Downer document

According to press reports today, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Adviser on Cyprus, Alexander Downer, has submitted to the Greek and Turkish Cypriot sides a 70-page document recording the convergences and divergences that were achieved in the talks on the Cyprus problem during Dimitri Christofias’ term of office.

Politis newspaper says that the document has caused a stir on the Greek Cypriot side as no mention of its existence was made during a meeting yesterday of the National Council. Alithia cites well-informed sources as saying that the document contains details which will cause an uproar when they become public. It all shows that the UN is preparing the ground for talks to start again probably in the autumn.

Recent reports in the Turkish press had said that Downer had also given a report to Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu during a meeting the two men had in Ankara at which they had exchanged views on the political process in Cyprus.

According to diplomatic circles, during that meeting Davutoglu had emphasized Turkey’s undaunted support for talks to reunite the island and its determination to find a solution to the Cyprus issue, saying that the Turkish Cypriot side's call to restart the stalled talks should be urgently addressed.

Davutoglu also explained Turkey’s position on the issue of the gas reserves off the coast of Cyprus, namely that the full rights of the Turkish Cypriots in this regard should be respected.

“Either they (the Greek Cypriots) will come and we will find a solution or let us achieve an agreement that encompasses these resources in the context of a limited solution if they could not go for a definite overall solution, or if they say that ‘these resources belong to us and the resources in the north belong to the Turks’, this means that the time of thinking about a two state solution has come”, Davutoglu said.

The Foreign Minister and Downer also discussed letters Davutoglu had sent to the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, the Foreign Ministers of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, as well as Germany and Greece calling for a new solution initiative on Cyprus.

The leaders of the two communities are due to meet on 29 May at a dinner at the residence of the UN Special Representative, Lisa Buttenheim.

The Turkish Cypriot press reported that Turkish Cypriot leader, Dervis Eroglu said that during the dinner they will discuss when to restart the talks and that he would request a road map be drawn up and a deadline set.

Meanwhile Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said on Thursday he saw a good opportunity for progress towards ending the division of Cyprus, a move that could further the exploitation of natural gas and oil in the eastern Mediterranean, Reuters reports.

Efforts to reunite the island have repeatedly failed, but Turkish officials say the election in February of President Nicos Anastasiades, who backed a 2004 UN plan to resolve the division, presents the best hope in years of reaching a deal.

"We believe that there is a lot of opportunity to reach an agreement on the Cyprus issue, and this is an area which we continue to focus on," Erdogan said at a news conference with U.S. President Barack Obama during a trip to Washington.

"We're optimistic, we're working for a solution and we are asking the United States to apply diplomatic support to this as well," a Turkish official said ahead of talks between Erdogan and Obama.

Talk has been ripe recently that a solution is on the cards. Loucas Charalambous writing in the Sunday Mail, says the discovery of natural gas deposits and the bankruptcy of the Cyprus Republic have given rise to suggestions that now is the right time for a settlement of the Cyprus problem.

Of course, he adds, talk about a settlement is academic because the Greek Cypriots do not want to hear about it. They have come to terms with partition, which they consider the best settlement. 

It is no accident that whenever someone talks about a solution he comes under fire from our super-patriots. ‘Solution’ has become a dirty word which is guaranteed to spark mass hysteria. The AKEL leadership, for instance, in an announcement it issued a few days ago to declare its anti-Troikan sentiments, warned that those who were hell-bent on destroying us economically also had an ulterior objective - the imposition of an ‘anti-popular’ settlement through the return of the Annan plan.

Needless to say, all people with a brain know that if it were possible to bring back the Annan plan, the Greek Cypriots should be dancing with joy. But the AKEL leadership has no need to worry because now the Turkish Cypriots would not accept it. The only possible solution now is partition, as cemented by AKEL in 2004.

Even partition, if legalised, would be a solution, he adds, albeit the worst possible solution, but if it is the choice of the majority then we should accept it. It is definitely better than the current situation which hides dangers so big they would give Greek Cypriots many sleepless nights, if they were aware of them.

A settlement under today’s conditions could prove beneficial particularly for our side. Many have noted the positive effect it would have on the efforts to cash in on our hydrocarbon deposits, as a settlement would end the risky confrontation with Turkey. Our side, with its unilateral moves in this direction, is constantly playing with fire and if someone is going to get badly burned in this high-risk game, it is more than likely to be the weak party.

There is another reason for supporting a settlement now. A settlement, partition included, would help the recovery of the economy more than any other measure. The re-building of areas that might be returned, especially of Famagusta, would boost investment and business activity which are the only remedy for unemployment. 

There would be very big investments in the tourism sector, investments financed by foreign capital, as the Cyprus banks would be unable  to provide funding. And there is little doubt that, in a few years this unrivalled tourist resort would generate huge income for the country. 

In 2004 the Greek Cypriots rejected the Annan plan because they felt it was not in their interest, economically. One of the main arguments used against it was that a settlement would force Greek Cypriots to support the poorer Turkish Cypriots. 

But history plays strange games. Today, it would be the Turkish Cypriots that have a good reason to reject a settlement, out of fear that they would have to support the bankrupt Greek Cypriots. How ironic, that the Greek Cypriots, who rejected the settlement for economic reasons in 2004, today have a real incentive to accept it, for economic reasons. 

But, I repeat, the discussion is academic. Greek Cypriots, even impoverished, do not want to hear of a settlement. Even President Anastasiades does not like bringing it up any more because he does not want to upset his government partner Garoyian, and he sent his foreign minister to the US to persuade the Americans and the UN that now was not the time for a settlement.