It’s now or never, says UN chief

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has warned the two leaders in Cyprus that the moment has come to confront hard choices and that they needed to inject “greater impetus” in the talks to achieve substantive agreement on all core issues or else run the “very real risk” of losing momentum, the Cyprus Mail reports.

“The negotiations cannot be an open-ended process, nor can we afford interminable talks for the sake of talks”, he stressed.

In his second progress report since last November, to be presented before the UN Security Council on March 15, Ban said he remained “concerned about the rate of progress in the talks” and called on both leaders to tackle the “hard choices”.

He cautioned that the next three months would be “less conducive” to progress because of elections in both Cyprus and Turkey, adding that “there is a need now for greater impetus to achieve substantive agreements on the core issues across all chapters before the electoral cycles are too advanced.”

He called for “courageous and dedicated leadership” which will take practical steps to bring talks to a conclusion.

“This will require both leaders to build a greater level of mutual trust between themselves and between their two communities,” said the UN chief.

While both leaders have made efforts over the last months, Ban highlighted that more must be done to prevent the negotiations from “stalling or drifting endlessly”.

Divergences remain in governance and power-sharing, economy and EU matters, which are “not insurmountable” though less could be said about the remaining three chapters of property, territory and security and guarantees.

On property, each side’s stated positions “remain far apart” while the two leaders have yet to agree on the circumstances in which to discuss territory, he noted.

Ban called on the leaders to recognise that some of the key considerations in the above three chapters are “necessarily inter-related”.

The UN chief left the possibility of a third meeting with the two leaders open, saying he would decide in the second half of the month, depending on whether enough progress has been made.
If the meeting were to take place, he would expect the two leaders to explain “how they intend to resolve remaining divergences”.

On the prospects of an international conference, Ban said he would consider convening one, in consultation with both sides, “if there has been sufficient progress on the core issues within and across chapters”.

The exact parameters of such a meeting are still being discussed by the two leaders, he noted.
Ban said the two leaders have agreed to discuss security and guarantees at the multilateral meeting, though he acknowledged that the Greek Cypriots would also like to discuss the issue in advance.

On the issue of maps and figures relating to territory, both sides agree that this should be discussed during the last phase of the process, though there is no agreement yet on the precise timing, he said.

The UN chief strongly encourages the two sides to take the necessary steps to finalise talks on property, once again repeating his call for both sides to make productive use of international experts regarding the technical aspects of the chapter.

The Greek and Turkish Cypriot sides at a meeting on Monday reaffirmed that UN principles will form the basis of negotiations on the reunification of Cyprus.

“We have made clear together with Eroglu that we are talking about federation, not confederation”, Christofias said after the meeting.

The Greek Cypriots have been seeking official clarification for some time following a series of contradictory comments by Eroglu in which he appeared to advocate a “two states, two peoples” solution.

UN envoy Alexander Downer said: “It was a good opportunity for them to talk about a range of issues. They did have a discussion about the basis of the negotiations and both leaders agreed that the talks would continue 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,” he added.

Government Spokesman Stefnos Stefanou said agreement on the basis of the talks was significant as many of the proposals tabled by the Turkish side fell outside the agreed UN framework.

He said government initiatives to accelerate the process were being hampered by Eroglu’s insistence on a conference involving the guarantor powers.

Meanwhile the two leaders on Friday resumed the talks discussing governance and power-sharing issues, a chapter where tangible convergence has already been achieved, as well as the issue of settlers.

About 30,000 Turkish Cypriots took part in a demonstration in the northern part of Nicosia on Wednesday against Turkey’s economic austerity package, which they say will force the community to emigrate, the Cyprus Mail reported.

“This country is ours. We will govern ourselves!” read banners carried by the protesters at what was the largest rally staged by the community since those in support of a UN-backed plan to reunite the island in 2004.

Discontent has been growing in the north since Ankara forced the ruling National Unity Party (UBP) to implement sweeping austerity measures aimed at cutting back on what it sees as the north’s bloated public sector. Some salaries in the sector have been cut by up to 40 per cent, and there are plans to privatize some of the north’s ‘state–run’ corporations – a move unions believe will lead to mass redundancies.
“We want the world to hear that we want peace and reunification. We want a future,” one protestor told the Cyprus Mail, while others expressed the desire for self-determination.

“We want to rule ourselves. Right now we don’t have sovereignty, but this is our country; we have to be the ones to run it,”

Even Democrat Party (DP) leader Serdar Denktash, son of the founder of the ‘TRNC’ Rauf Denktash told the Mail earlier that he would join the rally because he wanted Turkey to “respect the administration” in the north as a “truly sovereign authority”.

A similar rally in January gathered over 10,000 protesters and provoked the anger of Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan who, after seeing banners calling on Ankara to “leave the Turkish Cypriots alone”, blasted the community for receiving Turkish financial aid while simultaneously telling Ankara to get out of its affairs. Erdogan raised tension in February by replacing his ‘ambassador’ to Nicosia with Halil Ibrahim Akca, the chief architect of the austerity package.

Clearly angered by what they saw as Erdogan’s “insults” to the community, many of yesterday’s demonstrators again carried banners calling on his Justice and Development Party (AKP) to “get your hands off the Turkish Cypriots” – a move that can be expected to further irritate the Turkish leader.

Speaking to the rally, head of the Turkish Cypriot Teachers’ Union (KTOS) Sener Elcil called for Turkey to end its policy of running the north from Ankara, and issued an appeal to Greek Cypriots and the EU to help end the division of the island.

“We will put pressure on Turkey. We will put pressure on The Greek Cypriots. And we will put pressure on the EU. Turkish Cypriots will be the power behind reunification,” he said.

The demonstration on the whole passed off peacefully with police exercising their power to confiscate banners they saw as provocative or insulting to Turkey.

The owner of the outspoken Turkish Cypriot daily Afrika Sener Levent and a number of supporters were turned back from the rally when they tried to enter Inonu Square, the rally’s destination, carrying a banner reading, “You saved us? Hassiktir!”, a mild curse for Cypriots but highly insulting for Turks.

Protesters carrying the Cyprus Republic flag were also prevented from entering the square.

Commenting on the rally, head of the Eastern Mediterranean University’s (EMU) Cyprus Policy Centre Ahmet Sozen told the Cyprus Mail the protest stemmed from an almost universal desire among Turkish Cypriots for self-determination.

“This is not the same as saying they want their own state, but they want to rule themselves, either in a federation with the Greek Cypriots, or if that isn’t going to come in the near future, without the interference of Ankara, he said”.

Meanwhile on the Greek Cypriot side, only about 50 people responded to a call by the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot teachers platform to gather at the Ledra Street crossing point in support of the Turkish Cypriots.

Commenting on the discrepancy, Disy candidate at the forthcoming elections, Xenia Constantinou, told the group of people who gathered that “half the town is making history, while the other half is fast asleep”. She said “even though the roadblocks had opened since 2004, we are living as though they are still closed, pretending as if we didn’t see a thing”.

“I am angry”, she said. “I am angry because our President who supposedly wants a solution, didn’t find the guts to call on half the Cypriots to join forces with the other half. That’s why I no longer want to hear about anniversary anti-occupation rallies, or demonstrations against Turkey, not even bicommunal picnics to the mountains.”

*I’m sorry I’m venting my anger at you, who I’m sure are feeling the same things I am, but I’m hoping that we can convert our anger into a power for change”, she added.

She went on to say that before the Turkish Cypriots took to the streets she had lost all hope for a solution and that all windows had been closed and that all reasons for optimism had evaporated.

“The Turkish Cypriots have given me hope”, she said and called on optimists and people who wanted peace to dare.

“Next time, let’s not meet here in Ledra Street, let’s gather outside the Presidential Palace or the House of Representatives, or the party headquarters where they will come out and talk to us with 6 different adjectives each about a solution – just, fair, viable, European, with a proper content, bizonal. Whatever.”

“They add on the adjectives in order to avoid the point. The point is a solution. But for there to be a solution, Cypriots must truly want it”, she concluded.

Under the headline “Solution or goodbye”, Makarios Droushiotis writing in today’s Politis says that the UN Secretary-General is determined to clarify things in the Cyprus problem. Without actually spelling it out, in essence his latest report sets out a road map for finishing the talks and clearly warns that the UN will not stay involved for ever.

He says that anyone who can read between the lines of diplomatic talk can clearly see how the UN is thinking and what strategy it wants to lay down for the coming weeks and months. The writer believes that there will either be a breakthrough or a complete collapse. He says Ban Ki-moon is so committed and determined that there is no more room for tactical ploys.

Droushiotis says the UN’s road map is as follows:

- the UN considers the chapters on economy and the EU closed. Those on governance and power sharing have small divergences which are not unbridgeable.
- the only chapter still pending and preventing the Cyprus problem from going to a conference is the property issue. The leaders must bridge their differences using the UN’s experts.
- the leaders must converge their positions on all chapters through cross negotiations i.e. they must start a give and take.
- the UN S-G will reevaluate everything at the end of March and will decide whether to call the leaders to another meeting with him
- at this meeting, which will probably be held in April, he will ask the leaders for proposals as to how they intend to proceed. He will propose that the procedure be expanded.
- his report is clearly preparing the ground for an international conference with the participation of the guarantor powers and the EU
- convergences in all major issues must happen before the elections in Cyprus and Turkey
- he will not write a new report . The next evaluation will take place in June and according to developments he will decide as to the future of UNFICYP and his good offices mission.
- he warns that the UN has been in Cyprus for 50 years now and internal discussions have already begun as to its future on the island.

Droushiotis says there are three major elements arising from the report - the S-G’s insistence on convergences in the next few weeks, that he is preparing the ground for an international conference, that the UN’s role in Cyprus is coming to an end.

The Cyprus Mail’s satirical column Coffeeshop says House president Marios Garoyian is another member of our ruling elite whose delusions of adequacy, this week, developed into full-blown delusions of grandeur. He declared that Ban Ki-moon’s report was neither “objective nor just” and took great exception to Ban’s decision to call a dreaded multilateral meeting, when “I deem it appropriate”. Who did the Secretary-General think he was? As Garoyian pointed out, using the royal plural, “we do not recognise the right of the Secretary-General to be the judge” of when to convene the meeting that would be attended by the guarantor powers. So to whom does Garoyian recognise the right to call the meeting, the DIKO central committee, the Association of Refugee Mothers or the Cyprus Football Federation?

Garoyian also put Big Bad Al in his place because the way the Aussie behaved did not “help the negotiations”. Al did not even record correctly the positions of the two sides at the negotiations. Either that or the comrade has been telling lies to Marios about what positions were being put forward at the talks. The problem was that the Aussie was “biased” and his stance was a “provocation to the Greek Cypriots and a provocation to the UN.” Hard-man Garoyian attacked the biased Ban and Al, thus avoiding putting any blame on the comrade president for the unacceptable report. He needs to stay in the comrade’s good books now, if he is to earn a second term as House president and carry on giving lessons to the Secretary-General on how to make the UN a fairer and more just organisation.

This is why it is imperative to keep the Cyprob alive for as long as possible. Apart from offering fantastic career opportunities to losers and opportunists the Cyprob also feeds the delusions of grandeur and megalomania of our illustrious leaders.

Without it, the president of the People’s Republic would never have meetings with the UN Secretary-General or have an excuse to attend the UN General Assembly every year. He would not be invited for meeting European Commission grandees wanting to know how the talks were going. Most EU big-wigs would not even know Cyprus was a member of the Union if it were not for the Cyprob.

Cyprob is by far our most successful industry and it would be criminal to close it down at a time of recession. If only we could also tax its exploitation all the government’s budget worries would become a thing of the past.