Andreas Mavroyiannis appointed negotiator

The National Council yesterday picked Andreas Mavroyiannis as the Greek Cypriot side’s chief negotiator at the peace talks, fulfilling DISY’s pre-election pledge to appoint someone other than the President, the Cyprus Mail reports.

The 57-year-old career diplomat is currently the permanent secretary at the Foreign Ministry. He has in the past served in a number of posts, including as Cypriot ambassador to Ireland and France, and was a member of the negotiating team in the bi-communal reunification talks between 2003 and 2008. He also served as Deputy Minister of EU Affairs during Cyprus’ EU presidency in 2012.

The decision was just short of unanimous, with the Greens nominating diplomat Tassos Tzionis instead. AKEL meanwhile had reservations about the creation of the post itself.

The National Council also decided to keep the seven existing working groups which advise the Greek Cypriot negotiator on the Cyprus talks, and to establish a number of ad-hoc sub-committees that would assist the interlocutor in actual negotiations.

The Council will next meet in the autumn before the United Nations General Assembly, when it will deal with ‘substantive issues’ such as discussing an outline for a settlement.

Negotiations with the Turkish Cypriot side under UN auspices would likely resume in October, Government Spokesman Christos Stylianides also announced.

The paper says that the mechanics of the triangle chief negotiator-President-National Council remain to be fleshed out. Some observers wonder whether the interlocutor will be more of a ceremonial or proxy position. One political commentator, who preferred not to be named, predicted the new arrangement would most likely complicate rather than simplify decision-making.

“One person will say ‘A’, the other ‘B’…it’s a perfect recipe for getting nothing done,” the source told the Mail.

Moreover, under the new regime at the National Council introduced by Anastasiades, any resolution is binding on the President if there is a 75 per cent support for it (each party would represent the percentage it received in the last parliamentary election).

Asked what would happen in the event the President happens to disagree with the 75 per cent regardless, the government spokesman said the President reserved to right to call for a referendum.

Also yesterday, the body rejected a request by the ‘Citizens Alliance’, a newly created political platform headed by former presidential candidate Giorgos Lillikas to take a seat on the National Council, as it did not meet the minimum criteria of having at least one person elected to parliament. However, the President would invite Lillikas to the Palace for briefings from time to time, Stylianides added.

President playing a risky game

An editorial in the Mail says it is difficult to see the appointment of a Greek Cypriot negotiator as a step in the right direction, especially if the objective is to reach a settlement within a reasonable period of time. In fact, removing the leaders from the negotiating process is more than likely to cause delays as no decision would be taken and the appointed negotiators would have to consult their respective bosses before agreeing or finalising even the most trivial issue.

Only AKEL expressed such concerns at Tuesday’s National Council meeting which appointed career diplomat Andreas Mavroyiannis as negotiator. President Anastasiades had pledged during the election campaign to appoint a negotiator, presumably in order to keep his hard-line allies at DIKO who did not trust him on the Cyprus problem on side.

He also made another minor concession to the National Council, by making decisions with 75 per cent support binding, thereby turning the National Council from advisory to decision-making body, even though he would only need the support of the DISY leader, who represents more than 30 per cent of the voters, to prevent any decision from being binding. While this may just be a tactical manoeuvre, there is still a growing sense that the Cyprus problem will from now on be handled by committee – not a good sign.

On the president’s suggestion, six working groups or committees dealing with the main issues of the negotiations such as territory, property, security etc would also be set up to assist the National Council and negotiator. It is as if the peace talks would be starting from scratch and the working groups would have to come up with new proposals for every chapter. But what new ideas could they come up with after three-and-a-half decades of talks. One newspaper, quoted former president George Vassiliou, on hearing about the working groups, as asking: “Do you not want a settlement? Are we going to start from the beginning?”

Perfectly legitimate questions any rational person would have asked on hearing about the appointment of a negotiator, the decision-making powers of the National Council and the setting up of working groups to assist both. Perhaps the president hopes these concessions to his hard-line allies would keep them on side while the negotiations are in progress, but it is a risky game, in which he could find himself trapped.

Not starting from scratch

The President will not start peace talks with the Turkish Cypriots from scratch, Foreign Minister Ioannis Kasoulides said yesterday.

Speaking to CyBC, the Minister said that Anastasiades wanted to revise a limited number of issues that were agreed in past negotiations, a view shared by the majority of parties.

Kasoulides said these issues were “not many”, and even if they are raised at the negotiating table, “that does not mean the talks will start from scratch”.

Eroglu: last chance for a Cyprus solution

The negotiations on the Cyprus problem due to start in October will be the last chance for a solution, Turkish Cypriot leader, Dervis Eroglu, has said according to Turkish Cypriot paper Star Kibris.

“If we reach a result with the negotiations which will start in October, the Cyprus problem will be solved. If not, the realities which exist today will continue”.

Negotiations could not continue forever, he said, because the Turkish Cypriot people have run out of patience. “What we want now from newly elected leader Anastasiades is for us to solve this problem within one and a half to two years”.

He repeated the view that Turkish Cypriots would never give up on Turkey’s active and effective guarantees on the island, saying: “We are not interested in the guarantees of the EU, because no one except the Turks will send their children to a military expedition for the protection of the Turks of Cyprus and sacrifice their lives.”

My vision is to see Turkish troops board their ships and leave Cyprus, President says

“We will do everything to secure a dignified solution”, President Anastasiades said speaking at a ceremony honouring the dead from the coup and Turkish invasion yesterday.

“Of course it is not only up to us. But as far as we are concerned, we will not spare any effort in order to succeed”. 

He recalled a recent interview he gave to a Turkish newspaper, in which he said that the Turkish side must also realize that there is pain among the people of Cyprus. “There has been violent uprooting, dead, injured, fear. A solution must overcome these negative feelings. This is what will secure the viability of the solution, and not only the adjustments on paper”.

He stressed that the solution must be accepted by the society which will be asked to implement it and live with it. “The solution must satisfy society’s sense of justice, it must not generate additional insecurities and must be compatible with the EU acquis communautaire, which constitutes the safest foundation for a just solution under the circumstances. In this effort I will seek to have on my side, if possible, the entire political leadership and I look forward to having the support of society itself”, he said.

“I started my political career among the ruins of Turkey’s invasion. My vision, now that the people have honoured me with their vote and have assigned to me the responsibility of handling our national issue, is to see the Turkish troops boarding the ships and getting out of Cyprus. To see refugees returning to their properties and to our land that is now under occupation”.

Obama: Cyprus division has gone on too long

The United States continues to support efforts under the auspices of the UN to reunify Cyprus as a bizonal, bicommunal federation, US President Barack Obama has said, adding that "the island’s division has gone on for far too long", the Cyprus’ Financial Mirror reports. 



Receiving the credentials of Cyprus` new Ambassador to the US Georgios Shakalli, on Thursday, Obama said "we recognise your hopes to end the division of Cyprus through a just and lasting settlement," adding that "we firmly believe that a mutually acceptable settlement is in the best interests of the people of Cyprus, and we hope the parties will finally end the tragic division of the island." 


"The US stands ready to provide assistance that both sides would find useful to achieve a solution," he added.