Downer extends his stay by 24 hours

The UN Secretary General’s Special Adviser on Cyprus Alexander Downer has extended his stay on the island by 24 hours to hold further meetings with the Greek Cypriot negotiator Andreas Mavroyiannis and the Turkish Cypriot negotiator Osman Ertug, the Cyprus Mail reports.

The meetings are part of efforts to bridge the gap between the two sides with a view to concluding a joint communiqué for the resumption of Cyprus talks. Downer had been due to leave the island on Friday but instead will leave late on Saturday after more meetings.

The Cyprus News Agency said on Friday that the situation remained fluid but Downer’s extension of his stay was seen as a glimmer of hope in the effort to come up with a joint statement.

“Things are not easy,” the agency quoted sources as saying.

Erdogan: Let’s solve the Cyprus problem now

Turkish Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, said yesterday that the Annan Plan has been shelved and put into the freezer and added that a ‘Ban Ki-moon Plan’ will “certainly be formed” to solve the Cyprus problem, Kibris reports.

Speaking at a joint press conference with the Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt, Erdogan said the following:

“If south Cyprus gives assurances, if it is determined, we could make the necessary suggestions to northern Cyprus in the same manner, as long as Greece makes the necessary suggestions on this point and we say let us end this issue the soonest under the presidency of the UN Secretary-General”, he said.

He referred to a meeting he had on the Cyprus issue in St Petersburg with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon at which he had said that, as guarantor powers, Greece and Turkey and even Britain, could undertake a more active role in the negotiations and lead the issue to a conclusion. “Let the delay not continue here”, he said.

Erdogan remarked that Mr Reinfeldt believes and trusts President Anastasiades more. “We, of course, trust and believe the president of the TRNC”.

“Let us take the steps. We had an Annan plan before us once, but that has almost been shelved now, it has been put into the freezer. Now a Ban Ki-moon plan will certainly be formed. Then, let us form this plan, let us take the step quickly and arrive at a conclusion, we say”, he stressed.

Davutoglu hopes Cyprus talks will start soon

Politis reports that Turkey’s Foreign Minister has expressed the hope that the talks on Cyprus will start as soon as possible.

Speaking after a meeting with EU Commissioner on Enlargement, Stephane Fule, he said Ankara wanted to procedure for solving the Cyprus problem to be speeded up, for the two leaders to meet immediately and then to go to an international conference with the participation of the four parties under the auspices of the UN. He added that a solution to the Cyprus problem would bring peace to Cyprus and would strengthen Turkey’s negotiations for joining the EU.

Mr Fule, who is currently on a visit to Turkey, said that Turkey’s relations with the EU had been given a new impetus as a result of the opening of a new chapter. The aim, he said, is for all the chapters to be opened.

Eroglu: we have no information on a new plan and the ball is on the Greek Cypriot side

Turkish Cypriot leader, Dervis Eroglu, has said that the emphasis was on a Cypriot-led plan, not an imposed plan for solving the Cyprus problem, Turkish Cypriot daily Havadis reports.

Speaking after a meeting with the UN Secretary-General’s Special Adviser on Cyprus, Alexander Downer, Eroglu said that he does not know whether a new ‘Ban Ki-moon plan’ will come up and pointed out that such a proposal had not been submitted to them and they know nothing about this issue.

Asked to comment on Erdogan’s statement that Turkey could “make suggestions” to the Turkish Cypriot side if the Greek Cypriot side comes closer to an agreement, Eroglu replied that the Turkish Cypriot side has always been in close contact with Turkey over the Cyprus talks.

He said that he had told Downer that the Greek Cypriot side has turned the issue of the joint statement into a pre-condition and that no result had been reached because of the allegedly increasing demands and obstacles put by the Greek Cypriot side.

President Anastasiades, he said, is “playing with time” and that the Turkish Cypriot side “could not save him from the political difficulties he is facing”. Eroglu argued that he has to think about his “people” and that his action take this into consideration. He added that the deadline the UN Secretary-General had set is over and that the “ball is on the Greek Cypriot side”.

Eroglu said that if President Anastasiades wants a solution, he should come to the negotiating table and if he does not want a solution, he should say so openly. He reiterated that the two sides could start the negotiations without agreeing on a joint statement.

According to Kibris, Eroglu said that the Turkish side yesterday submitted its sixth document of proposals on the joint statement and that it is not possible for them to go further than this point, while the  Greek Cypriot side had not submitted anything new.

Nami and Downer are hopeful

“We going through critical days. We hope that we will have a positive result soon”, Ozdil Nami, Dervis Eroglu’s Foreign Minister said yesterday after being briefed on Eroglu’s meeting with Downer, Kibris reports.

He added that the two sides are at a better point on the issue of the joint statement than they had been and that the differences between them had decreased. However, he noted, it would not be correct to say that everything is finished.

In statements on his part, Downer said things are advancing in the right direction and added that he still hopes that an agreement will be reached on the joint statement today before his departure from the island.