Davutoglu heading for Athens and northern Cyprus

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu will be going to Athens next Friday to discuss the Cyprus problem, according to CyBC.

Davutoglu suggested a visit to discuss developments on the Cyprus problem to his Greek counterpart Evangelos Venizelos during a NATO meeting in Brussels earlier this week.

Davutoglu’s planned visit comes a few weeks before Greece takes over the helm of the EU Presidency on January 1, 2014, for a six-month period, giving the country a say over whether any new negotiating chapters will be opened in Turkey’s EU accession path, the Cyprus Mail reports.

According to Turkish daily Yeni Safak, the Turkish FM will then visit the north of Cyprus on December 14.

Nami tells Politis we are ready for a new Cyprus

The Turkish Cypriot foreign minister, Ozdil Nami, in a front page interview in Politis today, expressed readiness for a new Cyprus, an active EU member that will “reflect our success in the region and will for the first time be a source of inspiration for the world instead of being synonymous with problems.”

“I trust the overall wisdom of the Cypriot people as a whole, despite the concerns of a section of society as regards the efforts to reunite the island”, he said.

He said the Greek and Turkish Cypriot sides are very close to agreeing on a joint communique that will kickstart the talks.

“I believe we are at a place where there is considerable convergence of views”, he said. “It has not yet been finalised but I am optimistic that the remaining issues can be sorted out without further delay”.

He said progress had been made but that it was a matter of terminology. He added that both sides understand how the federation will be created and what it will look like.

“We have the relevant UN Security Council resolutions, previous agreements between the leaders as well as announcements that clearly set forth what this effort is all about.

As regards the question of citizenship, he said first of all you will be a citizen of the federal state of Cyprus and secondly of one of the two states so as to determine your civil responsibilities.

“As in all federations, each state will have its own legislative authority which is why some of the state rights will be will be regulated on the basis of which state you belong to.” He said it was like in the US where each state also issues identity cards on the basis of which rights in that state are determined. For example, nobody has a California passport, but can still be a California citizen”.

Asked why then the question of “internal citizenship” bothered the Greek Cypriot side, he said that was one of the issues that had been discussed successfully.

“Issues that seemed to be insurmountable, in the end are not so controversial”, he added.

Asked about the dinner between Eroglu and Anastasiades, Mr Nami said that in all matters there are difficulties from time to time.

“Perhaps this was just a bad moment, but that did not mean that the two leaders stopped working for a successful outcome”, he said. “They know very well that that is what their people on both sides want. The difficulties the island faces are clear, and both sides need a solution. Both sides are taking the talks very seriously, which is why this procedure is so difficult.”

He said that while certain issues go without saying, and are clearly set out in older agreements, it seems Mr Anastasiades wanted certain things to be included in the joint communique in a very clear way and this obliged the Turkish Cypriot side to ask for something similar in order to maintain the equilibrium.

Nami said: “This is a golden opportunity for the Turkish Cypriot side because at the moment we have a right-wing president who is being supported by a left-wing government, while at the same time having the full support of Ankara. However, in politics nothing is set in stone and we should not take it for granted that things will stay as they are for ever. Playing with time is risky so we shouldn’t hope that the opportunity to solve the Cyprus problem to one’s benefit will arise some time in the future at the expense of the other side”.

Asked about Ankara’s stand and the lack of trust that the Greek Cypriots have in Turkey, he said Turkish politicians likewise have many reasons not to trust Greek politicians or the Greek Cypriot side.

“It is time we got over our misgivings. What’s important is what’s being discussed at the negotiating table. Politicians may play to their audience, sometimes highlighting one thing, other times another. We shouldn’t pay them too much attention”.

He added that it was hard for them to understand the lack of confidence in Turkey in view of the fact that they had said ‘yes’ to the Anan plan which had Turkey’s support.

Nami also expressed the belief that a solution would lead to rapid economic growth and help Cyprus exit from Troika’s control. Cyprus’ economy would be healthier as then we would have an economy that would be stronger than its two parts.

US interest in Cyprus is high

Turkish Cypriot daily Kibris reports that US interest in the Cyprus problem has increased in recent weeks, with US ambassador to Cyprus John Koenig meeting with Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu twice in the last three weeks, the last time on Thursday.

Koenig reportedly told a journalist after the meeting that the two men were working on the joint communiqué that has eluded the two sides so far.