Nami: potential is there to finalise deal

The two sides have the potential to finalise the joint statement in the coming days, the Turkish Cypriot foreign minister, Ozdil Nami, said, the Cyprus Mail reports.

“We now have the potential to finalise the statement within the coming days; we don’t need months of negotiations; we are nearly there,” Nami told Hürriyet Daily News in an interview. “It is going to be a historic document that addresses many of the controversial issues that have been in dispute between the two sides.”

“It is the final phase,” Nami said.

He said President Nicos Anastasiades had set the matters that were vital to him: single sovereignty, single citizenship and a single international identity.

And the Turkish Cypriot side counteracted by saying that though it is true these concepts were important, concepts like political equality, internal citizenship and residual powers were also very important, Nami said.

“At the stage we are at, we have managed to overcome difficulties we faced and created a common language on these issues,” he told Hürriyet, but both sides were trying to inject a few sentences that would reassure their voters that the deal has not jeopardized their well-known positions.

“I think it is natural that both leaders are attempting to do this; it is also natural that some suggestions while being accepted some may not be,” Nami said.

He said Greek Cypriots faced serious economic woes and there was a realisation that “it may be a better idea to tackle the real problem and reunite Cyprus and start benefiting from what peace can offer.”

“They are not well off; they have lost almost half of their bank deposits, their pension funds have evaporated. Without a comprehensive settlement, it will take them 20 years to fully recover,” Nami said. “Youth unemployment is reaching 40 per cent; it is a dire situation.”

There were however the hydrocarbons, which Nami said would be best to sell through Turkey.

“The best way, the way with the least cost and risk would be to sell it through Turkey and the only way to achieve that will be through finding a solution to the Cyprus problem.”
 Nami said Turkish Cypriots had higher expectations of Anastasiades, which he did not fulfil.

“If he fails to show the necessary leadership to finalise the joint statement that he initially requested, then that would send a signal that Cypriots have tried but failed to reach a settlement. At that point, the U.N. would have to take a look at want is going on exactly.”

Anastasiades breaks free from naysayers

The Cyprus Mail’s editorial says the futility of President Anastasiades’ hope to forge a united home front on the Cyprus problem was exposed during Wednesday morning’s meeting with the party leaders.

At the meeting, the president had presented his proposal for a joint declaration which featured one change to the document submitted by the UN the previous week. Also present were the members of the negotiator’s support team, all of whom gave their backing to the president’s proposal.

Predictably, the leaders of the hard-line parties – Diko, Edek, Euroko and Greens – expressed strong opposition to the proposal, arguing that the Greek Cypriot side was giving up too much in order to secure agreement. Calls for a disengagement from the talks and the preparation of a Plan B, first voiced at the Saturday meeting, were repeated, without any of the naysayers elaborating. However Anastasiades stuck to his guns, forcibly arguing there was no alternative to negotiations and giving up his hopes of achieving a united front with the rejectionists.

This decision was underlined in a telephone conversation he had that afternoon with the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, whom he informed that he would be presenting a new proposal for a joint declaration, despite the objections of the National Council. It was high time Anastasiades gave up the idea of consensus and a united front with parties that have been consistently opposed to a settlement.

Did he really think there was even a chance in a million that he would secure the support of the professional rejectionists of Diko and Edek? Probably not, but he believed that he should have given it a shot.

He did and now he is free to take his own decisions without considerations to keeping Papadopoulos, Perdikis and Omirou happy. They can continue to demand a Plan B and utter the tired rhetoric about “placing the Cyprus problem on its correct basis as an issue of invasion and occupation.” But what Plan B is, nobody has ever said, because even they do not know. It sounds good, as it creates the impression that we have an alternative to negotiations, when in fact it is support for partition. If only the hard-liners had the honesty to say so openly, we may even have a constructive public debate.

Anastasiades has done the right thing in ignoring the hard-liners and pressing ahead without them. At last he is showing qualities of strong and decisive leadership, which is necessary if there is to be any hope of solving the Cyprus problem. The Turkish side might still refuse to play ball, but the president has shown that he means business.

Fifty years later, we still don’t accept what we did in 1963

Yesterday was the 50th anniversary of the blackest day in the modern history of Cyprus, says Loucas Charalambous in his column in the Cyprus Mail.

If we Greek Cypriots realised the role the events of December 21, 1963, played in our history, every year on this day we should go to the moat that surrounds the Venetian wall in Nicosia (which we should have re-named ‘wall of tears’) and hit our head on it, just like the members of the Jewish faith do at the ruins of the temple of Solomon.

There is no similar event in the history of any other country. On that day, the head of state, using an irregular and illegal army he set up and armed, launched an attack on his own state and destroyed it. In the space of a few hours he had split it into two parts.

The saddest thing is that not only did we learn nothing from that stupid blunder – we have not even realised the lasting harm we did to our country – but we still view the story as a heroic fight instead of feeling some shame.

It requires an incredible level of nerve, for the state broadcaster to present the events of 1963 as supposed resistance against the Turkish ‘rebellion’, a rebellion that exists only in the imagination of the journalists of the CyBC and of some of the surviving protagonists of this unforgivable, blood-stained story.

In reality it was a Makarios rebellion, but nobody dares say such a thing. There is nothing more infuriating than the idiotic shows, usually broadcast during these days by CyBC’s radio and television stations, in which some of the protagonists of the events, such as Nicos Koshis, Christodoulos Christodoulou, Vassos Lyssarides and others give their triumphant version of what happened.

I do not blame them for their actions. Most, apart from Lyssarides, were immature and irresponsible youths in their twenties who had been led on by a callow, 50-year-old monk – Archbishop Makarios. They did not know what they were doing, unaware of their actions. But what is less forgivable is that even today, half a century later, they carry on pretending that they are still unaware of the irreparable damage their actions had caused the country.

In a way this is to be expected. What I find very difficult to accept is the irresponsibility of CyBC’s big-wigs who continue to perpetuate the myths, massacring historical truth.

This column has mentioned the events of December 1963 many times in the past. The Akritas organisation (with Makarios as its invisible leader, as Christodoulou revealed a few years ago) embarked on armed attacks against Turkish Cypriots, having first stepped up the tension between the two communities by placing a bomb at the monument to EOKA hero, Marcos Drakos at Paphos Gate and setting fire to the Ayios Kasianos primary school.

Plans to set up the Akritas organisation had been set in motion just six months after the establishment of the Cyprus Republic, and among its policy objectives, drafted by Tassos Papadopoulos (according to the late Glafcos Clerides’ testimony) was the overturning of the Zurich-London agreements which established the Cyprus Republic – in other words the dismantling of the state.

These are the facts which have been conclusively supported by documents and testimonies by members of the organisation. One of the members, former officer Takis Chrysafis, had the guts to tell the truth about the Akritas organisation, revealing that he had personally heard then government minister Polycarpos Yiorkadjis giving instructions for the bomb to be placed at the Marcos Drakos monument on December 3, 1963.

Only the CyBC bosses and the self-styled chieftains of 1963, who have not grown up yet, are still repeating the myth about the Turkish rebellion, when they should be at Nicosia’s Venetian wall, every year on this day, banging their heads against it seeking to absolve their sins.

Coffeeshop

The Cyprus Mail’s satirical column Coffeeshop says the breakthrough on the joint declaration that was expected last weekend never materialised and Downer headed Down Under feeling very down, having pissed us off big-time by meeting Turkey’s mousy foreign minister Ahmed Davutoglu, who was visiting Kyproulla illegally, at Turkey’s illegal embassy in the pseudo-state.

Apparently the government made official protests to the UN for Big Bad Al’s provocative behaviour but Ban Ki-moon has declined to tell us what his punishment would be. Our sources at the UN inform us however that Ban will not be sacking him because he is so fed up with everyone in Kyproulla he believes we deserve to have to deal with the bolshie Aussie.

Unfortunately, our collective hatred for the Turk-loving Aussie did not keep us united for very long. Big divisions appeared at Wednesday’s meeting of the party leaders, during which Prez Nik presented his latest proposal for a joint declaration that was very similar to the proposal submitted by Al.

Worse still, Nik defended the proposal informing the moaning leaders that he would submit it to the UN and if Eroglu accepted it, start negotiations. The professional naysayers were apoplectic, with Ethnarch Junior, whose already sizeable arrogance was given an unneeded boost by his election to the DIKO leadership, leading the barrage of criticism on the poor prez. Junior is turning out more hard-line than his late dad, if that were possible, said someone attending the meeting. The bash-patriotic resistance fighters of DIKO, EDEK, EUROKO and Perdikis left the meeting very disappointed and began calling for the preparation of a Plan B.

This cunning Plan B would ensure the solution of the Cyprob without negotiations with the Turks, because it would place the problem, as EDEK never tires of saying, “on its correct basis, as an issue of invasion and occupation”. And if Plan B does not work, we could prepare Plan C and then Plan D. And who knows there may be an agreement on the text of the joint declaration before we have exhausted all the letters of the alphabet.

If anyone was wondering why so much fuss was being made about the joint declaration, the answer was provided by Movement of Lillikas supporters. In a sombre statement the party warned that before long there would be “another text based on the last one submitted by Mr Downer so that the problems caused by some words could, supposedly be overcome.”

It added: “We want to inform Cypriot citizens that these words are the whole essence of the Cyprus problem. These words will determine the content and the quality of the Cyprus problem.” And we have been wasting all these years thinking that lawyers and diplomats could help us solve the Cyprob, when a couple of semantics professor would have completed the job in a couple of days.

TV discussion show

1. TV discussion show on developments

A television discussion on the state channel CyBC last night focused on the joint declaration debacle. Guests included former government spokesmen Stefanos Stefanou and Michalis Papapetrou, as well as former Foreign Minister Nicos Rolandis. Also present were Marinos Sizopoulos from Edek and Chris Triantafyllides as a representative of Disy.

Stefanou started out by admitting that finding a solution to the Cyprus problem is paramount. As time goes by, things get worse, he noted, pointing to the increased number of Turkish settlers in the north today, the destruction of the cultural heritage, the g/c properties. He expressed his party’s position that the talks should have started where they had left off in March 2012 when Eroglu used Cyprus’ EU presidency as an excuse to break them off. He expressed his support for a laconic statement just stating the desire for a solution, rather than this whole discussion. He said a dealock or collapse of the talks is not an option because there will be responsibilities allocated and there’s no guarantee that we wouldn’t be blamed.

Edek’s Sizopoulos said no one doubts that everyone wants a solution. The question is what kind of solution. Would any old solution do? Or should a solution be functional and safeguard the existence of Greek Cypriots in Cyprus. Let’s not forget that Turkey’s aim is to take over the whole of Cyprus, he said. So the talks must start well which is why we supported a joint statement that lays out the basic aspects of the solution.

Papetrou said while he doesn’t object to a common declaration, he would have handled things differently. He said the Turkish Cypriot side is on record that it accepts the three s – single sovereigny, single citizenship, single international personality. Yet now Eroglu doesn’t accept these things. Why open the door and start talks from the beginning, he asked.

“We should have told Eroglu that we agree to start from where we left off as he wanted. That presupposes that he would have had to accept all the statements that had previously been released. If he didn’t accept him, then let him come into conflict with the UN and the international community, not us”.

He said that what’s happening now is we are just playing with words. We’ve reached a point where we’re debating whether to put a full stop here, a comma there. This is not how we are going to solve the Cyprus problem. The Cyprus problem will only be solved if there is political will. We have to find that will through the talks. He added that all the UN resolutions have one thing in common – they tell us to go sit down at the negotiating table and solve it on the basis of a compromise.

“How many on our side are willing to do so?” he asked. “The truth is that in the past many of the deadlocks came from our side. I would just like to remind you that in the days of Denktash we were hiding behind Denktash’s intransigence. The big problems arose when Denktash’s policy began to collapse whereupon we started hearing things on our side that we hadn’t heard before”, he said.

Rolandis pointed out that issues have now become obstacles that never used to be such. They had been acceptable in all the various plans submitted. “It makes me wonder what will happen when we move on to other big issues like the settlers, the property issue, territory, and Morphou, which we fought so hard to bring over to our side. But now the Turks have made massive investments there. What will happen over issues like that?”

He went on to say that we’ve been singing the same song for the last 40 years. “Didn’t we reject proposals that we should never have rejected? Like the American plan for example, which was an excellent opportunity”, he said. “These were followed by the Cuellar indicators. We rejected those and I quit as Foreign Minsiter. The joint documents. Papandreou refused to talk to our president because we rejected those. The international community has never despite all the efforts we made, never justified us. And take the Annan plan which was the worse plan of all. (Because as time goes by they get worse)”.

He referred to Security Council resolution 1475 which called it a unique plan for a solution. “It passed unanimously and all our friends, the Russians, the Chinese, the French, everyone the whole global community thought it was unique, except us”.

Mr Rolandis clarified that even though he supported the Annan plan he didn’t think it was a good plan and pointed out that we had rejected all the previous plans that had been better.  He said as time passes the occupation gets solidified.

“There is a third generation there, of settlers and Turkish Cypriots who don’t know us. Have you ever been to the other side to see what’s going on? Well I have, and I continue to go. I go there deliberately. That is still the territory of Cyprus. Yes there are some practical difficulties in doing so but it’s still my country. I go to see the people there, to find out how they think what they’re doing. It’s a different world there, a different society, a different economy, everything”, he said.

Stefanou said if we feel that Turkey’s aims are unchangeable then that’s like saying there’s no prospect for a solution. If we don’t feel there are any prospects for a solution then we should tell the people so and go and agree on partition and get whatever we can if we’re ok with that. Prospects for a solution exist within the various interests so a solution must be a win win situation. We must look at how Turkey can be persuaded that it has an interest to solve the Cyprus problem because in doing so they will have something to gain as well as other players.

Sizopoulos said they managed to prevent the implementation of the Annan plan which would have been a disaster. And there where everyone was telling us that it was the last chance, and it would be an asia minor catastrophe, and the sky would fall on our head, it didn’t. And Cyprus joined the European Union.

The CyBC moderator quoted from the late Glavcos Clerides’ book who said that history has shown that every time we tried to achieve what we wanted without any compromises ie what was desirable as opposed to what was feasible, we failed.

Papapetrou referred blamed the parties Disy and Akel which never decided to put aside their differences for a few months and solve the Cyprus problem. “ After that they could have all the centuries ahead of them to scratch each other’s eyes out to their hearts content”, he said.

He then reminded Sizopoulos that the president at the time that the Annan plan was rejected had urged the people to vote against this “dreadful plan” and then promised that with Cyprus’ entry into the EU, better days would follow and a better solution would come.

“Tell me today, with all these committees in the north, with our deadlocks in the European courts, with the indirect recognition of the pseudostate, have better days come, or is it more of the same? he said. “Being absolute and doesn’t lead us anywhere”.

Referring to the slogan “the cyprus problem is an issue of invasion and occupation” which Sizopoulos kept on chanting, Papetrou agreed that from 1974 onwards it is.

“But unless we look at the other aspect of the problem which is an issue of relations between the two communities, then we lose sight of reality. Ten years before the invasion Cyprus had a UN contingent here. What did they come here to do, tourism? We must rememberr that, thanks to Denktash’s policy, as well as to ours, a large number of Turkish Cypriots lived for many years in a ghetto. If we try to erase all that and pretend history starts from 74, just as they try to end history in 74, then we will go nowhere” he said.

Rolandis kept on apologising for being a pessimist and explaining it stems from his many years of experience.  He said he feels we’ve reached a deadlock. Eight months have gone by and we haven’t been able to solve something which in the past took us one day, he said.

“My message to Nicos Anastasiades, who I know, because I’m in touch with him, truly wants to solve the Cyprus problem and is trying very hard to, is that we should replace this statement with an opening statement by the S-G and then start some kind of dialogue”, he said.

He added that plan B or plan Cs are ridiculous. “We’ve been dealing with the Cyprus problem for 50 years now, we know what the possibilities are.

He added: “When as a school kid I was being taught about the Catastrophe in Asia Minor, it seemed like those events had happened in the depths of time, yet it was just 28 years previously. Now the Cyprus problem is 50 years old. And we’re still trying to agree on something that so far used to be acceptable to all. And the decades go by. Will the Cyprus problem still exist in 2050? Does it exist now?”

Papapetrou said if time is allowed to go by, the de facto events that have been imposed on our country will become permanent.

“Even monstrous arrangements that have stood the test of time, have eventually become incorporated into international law. This is what will happen in Cyprus. That’s why we must hurry up. We must come to terms with the fact that the solution cannot after 50 years be ideal, it must be as good as possible and from then on we must attempt from within the framework of the European club which we have chosen to join to make it as viable and functional as possible”, he concluded.

2. Eroglu: Aim is to establish a new partnership

Turkish Cypriot leader, Dervis Eroglu has said that the main aim of the Turkish Cypriot side is the establishment of a new partnership in Cyprus with the powers given by “two sovereign peoples”.

In an interview with Kibris, Eroglu explained that this is where the current difficulty lies and added that the Turkish Cypriot side is not against the partnership state being sovereign and having a single international personality.

Eroglu claimed that the Cyprus problem could not be solved through letters, as the Greek Cypriot side is trying to do in order to gain time, adding that the two sides should sit at the negotiating table and find a solution.

Asked what he felt when he read the Greek Cypriot proposal that he received yesterday morning, Eroglu replied that the proposal contained “delicate tactics”. He said that they were expecting the Greek Cypriots to say “yes” or “no” to the proposal submitted by the Turkish Cypriots, but the Greek Cypriot side submitted its own proposal instead of doing this. “If they want to play games, we can do this too”, he said.

Asked whether the deadlock on the issue of the joint statement could be overcome, Eroglu replied that it could be overcome. “If the Greek Cypriots looked with good will at the text which we have put forward and gave a reply, the negotiations would start immediately. They do not have good will”, he said.

Asked about foreign minister Ozdil Nami statements that a solution could be achieved and whether Nami is part of his team or acts separately, Eroglu said “Mr Nami was Mr Talat’s special representative for five years. He has acquired some habits from that period and some friendships.”

Eroglu also said he had relaxed after Davutoglu’s visit and seeing that Turkey supports their actions.

3. Ertug says they expected a yes or no from the Greek Cypriots

Osman Ertug, Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu’s special representative, has said that they do not accept the Greek Cypriot document that had been sent back as a response and added that they were expecting a “yes” or “no” answer.

In statements to Kibris, Ertug noted that the last proposal of the Turkish Cypriot side had been prepared with the participation of the government and the main opposition party at Eroglu’s office and added that Turkey also supported this proposal, as did the UN.

Ertug argued that the Turkish Cypriot side and the UN do not intend to carry on this “writing exercise” forever and alleged that the counter proposal made by the Greek Cypriot side is a “tactic for the ball to remain in Turkish Cypriot side’s court”.

Commenting on rumours that the Greek Cypriot side is preparing to implement a Plan B in case its proposal was not accepted, Ertug alleged that this is a new tactic for gaining time.

4. Davutoglu contacts

Turkish Cypriot daily Havadis reports that the Turkish Foreign Minister Davutoglu has asked the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to solve the crisis created with the proposal of the Greek Cypriot side.

Moreover, Turkish Cypriot daily Afrika reports that Davutoglu came to the island after reaching an agreement with Britain and Greece on a document, which would be submitted to the Greek Cypriot side as a Turkish proposal.

According to the paper, Davutoglu put this paper in front of the Turkish Cypriot leader Eroglu and said: “Whether we like it or not, there can be no objection to this”.

Joint declaration revealed

Sigmalive publishes the text of the draft joint declaration. Four parts of the document are written in bold, presumably being the changes that the Greek Cypriot side wants introduced.

The first line in bold refers to the issue of a single sovereignty and legal personality and reads “and which emanates from Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots together”. The whole paragraph reads:

“The united Cyprus, as a member of the UN and the EU, shall have a single international legal personality and a single sovereignty, which is defined as the sovereignty which is enjoyed by all member States of the United Nations under the UN Charter and which emanates from Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots together. There will be a single united Cyprus citizenship, regulated by federal law. All citizens of the united Cyprus shall also be citizens of either the Greek-Cypriot constituent state or the Turkish Cypriot constituent state. This status shall be internal and shall complement, and not substitute in any way, the united Cyprus citizenship”.

The second line in bold is in a paragraph about the powers of the federal government. It says: “any dispute in respect thereof will be adjudicated finally by the Federal Supreme Court. Neither constituent state may purport to have sovereignty, and neither side may claim authority or jurisdiction over the other”.

The third line in bold says: “Union in whole or in part with any other country or any form of partition or secession is excluded”. It is contained in a paragraph on the nature of the federal state and its constituent states as follows:

“The united Cyprus federation shall result from the settlement following the settlement’s approval by separate simultaneous referenda. The federtion’s constitution shall prescribe that the united Cyprus’ federation shall be composed of two constituent states. The bi-zonal, bi-communal nature of the federation and the principles upon which the EU is founded will be safeguared and respected throughout the island. The federation’s authorities and on the constituent states. Union in whole or in part with any other country or any form of partition or secession is excluded”, it says.

The final paragraph in the document is all in bold and says that the sides will seek to create a positive atmosphere to ensure the talks succeed. They commit to avoiding blame games or other negative public comments on the negotiations. They also commit to efforts to implement confidence-building measures that will provide a dynamic impetus to the prospect for a united Cyprus.

In the declaration the two leaders agree that the status quo is unacceptable and its prolongation will have negative consequences for both Greek and Turkish Cypriots and express their determination to resume structured negotiations in a result-oriented manner.

Moreover it says that all unresolved core issues will be on the table and will be discussed interdependently. It says the leaders will aim to reach a settlement as soon as possible, and hold separate simultaneous referenda thereafter.

The settlement will be based on a bi-communal, bi-zonal federation with political equality, as set out in the relevant Security Council Resultions and the High Level Agreements.

Kypros Chrysostomides analyses the document

Sigmalive on its webpage also carries an interview with former government spokesman lawyer Kypros Chrysostomides in which he analyses the document.

He says the only evident danger is the tendency of the Turkish side to have a separate identity and to maintain the possibility in the future to break away and establish separate sovereignty. He says it seems that this problem has been overcome except perhaps for the question on separate nationality, something which the Turkish side is insisting on.

“I believe if the other side is well-meaning, there is no reason for the Turkish side to reject it’, he added.

He says we have entered into a debate on a joint declaration and this has trapped us. He said a plan B is also being discussed in the event this declaration fails, but it would entail a much more complicated document.

He said there would have to be a dialogue to solve all the pending issues of the Cyprus problem because without dialogue the problem cannot be solved.

“Both sides have to realise certain things; the Greek Cypriot side that we have to abandon the right of exclusively representing the state, and the Turkish Cypriot side of having the right to establish a separate state, or secession or sovereignty”, he said.

He said if these two things can be agreed as the basis for a solution, then we can proceed well. If not, then the negotiations will have serious difficulties.

Concluding he said that if agreement is finally reached on a joint declaration, then this should be considered the basis for negotiation and our side should be satisfied. 

President to consult with Ban Ki-moon

President Nicos Anastasiades is due to talk with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon by phone this afternoon, Government Spokesman Christos Stylianides told reporters today after a meeting of party leaders at the Presidential Palace, the Cyprus Mail reports.

“The President’s consultation with the party leaders, in the presence of the negotiator’s legal support team, which began on Saturday, was completed today,” Stylianides said.

Ban and Anastasiades are due to speak at 3pm, the spokesman said.

In response to the UN Secretary General’s recent comments that there had been significant progress regarding a joint statement, Stylianides said that the subject of ‘significant progress’ had been repeated on many occasions.

“We will wait for the final result. I have said in the past that when it comes to the Cyprus problem we can be very close but also very far from any developments,” he said.

He said the President and Ban would discuss the joint statement but it was also likely other topics regarding the issue would be discussed. This was in response to whether Anastasiades would bring up the role of the UN’s Special Advisor Alexander Downer during their conversation. Downer irked the government last weekend by meeting Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu at the Turkish embassy in the north. A complaint was filed with the UN.

“The President does not intend to discuss any other matters other than those relating to negotiations between the two sides during his conversation with the UN Secretary General,” Stylianides said.

He added that the Greek Cypriot side has always had a constructive attitude towards drafting a joint statement.

“We insist that if the other side shows its willingness then we can be very close,” he said.

Stylianides refused to comment on whether a counter-proposal had been handed over by the Turkish Cypriot side regarding the joint statement.

2. Eroglu: we sent a draft joint declaration to the Greek Cypriot side

Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu said that the Turkish Cypriot side had sent its latest draft proposal on the joint declaration to the Greek Cypriot side via the UN Secretary General’s Special Adviser for Cyprus Alexander Downer and is still waiting for its reply, Vatan daily says.

Noting that the draft had been the result of long-term works, Eroglu repeated that from the very beginning he had declared that there was no need for such a declaration to relaunch the Cyprus negotiations process. Claiming that an agreement was reached at the first dinner meeting held between the two leaders to start the negotiations during the first half of October, he said, despite this, three months has been lost until now.

Claiming that the draft proposal put forward by the Turkish Cypriot side had been welcomed by the UN, Eroglu argued that according to the leaked reports in the Greek Cypriot press the Cyprus government was not too pleased with it.

3. US and UK ambassadors reportedly also present at Davutoglu’s meeting with Downer

Turkish daily Kibris Postasi claims that US ambassador to Cyprus John Koening and UK High Commissioner Matthew Kidd were also present during the meeting that the UN Special Adviser Alexander Downer had with Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu at the Turkish embassy in the north.

Draft joint statement is ready

Kibris reports that a draft of the proposed joint statement that would enable the resumption of Cyprus talks, was recently submitted to both sides and appears to have important details on the issue of sovereignty.

According to information obtained by the paper, the draft document suggests that a reunified Cyprus would have the status of a single state internationally. It will be represented at the UN with one seat and will be bicommunal and bizonal with a single international identity and single sovereignty.

The draft document defines that the sovereignty of the state, which would be established, will derive from two peoples, and the one side would not be able to dominate the other side. There would be a single federal citizenship, however, the constituent states will also be able to confer citizenship.  On the issue of authorities, that will be left to the constituent states.

The paper estimates that Cyprus peace talks may resume in the middle of January, although according to diplomatic sources, in the event that no agreement is reached on the joint statement and the impasse cannot be overcome, the Turkish Cypriot side and the UN may come up with different alternatives.

According to a press release issued by Turkish Cypriot FM, Ozdil Nami, the joint statement will be issued very soon, claiming that the Greek Cypriot side should also display a constructive attitude so that the joint statement can be finalised as soon as possible.

He added: “I think we are very close to the joint statement, however, the Greek Cypriot continue to make negative statements”.

Nami also said that the efforts regarding the joint statement have taken more time than expected, as a result the targe of starting the talks in the month March will have to be moved. 

Noting that very important convergences have been achieved at the negotiations so far, Nami said that if the other untouched issues were to be focused on after today and if the negotiations are intensified, then it would be possible to prepare a new comprehensive solution plan in months not in years. Nami also said that this plan would be the solution plan created by Cypriots, not a plan imposed by outsiders.

Meanwhile President Anastasiades has called another meeting of the party leaders and his negotiating team.

Map of new “Ban Ki-moon plan” published

Turkish Cypriot daily Havadis today publishes the map of the so-called “Ban Ki-moon Plan”. According to the paper, during the negotiations, the Greek Cypriot side wanted the return of two new territories, which were different from the Annan plan. The first territory is to form a canton in the area of the Karpas, including the villages of Agios Andronikos and Yiallousa. The second territory is more land on the Mesaoria plain. According to the paper, there was consensus on the return of territory.

Process going positively, not torpedoed at all, say Turkish Cypriots

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has stated that the current "positive psychological atmosphere" is conducive to finding a solution to the Cyprus problem, Ankara Anatolia news agency says reporting on the press conference that he gave together with Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu after their meetings in the north.

Davutoglu added that “a serious psychological atmosphere” now exists in the international community for a permanent peace regarding Cyprus.

He said that Turkey always supports the Turkish Cypriot side and expressed the hope that a new future vision would develop so as to bring peace and tranquility both to the island and to the wider Eastern Mediterranean region.


The Cyprus Mail also covers Davutoglu’s visit to the north saying he wanted to send three messages. First to the Turkish Cypriots that Turkey will continue to provide every support for a peaceful solution of the Cyprus problem. Second, to Anastasiades that now is the time for political will, calling on him to avoid making tactical manoeuvres that would delay the process and meet with Eroglu to reach consensus on a joint declaration and start substantial talks for a comprehensive settlement. He said that the joint statement was not as important as the two leaders having the political will to solve this conflict. Third he sent a message to the UN and international community, warning that Turkey will not accept the continuation of an open-ended peace process so long as the isolation of the Turkish Cypriots continues.

Ankara Anatolia news agency further reports that Davutoglu also met with UN Secretary General’s Special Cyprus envoy Alexander Downer at the Turkish embassy in the north with whom he “exchanged views in a constructive manner”, as he said afterwards.

The agency also reports that on his return to Ankara, Davutoglu spoke on the phone with the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to discuss the recent developments in the Cyrus talks focusing mainly on the current state of negotiations.

Davutoglu also had a phone conversation with his Greek counterpart Evangelos Venizelos. 



Turkish Cypriot daily Kibris reports that a high ranking Turkish Cypriot source has said that only the approval of the Greek Cypriot side remained for the joint statement which “has been turned into sine qua non” for the start of the talks.

“We think that the process is going positively”, the source told Kibris. “The Turkish side believes that the process has come to its final stage and has not been dynamited, as Greek Cypriot government spokesman Christos Stylianides has said. Since Eroglu has invited all circles, the opposition and the government, to the evaluation meeting held with the Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs Ahmet Davutoglu, it would not be wrong to say that this is already a final point. The ball is definitely on the Greek Cypriot court and our side fully believes that the text of the joint statement is ready”.

The same source said that the text of the joint statement is “very different’ than the previous texts and added that the texts until now had not entered into so many details. “It will almost be like a plan. We believe that there is no reason for the Greek Cypriot side not to accept it”, the source said adding that Turkey and the Turkish Cypriot side are ready for a solution and fully believe that “the final stage has come”.

Meanwhile, Kibris also reports that the Turkish Cypriot foreign minister Ozdil Nami said that Davutoglu had expressed strong support for the continuation of the negotiations.

“Turkey’s support strengthens us a lot at the table”, he said adding that “very important convergences” have been reached so far during the negotiating process and that once an intensive process starts focused on the issues that are still open a new comprehensive solution plan could emerge within months, not years.

“This will be a Cypriot plan, not a plan imposed by outside, he said.

Moreover Zaman Online reports that a senior Turkish Cypriot official, who spoke to the paper on condition of anonymity, stated that the new initiative for Cyprus proposes a single representation in international platforms but joint sovereignty on the island that includes the rights of both Turkish and Greek Cypriots.

“With this formula, both sides will have equal rights and no side will have hegemony over the other side,” the official said.

When asked whether the proposal was in the interest of the breakaway regime, he replied that it depends on how the initiative would be implemented.

“It is not a proposal that would satisfy a single side; however, it is a proposal of consensus. I hope this proposal will be accepted by the Greek side,” he said.


He added that “if the Turkish plan fails due to the Greek side's rejection, the UN will put another plan into action”.
He said Downer had other ideas in mind. “However, we have proposed this new formula now, to show our willingness to solve the matter. But if our proposal is rejected, Downer's plan will be brought to the agenda. This is our last bona fide proposal. We will not go beyond this,” he said.



According to Turkish Cypriot daily Bakis, the leader of the Democratic Party (DP) Serdar Denktas, who is deputy prime minister and minister of economy, tourism, culture and sports, speaking at his party congress, said that there are new developments on the Cyprus problem and that everything has been cooked but they don’t know what exactly has been cooked.

He expressed the belief that an improved Annan plan will be submitted to a referendum, but that such a plan would not be aimed at increasing the number of  Turkish Cypriots who had voted yes, but that of the Greek Cypriots.

“Behold the Ban Ki-moon Plan”

Turkish Cypriot daily Havadis yesterday published the first part of a 78-page document, which it says could be called “Ban Ki-moon Plan”.

Under the headline “Behold the Plan”, the paper says it includes the agreements and the convergences between the sides during the Cyprus talks, saying it has been prepared by UN officials and includes the “agreements” and “convergences” reached between former President Christofias with former and current Turkish Cypriot leaders Talat and Eroglu respectively during the talks between 2008 and 2012.

The UN officials formed a “draft plan”, which has been submitted to the sides, according to which “major agreements and convergences” have been achieved on the Governance and Power Sharing chapter. According to the paper, the presidency in federal Cyprus will be rotated, there will be a President and a Vice President and the legislative power will consist of the Senate and the House of Representatives. In the event that the Cabinet cannot take a unanimous decision, then a simple majority of one or two votes from members of the opposite community would be enough.

A deadlock exists on the issue of guarantees, writes Havadis noting that the Turkish side wants the continuation of the 1960 Treaty of Guarantee and Alliance, while the Greek Cypriot side insists that there is no need for such agreements and wants the demilitarization of the island within a short period of time.

Convergence has reportedly also been achieved on the basic principles of the property issue, but there had been arguments over the number of Greek Cypriots who would return under Turkish administration. The UN Secretary-General’s special adviser, Alexander Downer has reportedly suggested that this number should be contingent on the percentage of territory that will be given back.

An impasse exists also as regards the territory which will be returned, writes Havadis, adding that the Greek Cypriot side wants the establishment of a canton on the Karpas peninsula to include the villages of Agios Androkinos, Yialousa and Rizokarpaso and the return of more land on the Mesaoria plain. The Turkish side strongly rejects this, notes the paper, pointing out that these disagreements are the reason for which the territory has been left for the end.

The paper says that today it will be publishing the map that has arisen as a result of the bargaining so far.

Cyprus government demarche

The Foreign Ministry announced yesterday that it had made a “strict demarche” to the UN over UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative in Cyprus Alexander Downer’s having gone to meet with the Turkish Foreign Affairs Minister, Mr A. Davutoglu, at the Turkish embassy in the north on 14 December.

It is said that this action came at a particularly critical time in the President’s efforts to resume substantive talks between the leaders of both communities to solve the Cyprus problem and that, regardless of intent, it seriously undermined these efforts and impeded further actions by the President.

Greek Cypriot side waiting to see

Politis says that while the Greek Cypriot side hasn’t received anything official as to the Turkish Cypriot side’s counter proposal on the text of the joint statement, from various verbal indications it has received, all indications are that they want included in the statement that no side shall have dominion over the other and that, through various plays on words, insist on their longstanding position that each state shall have its own sovereignty.

The paper adds that the Greek Cypriot side has indicated that it rejects this position and insists on the text that Alexander Downer had hammered out on Friday.

Meanwhile, the Cyprus Mail reports that Greek Cypriot sources close to the talks said it was hard to say there has been any progress since Friday but that they will wait to see if anything new comes from the Turkish Cypriot side next week and what it will look like.

Another source said it looked like there would be one more effort to overcome the deadlock on the wording of the joint declaration but he didn’t know when that would be.

A diplomatic source said a lot of people have been working very hard, not just in Cyprus, but around the world, to bring the effort 99 per cent to completion.

Regarding the seemingly negative climate, they said the Turkish Cypriots were engaging in theatrics to hide the fact that historic breakthroughs are about to be made.

“There is only one per cent to go. Cyprus is on the verge of a new and defining High-Level Agreement.”

Of course, the 99 per cent could be lost if the interested parties fail to stay focused on the end goal, they added.

Anastasiades: not interested in blame game, interested in solution

“We won’t play the blame game”, President Anastasiades has said.

“I wish to make this clear both on the domestic front and abroad, and to the Turkish and Turkish Cypriot side in particular. A blame game situation is not to the advantage of the Greek Cypriot side. We are not interested in who will be held accountable for the stalemate that will preserve the partition of our country. We are interested in not having a stalemate. We are interested in reaching a settlement. We are interested in a reunification that will be supported by the people, will be resilient to hardship, will create opportunities for growth and prosperity and will safeguard the European principles and rules”.

He said this was why the Greek Cypriot side was insisting on clarifying the basic principles of the solution of the Cyprus problem before engaging in a dialogue “so as to discuss reunification, not the terms of a divorce”.

“We are deeply convinced that only in such a way will the necessary impetus be created and the dialogue be given a prospect. We hope that the Turkish Cypriot side will have a similar response”, he added.