Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet
Davutoglu has stated that the current "positive psychological
atmosphere" is conducive to finding a solution to the Cyprus problem,
Ankara Anatolia news agency says reporting on the press conference that he gave
together with Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu after their meetings in the
north.
Davutoglu added that “a serious
psychological atmosphere” now exists in the international community for a
permanent peace regarding Cyprus.
He said that Turkey always
supports the Turkish Cypriot side and expressed the hope that a new future
vision would develop so as to bring peace and tranquility both to the island
and to the wider Eastern Mediterranean region.
The
Cyprus Mail also covers Davutoglu’s visit to the north saying he wanted to send
three messages. First to the Turkish Cypriots that Turkey will continue to
provide every support for a peaceful solution of the Cyprus problem. Second, to
Anastasiades that now is the time for political will, calling on him to avoid
making tactical manoeuvres that would delay the process and meet with Eroglu to
reach consensus on a joint declaration and start substantial talks for a
comprehensive settlement. He said that the joint statement was not as important
as the two leaders having the political will to solve this conflict. Third he
sent a message to the UN and international community, warning that Turkey will
not accept the continuation of an open-ended peace process so long as the
isolation of the Turkish Cypriots continues.
Ankara Anatolia news agency
further reports that Davutoglu also met with UN Secretary General’s Special
Cyprus envoy Alexander Downer at the Turkish embassy in the north with whom he
“exchanged views in a constructive manner”, as he said afterwards.
The agency also reports that on
his return to Ankara, Davutoglu spoke on the phone with the United Nations
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to discuss the recent developments in the Cyrus
talks focusing mainly on the current state of negotiations.
Davutoglu also had a phone
conversation with his Greek counterpart Evangelos Venizelos.
Turkish Cypriot daily Kibris
reports that a high ranking Turkish Cypriot source has said that only the
approval of the Greek Cypriot side remained for the joint statement which “has
been turned into sine qua non” for the start of the talks.
“We think that the process is
going positively”, the source told Kibris. “The Turkish side believes that the
process has come to its final stage and has not been dynamited, as Greek
Cypriot government spokesman Christos Stylianides has said. Since Eroglu has
invited all circles, the opposition and the government, to the evaluation
meeting held with the Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs Ahmet Davutoglu, it
would not be wrong to say that this is already a final point. The ball is
definitely on the Greek Cypriot court and our side fully believes that the text
of the joint statement is ready”.
The same source said that the text
of the joint statement is “very different’ than the previous texts and added
that the texts until now had not entered into so many details. “It will almost
be like a plan. We believe that there is no reason for the Greek Cypriot side
not to accept it”, the source said adding that Turkey and the Turkish Cypriot
side are ready for a solution and fully believe that “the final stage has
come”.
Meanwhile, Kibris also reports
that the Turkish Cypriot foreign minister Ozdil Nami said that Davutoglu had
expressed strong support for the continuation of the negotiations.
“Turkey’s support strengthens us a
lot at the table”, he said adding that “very important convergences” have been
reached so far during the negotiating process and that once an intensive
process starts focused on the issues that are still open a new comprehensive
solution plan could emerge within months, not years.
“This will be a Cypriot plan, not
a plan imposed by outside, he said.
Moreover
Zaman Online reports that a senior Turkish Cypriot
official, who spoke to the paper on condition of anonymity, stated that the new
initiative for Cyprus proposes a single representation in international
platforms but joint sovereignty on the island that includes the rights of both
Turkish and Greek Cypriots.
“With this formula, both sides
will have equal rights and no side will have hegemony over the other side,” the
official said.
When asked whether the proposal was in the interest of the breakaway
regime, he replied that it depends on how the initiative would be implemented.
“It is not a proposal that would
satisfy a single side; however, it is a proposal of consensus. I hope this
proposal will be accepted by the Greek side,” he said.
He added that “if the Turkish plan
fails due to the Greek side's rejection, the UN will put another plan into
action”.
He
said Downer had other ideas in mind. “However, we have proposed this new
formula now, to show our willingness to solve the matter. But if our proposal
is rejected, Downer's plan will be brought to the agenda. This is our last bona
fide proposal. We will not go beyond this,” he said.
According to Turkish Cypriot daily
Bakis, the leader of the Democratic Party (DP) Serdar Denktas, who is deputy
prime minister and minister of economy, tourism, culture and sports, speaking
at his party congress, said that there are new developments on the Cyprus
problem and that everything has been cooked but they don’t know what exactly
has been cooked.
He expressed the belief that an improved
Annan plan will be submitted to a referendum, but that such a plan would not be
aimed at increasing the number of
Turkish Cypriots who had voted yes, but that of the Greek Cypriots.
“Behold
the Ban Ki-moon Plan”
Turkish Cypriot daily Havadis
yesterday published the first part of a 78-page document, which it says could
be called “Ban Ki-moon Plan”.
Under the headline “Behold the
Plan”, the paper says it includes the agreements and the convergences between
the sides during the Cyprus talks, saying it has been prepared by UN officials
and includes the “agreements” and “convergences” reached between former President
Christofias with former and current Turkish Cypriot leaders Talat and Eroglu
respectively during the talks between 2008 and 2012.
The UN officials formed a “draft
plan”, which has been submitted to the sides, according to which “major
agreements and convergences” have been achieved on the Governance and Power
Sharing chapter. According to the paper, the presidency in federal Cyprus will
be rotated, there will be a President and a Vice President and the legislative
power will consist of the Senate and the House of Representatives. In the event
that the Cabinet cannot take a unanimous decision, then a simple majority of
one or two votes from members of the opposite community would be enough.
A deadlock exists on the issue of
guarantees, writes Havadis noting that the Turkish side wants the continuation
of the 1960 Treaty of Guarantee and Alliance, while the Greek Cypriot side
insists that there is no need for such agreements and wants the
demilitarization of the island within a short period of time.
Convergence has reportedly also
been achieved on the basic principles of the property issue, but there had been
arguments over the number of Greek Cypriots who would return under Turkish
administration. The UN Secretary-General’s special adviser, Alexander Downer
has reportedly suggested that this number should be contingent on the
percentage of territory that will be given back.
An impasse exists also as regards
the territory which will be returned, writes Havadis, adding that the Greek
Cypriot side wants the establishment of a canton on the Karpas peninsula to
include the villages of Agios Androkinos, Yialousa and Rizokarpaso and the
return of more land on the Mesaoria plain. The Turkish side strongly rejects
this, notes the paper, pointing out that these disagreements are the reason for
which the territory has been left for the end.
The paper says that today it will
be publishing the map that has arisen as a result of the bargaining so far.
Cyprus government demarche
The Foreign Ministry
announced yesterday that it had made a “strict demarche” to the UN over UN
Secretary-General’s Special Representative in Cyprus Alexander Downer’s having
gone to meet with the Turkish Foreign Affairs Minister, Mr A. Davutoglu, at the
Turkish embassy in the north on 14 December.
It is said that this
action came at a particularly critical time in the President’s efforts to
resume substantive talks between the leaders of both communities to solve the
Cyprus problem and that, regardless of intent, it seriously undermined these
efforts and impeded further actions by the President.
Greek
Cypriot side waiting to see
Politis
says that while the Greek Cypriot side hasn’t received anything official as to
the Turkish Cypriot side’s counter proposal on the text of the joint statement,
from various verbal indications it has received, all indications are that they
want included in the statement that no side shall have dominion over the other
and that, through various plays on words, insist on their longstanding position
that each state shall have its own sovereignty.
The paper
adds that the Greek Cypriot side has indicated that it rejects this position and
insists on the text that Alexander Downer had hammered out on Friday.
Meanwhile,
the Cyprus Mail reports that Greek Cypriot sources close to the talks said it
was hard to say there has been any progress since Friday but that they will
wait to see if anything new comes from the Turkish Cypriot side next week and
what it will look like.
Another
source said it looked like there would be one more effort to overcome the
deadlock on the wording of the joint declaration but he didn’t know when that
would be.
A
diplomatic source said a lot of people have been working very hard, not just in
Cyprus, but around the world, to bring the effort 99 per cent to completion.
Regarding
the seemingly negative climate, they said the Turkish Cypriots were engaging in
theatrics to hide the fact that historic breakthroughs are about to be made.
“There
is only one per cent to go. Cyprus is on the verge of a new and defining
High-Level Agreement.”
Of
course, the 99 per cent could be lost if the interested parties fail to stay
focused on the end goal, they added.
Anastasiades: not interested in blame game, interested in solution
“We won’t play the blame game”, President Anastasiades
has said.
“I wish to make this clear both on the domestic front
and abroad, and to the Turkish and Turkish Cypriot side in particular. A blame
game situation is not to the advantage of the Greek Cypriot side. We are not
interested in who will be held accountable for the stalemate that will preserve
the partition of our country. We are interested in not having a stalemate. We
are interested in reaching a settlement. We are interested in a reunification
that will be supported by the people, will be resilient to hardship, will
create opportunities for growth and prosperity and will safeguard the European
principles and rules”.
He said this was why the Greek Cypriot side was
insisting on clarifying the basic principles of the solution of the Cyprus
problem before engaging in a dialogue “so as to discuss reunification, not the
terms of a divorce”.
“We are deeply convinced that only in such a way will
the necessary impetus be created and the dialogue be given a prospect. We hope
that the Turkish Cypriot side will have a similar response”, he added.
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