Greentree talks were “intensive”

The UN Secretary-General spent six hours with the leaders of the two communities in Cyprus at Greentree yesterday, his Special Advisor of on Cyprus, Alexander Downer, said.

He told the press that the discussions focused on three of the core issues - the executive, property and citizenship.

“I think the best way to describe the talks today is that they have been intensive right from the very beginning”, he said.

After the Secretary-General left, Lynn Pascoe, the Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs at the United Nations, and Downer himself, had further discussions with the two leaders and their teams, again focusing on these core issues.

“There is clearly still ground to cover in order to make for a successful outcome for this meeting and we look forward to a constructive day tomorrow”.

Downer added that the Secretary-General made his expectations clear that he is looking for the leaders to make decisive moves. He also reminded the two leaders that they must keep the big vision of a United Cyprus in their sights.

The Secretary-General will return today for a working lunch and then he will conduct meetings throughout the afternoon, spending another six hours or so with the leaders and their teams. In the evening he will be taking the two leaders and their spouses to Manhattan for a social dinner. He will hold a press conference on.

Asked about whether the two sides had provided outlines and data as the UN had requested, Mr Downer replied that “data is being provided and that has been important”. He added that the UN had seen the outlines and discussed them with the two sides.
He also said that Cyprus taking over the presidency of the European Union was a heavy responsibility as the whole of the EU, 26 other countries, including some very big countries, will be looking to the Greek Cypriots to carry forward the presidency.

“We need to try to aim to get this job done before then”, he said.

Asked why the question of territory was left out of the discussion, Downer explained that both sides have agreed that the final question of maps and figures that specifically defines the territorial boundary between the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot federated unitary constituent states will be decided in the period leading up to an international conference.

“But that is not to say that discussions of territory don’t ever cross the lips of any of the participants. Of course there are discussions about property and territory and the relationship between them. As far as the United Nations is concerned, there are no rules barring people from discussing things. People can raise whatever they like. Whether decisions will be made is another question”.

Downer concluded by saying that the job of the United Nations is to urge the leaders to make agreements.

“We cannot do it for them and it’s very important that people understand this. We can’t want this agreement more than the two sides of this debate in Cyprus want it”, he said.

“Ultimately this is a matter for them. They have said throughout this process, since it began, that they wanted it to be Cypriot-owned and Cypriot-led. We are not here therefore to own and to lead it, we are here to help. The success or failure of this process rests on the shoulders of the Cypriot leaders themselves. The longer this issue drags on the harder it is to solve”.

“We urged the leaders to seize this important opportunity to make real and substantial progress toward a settlement reunifying the island as a bi-zonal, bi-communal federation”, the US State Department said in a statement yesterday.

In statements to Turkish Cypriot news agency before the meeting in New York yesterday, Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis, Eroglu described the summit as “turning point”.

He said the Turkish Cypriot side has conveyed numbers on property and citizenship to the UN, as requested by the UN S-G in his letter of 6 January 2012.

He added that except for the issue of guarantees all other issues would be discussed during the summit especially those of property and the election of president. He said that the map and the numbers on the territory issue will be discussed at the very end and after a date for a multilateral conference has been set, and that the UN Secretary-General has been committed to this in a report he submitted to the Security Council. Eroglu said that they would ask the UN Secretary-General to set a date for a multilateral conference.



Referring to the issue of the cross-voting, Eroglu said that they had told the Greek Cypriot side during the first summit at Green Tree that the cross-voting could have no relation with the rotating presidency.

Eroglu said that President Christofias has been setting conditions and asking for the return of Morphou or the Karpass in order to negotiate.

He
also said there would be greater understanding Christofias realizes that his interlocutors are the Turkish Cypriots. 



If no solution is reached by 1 July, when Cyprus takes over the EU presidency, the UN Secretary-General will report to the Security Council whether a solution can be found to the Cyprus problem or not with his good offices mission. Negotiations after 1 July would be meaningless, he added.

“The negotiations have been going on for 43 years. There is no meaning in extending negotiations that lasted so long. There is no aspect of the Cyprus problem that has not been discussed. What is needed is the will for a solution”, he said.

The Turkish Cypriot side does not want a solution to be imposed in Cyprus either, Kudret Ozersay, special advisor of the Turkish Cypriot leader, has said.

He said the Turkish Cypriot side is stressing the need to hold a multilateral conference on the Cyprus problem, not because it wants an imposed solution. 



”The Turkish Cypriot side does not want an imposed solution either. But if we do not complete all the elements of this last stage and we delay the solution of the Cyprus problem, the passage of time will impose another solution on us. When you run away from what you call imposed solution, you impose another solution on yourself, because of time.

He added that the Greek Cypriot side should understand that life goes on, and from the point of view of property, the economy, citizenships, generations change. 



Asked why they had arrived one day earlier in New York, Ozersay said that he had had meetings with the UN Secretary-General’s deputy for political affairs and his advisors and with permanent representatives of the permanent members of the UN Security Council. He noted that these were preparatory meetings aiming at sounding things out before the tripartite summit, understanding what the intention of the UN was, sharing some views and putting forward the “determination of the Turkish Cypriot side regarding the solution of the Cyprus problem”.



“We saw that the UN is determined. I hope that these will turn into some concrete steps, that real negotiations will be held at Greentree and that these will bring concrete results”, he added.