Impasse again?

The talks appear once again to have hit an impasse with both sides digging in hoping the other side will take the crucial step needed to open the door to their resumption, despite UN officials fervently shuttling from one side to the other, the Cyprus Mail reports.

The day started with Turkish Cypriot negotiator Osman Ertug informing UN special adviser Alexander Downer that his community could not accept the latest Greek Cypriot draft proposal on the joint communiqué.

Downer then briefed Greek Cypriot negotiator Andreas Mavroyiannis on the changes made to the draft. These were evidently not acceptable, leading Downer to then pay Eroglu a visit, perhaps conscious of the fact that Anastasiades was due to leave the island in a few hours, while his own flight home is booked for tomorrow.

Following a half hour meeting with the UN official, Eroglu issued a statement saying that efforts were made throughout the day to overcome the objections of the Greek Cypriots. He added that he had the support of his coalition partners and the opposition in the north in this endeavour.

Efforts to resume the talks are at a “critical point”, he said, adding, “now is the time for a political decision. Today, we showed on behalf of the Turkish Cypriots our will for reconciliation.”

He added, “The ball is in the Greek Cypriots’ court. We are waiting for them to take the step that will open the door to negotiations.”

Speaking at an event at the presidential palace, Anastasiades was more forthcoming as to where he thought the problem lay.

The Greek Cypriot side continues to make every effort “to ensure that the basic principles of the solution are safeguarded and the concerns of our Turkish Cypriot compatriots are met,” he said. “But it is with regret that I tell you today that we are heading towards a deadlock due to Turkish intransigence,” Anastasiades added.

He assured that the Greek Cypriot side will insist on locking in the basic principles of a solution before talks can start. Principles which are based on UN Security Council resolutions and leave no doubt that a united Cyprus Republic should have a single international identity, single sovereignty and single citizenship.

“Those who reject this are those who work for two states or a solution based on a confederation of two allegedly pre-existing sovereign states,” argued the president, adding that an illegality could not become law, nor could it be accepted.

Anastasiades called upon the international community to exert pressure on the side which remains intransigent.

“Whoever truly wants to help, those who showed interest in the resumption of the dialogue, have no other choice than to turn their attention to the Turkish side, either the Turkish government in Ankara or the Turkish Cypriot leadership,” he said.

“We will not accept any fait accompli and the coming days will be decisive for our stance, which will depend on the (Turkish Cypriot side’s) behaviour and position. Unfortunately, the indications so far are not encouraging.”

The president said he would convene the National Council to formulate the next steps after he gets back from a visit to Egypt.

According to sources, the two sides appear to have reached an impasse over the words “single sovereignty” with the Greek Cypriots insisting on the inclusion of those two specific words in a joint declaration, regardless of any other sweeteners added, and the Turkish Cypriots refusing to accept them.

“Both sides have made proposals, both sides have rejected each other’s wording,” said a source.

For each side, the two words appear to signify very different things. The Greek Cypriots see the inclusion of “single sovereignty” from the start as a guarantee that negotiations will not be geared towards a confederal solution or to a solution which could end up in divorce.

The Turkish Cypriots’ main concern appears to be ensuring political equality in any federation, with the fear being that post-solution, the Turkish Cypriots’ role in a federal Cyprus will be downgraded.

As one source put it, both sides are stuck on the wording at the moment and blame each other for the impasse. They are negotiating sovereignty in isolation, without other aspects of a solution on the table, making it hard for either to convince the other of their true intentions, said the source.

The risk now is that Downer leaves tomorrow with no joint declaration agreed, possibly delaying the start of fully-fledged negotiations until mid-January.

Most analysts agree that an obvious window exists for negotiations until March, when the Turkish election cycle gets into swing, the Cyprus Mail concludes.