National Council takes no decisions

The National Council yesterday discussed the latest efforts in the peace talks and measures to curb the sale of Greek Cypriot properties in the north, without concluding on either, the Cyprus Mail reports.

According to government spokesman Christos Stylianides, decisions on both issues have been deferred to later this month, when the Council meets again on January 24.

Stylianides told reporters after the Council meeting that UN Special Adviser Alexander Downer was due to meet with Anastasiades on Monday.

“The solution to the Cyprus problem is the basis of the political philosophy of this government. That is why we do not accept the attribution of any blame to our side when we have show that we are doing our utmost so that a substantive dialogue can start,” he said.

He did not rule out the prospect of a meeting in New York between the two leaders and the UN S-G saying that for the Greek Cypriots, the aim was the resumption of talks in any format, so long as the basis for a solution is clear, and there are prospects for substantive dialogue leading to a successful conclusion.

He dismissed comments by opposition AKEL leader Andros Kyprianou that the government had wasted four months on experimentations in the peace talks.

EDEK leader Yiannakis Omirou and Greens leader Giorgos Perdikis came out of the meeting suggesting the future was bleak for the talks.

DIKO leader Nicolas Papadopoulos said the effort was to avoid the dilemma of “either accepting Mr Eroglu’s terms or heading to a deadlock”. What concerns DIKO is for the talks to start on a clear basis so no one has the opportunity to table unacceptable positions at the negotiating table, he added.

As regards the issue of how to to curb applications to the Turkish Cypriot property commission, Stylianides said the matter was “very difficult, very complex” and had legal dimensions.

He said the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights deeming the IPC an effective domestic remedy had created “terrible problems”, highlighting the danger of time passing with the Cyprus problem remaining unsolved.

Interior Minister Socrates Hasikos said that the only sure way to stop Greek Cypriots selling their properties in the north was to solve the Cyprus problem.

“Some measures have been proposed, but I want to be completely honest. There is only one way, a Cyprus solution, everything else is a half-measure, and that is where we need to focus our efforts.”

He acknowledged that the deep economic crisis did not allow the state to buy refugees’ properties in the occupied areas from them, “even at 10 per cent of their value as they are being given in the occupied areas”.

The Cyprus Mail concludes by saying that to date, 5,714 applications had been filed with the IPC of which 463 have been concluded through friendly settlements and 11 through formal hearing. The IPC has paid out GBP 143 m to the applicants as compensation so far. It has only ruled for some form of restitution in seven cases.

Eroglu called to Ankara

Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu was quoted by the Turkish Cypriot press as saying that his side has submitted its “last draft” on the issue of the joint communique. He said no agreement on the Cyprus problem could be reached through the “exchange of draft papers” without first sitting at the negotiating table.

Kibris reports that he has been invited to Ankara in the coming days to discuss the Cyprus problem with Turkish President Abdullah Gul and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Turkish Cypriot foreign minister Ozdil Nami appeared more positive, saying that the two sides have achieved “serious convergences” in the joint declaration and only “minor differences” separate them which could be overcome.

UN denies the two leaders will be called to New York for the moment

UNFICYP spokesman Michel Bonnardeaux said the possibility of the UN Secretary-General calling a meeting of the two leaders in New York, as was reported in the press, was currently not on the cards, the Cyprus Mail reports.

“No, right now the plan is still the same. The plan is to get the work done here which is what Mr. Downer is doing,” the UN official said.

Downer, who arrives in Cyprus on Sunday, will stay on the island for a week before heading to New York to brief the UN Security Council on January 22, and “see what the next steps shall be,” said Bonnardeaux. The UN Security Council is expected to vote on the renewal of UNFICYP’s mandate on January 28.

Anastasiades suggests shorter communique in letter to UN S-G

President Nicos Anastasiades has sent a letter to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on January 2 proposing a “substantial, simple and significantly shorter” joint declaration between the two sides, the Cyprus Mail reports.

He wrote argued that throughout the negotiations, he has shown good will and an open mind to meet legitimate concerns, despite opposition from the majority of political parties.

He could not say the same for his counterpart: “Regretfully, I have been faced with a constant effort to erode the basis of the settlement to be reached and the projection of the notion of separate sovereign states.”

“If the process is to stand any chance of success, the goal posts cannot be moved continuously. It must start with a basic common understanding of where we want to go and how we can best get there.

Hence there should be no space for ambiguity or ‘creative thinking’ around the notion of sovereignty,” he said.

The Greek Cypriots’ last draft proposal on a joint declaration submitted on December 18, was “tangible proof” of his resolve and determination to start the peace talks “despite the serious apprehensions and strong reservations raised by the majority of the leaders of political parties and at the expense of serious political capital.”

He accused his interlocutors of failing to have a vision of reunification, given their rejection of the latest draft, despite the Greek Cypriot compromises contained within.

“While I was aspiring to a meaningful negotiation in order to reunite the country, the Turkish Cypriot side was elaborating the terms of an eventual separation,” he said.

Anastasiades suggested as an alternative, “the swift adoption of a substantial, simple and significantly shorter joint declaration” as the answer to the Turkish approach which was leading the process to an impasse.

Such a declaration should contain: a) a clear reference to the High Level Agreements and the relevant UN resolutions; b) clear reference to membership in the EU and to the primacy of human rights and fundamental freedoms of all Cypriots; and c) a clear outline of the methodology of the talks where all issues are seen as interdependent and are not artificially fragmented.

The president told the UN chief: “The settlement has to be such that nobody should be able to challenge the unity of the federal state or undermine it, or anticipate its dissolution with a view to promoting secessionist actions or attempts to achieve international recognition of the illegal entity in the occupied areas of Cyprus.”

“It is not enough to seek a ‘balanced compromise’. We must all ensure that the settlement will be viable and durable in time and, therefore, has to incarnate the principles and values that the people of Cyprus also have the legitimate expectation to see upheld, he concluded.”