The UN fully in control of the procedure

Three members of the Greek Cypriot negotiating team on the Cyprus problem had meetings on the property issue with United Nations experts in New York this week.

The members are the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Nicholas Emiliou, the President’s Advisor, Mr Toumazos Tselepis, and the Head of the Technical Committee for the Economy and former Minister of Finance, Mr Michael Sarris.

Government Spokesman Stefanos Stefanou, asked whether the experts intended to listen to the positions of the Greek Cypriot side or to make proposals, replied: “the whole contact is not aimed, of course, at getting the UN involved in the negotiating procedure. We are not negotiating with the United Nations. The United Nations does not play the role of mediator, it supports the entire effort. It has offered to give knowledge through the UN experts. Beyond that, the negotiation is being held between the two sides”.

The Cyprus team at the UN is getting ready for the talks on Cyprus to reach their climax sometime early in the summer, according to Politis.

Makarios Droushiotis writing in the paper says that the UN S-G is determined to clarify things at the next meeting he will have with the Greek and Turkish Cypriot sides, which will probably be held in New York in April.

He says that the UN Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, Lynn Pascoe, told the representatives of both Christofias and Eroglu during contacts in New York last month that the UN S-G is not prepared to be further exposed on the Cyprus problem and refuses to have another unproductive meeting like the one in Geneva. If such a meeting is to take place then it will be “decisive and productive” otherwise it simply will not take place.

As he also stated in his latest report to the UN Security Council, Mr Ban Ki-moon considers the property issue the biggest sticking point and rather than leave it up to the ‘good will’ of the negotiators, he summoned the technocrats to New York for talks, starting with the Greek Cypriot side last week and continuing with the Turkish Cypriot side. The meetings follow a specific agenda covering all the aspects of the property issue from the compensation fund to the procedure for exchange and restitution.

He says that if common ground is found on the property issue the UN S-G will call the leaders to meet with him in April and this issue will then be added to the ones on governance and power-sharing where convergence has already been achieved. The issue of territory will be discussed at the end, while that of guarantees and security will be discussed at an international conference together with the guarantor powers.

If the deadlock on the property issue is broken, this will pave the way for a conference, an eventuality which the UN S-G acknowledges in his report where he says that it is being discussed by the two leaders.

The writer says that what has become clear is that after having reached many points where the talks almost collapsed, the UN is now in full control of the game. Alexander Downer and his team are now able to control events rather than be controlled by them. Whereas previously Mr Christofias could talk of “Cypriot ownership of the talks with no timeframe or arbitration”, he can no longer do so. His behind-the-scenes efforts to replace Mr Downer were unsuccessful and did not even meet with approval in Athens.

The UN consider it positive that the two sides agreed to send representatives to New York in order to discuss the property issue separately with the UN’s experts. If these efforts fail and no agreement is reached on property in the next few weeks, the UN S-G will not call a new meeting in June and will allocate blame, something neither side wants to see happen.

Moreover, Turkish Cypriot daily Demokrat Bakis reported earlier this week that the UN Secretary-General will publish his report on Cyprus on 15 March and on the same day will invite the two Cypriot leaders to a new summit where he will submit a new plan prepared by the United Nations.

Citing reliable sources, the paper says that Ban Ki-moon will give the sides two months at most to negotiate this plan. The UN is reportedly exerting pressure in the direction of not having open-ended negotiations. According to the new plan, the sides will discuss all chapters simultaneously. As a result of the insistence of the Turkish side, the security issue will be discussed at an international conference with the participation of the guarantor powers within the framework of the above-mentioned timetable.

The sources said the UN gave to the Greek Cypriot side what it wanted by including in the plan the latter’s proposal to discuss all the issues simultaneously, while at the same time encompassing the Turkish side’s position to have a timetable for the talks. The sources said the UN wants an “interim agreement” to be signed in May.

Bakis notes that the plan is similar to the Annan Plan on some points, but on some substantial issues “new openings” are made because the situation has changed.

The Cyprus government is proposing that Famagusta be handed over to the United Nations this summer and before a solution is agreed, according to an article in Greek Cypriot daily Alithia.

Quoting a government source, the paper says that Christofias had sent a message to the parties interested in a solution that “Famagusta should not be returned with a solution, but that a solution should come about through Famagusta”.

Politis says that it has information that this proposal was seen positively by third parties involved in the Cyprus problem but that Famagusta must be linked to developments and not be sacrificed to tactical moves. That way a solution may truly come about as a result of Famagusta rather than risk Famagusta becoming the solution.

Speaking at a reception earlier in the week, Christofias said: “The issue of Famagusta is of utmost importance because it is a test, a trial for the Turkish side, whether it is really ready to proceed with the reunification of Cyprus, to proceed with the termination of the occupation. If it does not make this move, everyone can be doubtful of the good intentions of Turkey.”

A ‘huge gap’ separates the two sides on the issue of citizenship, President Christofias after talks said on Wednesday with Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu, adding that “nothing new” came out of the latest meeting between them.

Christofias said they had discussed the issue of citizenship in a reunified federal Cyprus. The two sides repeated their known positions on the issue of settlers and citizenship.

“We are separated by a huge gap which is why I said there was nothing new. We repeated our positions,” he said.

Asked to elaborate, he said “Mr Eroglu considers that the citizenships given by the pseudostate are legal. This is our major problem. We certainly believe that the so called ‘state’ is the result of a violation of the international law, with the invasion and occupation and has been condemned by the United Nations through a unanimous Security Council resolution and by the European Court of Human Rights“.

UN Special Representative in Cyprus Lisa Buttenheim said the two leaders had set out their basic principles on citizenship and that the next meeting has been set for March 18, while their respective aides will meet again this Friday.

Meanwhile, Turkish Cypriot daily Kibris reported that tension was created when President Christofias told Eroglu that the Greek Cypriot side agrees to 50 thousand Turkish settlers remaining on the island after a solution, something Eroglu rejected.

According to the paper, President Christofias referred to the laws of the Republic of Cyprus and said that settlers who are married to Turkish Cypriots could stay on the island after the solution but suggested a limit of 50 thousand. He also noted that according to the agreements for the establishment of the Republic of Cyprus, the Turkish Cypriot population should not exceed one fourth of the Greek Cypriot population.

The Turkish Cypriot side reacted to this statement and argued that there is no such provision in the Constitution of the Republic of Cyprus. It alleged that even according to the Constitution a person married to a Turkish Cypriot obtains the right to become citizen of the Republic. “What can be done if the Turkish Cypriots are more fertile? Will you bring on the agenda the issue of sterilizing them?”According to the paper, tension was caused when Eroglu’s adviser, Kudret Ozersay tried to explain that there could be no proportional limit as the Greek Cypriot side proposes and President Christofias took offence saying: “Thank you for your academic and detailed presentation, but I did not come here to take a lesson, I am not your student”.

Referring to the 4:1 proportion, Ozersay said the Turkish Cypriot side has given a clear response to these allegations and claimed that neither the 1960 agreements nor any other legal rule necessitates such a proportion. “Therefore, it is not right to focus on certain numbers”, he alleged and argued that what is important is to establish regulations regarding citizenship based on valid and objective criteria from the point of view of human rights.