlement will be found, assuming the two sides continue from where they left off and honour the commitments already undertaken. “Otherwise we will not be able to find a settlement by December or any December,” he said.
Christofias argued that the UN Secretary-General’s statement on the basis of the talks as read out to the two leaders on their first meeting could not be changed. Even the Turkish Prime Minister said Eroglu would start from where they left off, he noted.
Downer is due in New York next week to brief the UN Security Council. However, the aides agreed yesterday after a three-hour meeting that the leaders would meet again on June 15. In the meantime, Iacovou and his Turkish Cypriot counterpart Kudret Ozersay will meet again on June 9.
The UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon has appointed Lisa Buttenheim of the United States as his Special Representative in Cyprus and Head of the UN Peacekeeping force in Cyprus, to succeed Mr Taye-Brook Zerihoun.
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