If we don’t solve Cyprus problem now we sink, say Vasiliou and Talat

The future of Cyprus without a solution is grim, George Vassiliou and Mehmet Ali Talat told a crowded audience of Greek Cypriots, Turkish Cypriots and foreign diplomats last night.

The ex-president and former Turkish Cypriot leader were speaking at a panel discussion organised by the Association for Social Reform (OPEK) in the buffer zone’s Home for Cooperation in Nicosia.

“Without a solution we cannot be very optimistic about the future. We have to, all of us, irrespective of the party we vote for, fight for a solution,” said Vassiliou.

“We simply do not have any more time to keep on talking,” he said, adding, “If we don’t solve it in the next six to eight months, we will never solve it. We need to work now.”

He said the way to do so is that first we must decide that we will solve it and then we must sit down and do so. He stressed repeatedly the urgency of reaching an agreement.

“Enough is enough”, he said. “We have spent months, years talking. If we don’t solve the problem now, we sink”.

Talat agreed saying: “We need to plan the new negotiations very carefully, knowing that this time, failure will be a disaster and rectification of the failure will be much more difficult.”

Vassiliou argued that a Cyprus solution would be a win-win for everyone. He said it will help the Greek Cypriots get out of the economic crisis, the Turkish Cypriots get out of isolation, and Turkey to get rid of a thorny problem that has been pestering it for years.

He said the Greek Cypriots will find it very difficult to overcome the worst economic crisis since independence, on their own. “We need substantial foreign investments, so we need the support of the international community”, he said. He said huge investments are required in order for Cyprus to be able to exploit the natural gas desposits and allow it to become the energy hub for the region and Europe. While acknowledging that the issue was controversial, he believed the cheapest and easiest option for exporting gas, not just from Cyprus but the region as a whole, including Lebanon, Israel and Gaza, would be through a pipeline from Larnaca to Turkey and on to Europe. “The easiest and safest way to achieve all that is to ensure that Cyprus is reunified,” he said.

A solution would allow the Turkish Cypriots to enjoy the advantages of EU membership and get out of the isolation they are in. He said it was unrealistic to believe in the two-state option. The EU, which itself is becoming more and more federal, would never accept two Cypriot states as members. Otherwise, he added, where would it stop? Catalonia? Bavaria? Scotland has already been warned, in no uncertain terms, that if it were to devolve it would be outside the EU. He said Cyprus is not a member of Schengen simply because the Cyprus problem has not been solved.

As for Turkey, Vasiliou said it would be the best message it could give that it can solve its problems. It would also pave the way for its talks with the EU.

Talat confirmed this, adding that Turkey has had enough of Cyprus being always in the way at international fora.

As to how to achieve a solution, Vasiliou said we need determination. “We need to stop creating problems out of nothing”, he said.

He added that above all we must also be ready to compromise, quoting John F Kennedy that “Compromise does not mean cowardice. Indeed it is frequently the compromisers and conciliators who are faced with the severest tests of political courage as they oppose the extremist views of their constituents”.

Lastly he said that there must be a willingness to forget the past and element of forgiveness

“I believe in Cyprus. We have lost a lot of time, but despite the years lost we can still succeed”, he concluded.

Talat noted that a solution needs will and determination on the part of the leaders, but also the public need to be properly informed of the need for a solution.

A solution is of fundamental importance to the lives of Turkish Cypriots. “In order to be able to live as a human being, a citizen of a country, this is a must,” he said.

“In my opinion, the problem lies with the Greek Cypriots, because they don’t need a solution, they feel it is not a must,” said Talat. A solution is most certainly beneficial for Greek Cypriots too but this needs to be explained to the public, he said, adding that the fact that the Greek Cypriot media represent certain political viewpoints does not help either.

“We need to find ways from now in the negotiations, and tailor a plan to make the public understand the need for a solution. At every step, the parties have to explain the developments and the importance of these developments and the benefits to their public,” he said.

Talat said the fact that the Republican Turkish Party (CTP)- whose mission is to solve the Cyprus problem- was now in power in the north created very good chances for the Cypriots to have a solution.

Asked about the opening of the fenced off part of Famagusta, Talat said he was not against it, but as things stood now, opening the ghost town now would be “much more difficult than solving the Cyprus problem. We will lose ourselves in the quagmire, believe me”.

Leaders to meet on 4 November?

The Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has said that the two leaders in Cyprus will be meeting on 4 November, Turkish daily Sabah reports.

Davutoglu, who was meeting with the Turkish Cypriot Foreign Minister Ozdil Nami in Ankara, also stated that he will visit the north of Cyprus before the talks start.

He said that the Cyprus problem has come to a very critical point and said that if there is strong political will, a solution in Cyprus is possible.

Meanwile under the headline Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu has said in an interview that he had persistently invited the President Anastasiades to sit at the negotiating table, Turkish Cypriot daily Kibris reports.

“Our aim is solution”, he said, adding that he wante the talks to resume even if there is no joint text . He added that he expects the talks to start in the second half of October, maybe even November.

No statement, no talks, says spokesman

If there is no agreement on a joint statement to launch a new round of peace talks there will be no meeting of the two leaders, said deputy government spokesman Victoras Papadopoulos yesterday, the Cyprus Mail reports.

Asked to comment on Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu’s comment that the two leaders would likely meet on November 4, Papadopoulos said that the UN had denied that a date had been set.

The spokesman said one interpretation of why the Turkish side was claiming a date had been set when it clearly hadn’t was because they are trying to shift the pressure for an agreement onto the Greek Cypriots.

“We don’t play such games. We mean what we say. We want to engage in a dialogue with real prospects to resolve the Cyprus problem and not end up having more of the same. For this reason, there will be no meeting of the President with Mr Dervis Eroglu if an agreement is not reached on a joint declaration for when they meet,” said Papadopoulos.

The jointly agreed text should act as a roadmap for the procedure of the talks, while setting out the basis of the talks.

According to the spokesman, the two sides currently disagree both on what the basis of the talks should be and the procedure, hence the delays in agreeing on a joint text.

Meanwhile, Anastasiades travels to Athens today for talks with Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras and President Karolos Papoulias during which the latest developments in the Cyprus problem and the results of their respective visits to the White House will be discussed.