Anastasiades: those who don’t want a solution should say so

The joint declaration, while not constituting a solution of the Cyprus problem, did provide for the setting up of a state that would have a single sovereignty, single personality, and single citizenship, President Nicos Anastasiades said at a press conference last night, the Cyprus Mail reports.

“It is well known that the declaration is not the final solution, but the beginning of a difficult effort to reach the reunification of our country,” he said.

Replying to people who argued that sovereignty would be divided in three, he said that “those pushing this position are confusing the sovereignty of the federal state with the authorities and powers, which the constitution affords the constituent states on internal matters.”

The declaration agreed by the leaders and rubber-stamped on Tuesday, said the status of the constituent states will be “internal” and “shall complement, and not substitute in any way, the united Cyprus citizenship.” It further says that union in whole or in part with any other country or any form of partition or secession or any other unilateral change to the state of affairs will be prohibited.

“It is not the disagreement that saddens me but the repetition of references that have nothing to do with the contents of the declaration,” Anastasiades said.

The president suggested that the disagreement was likely due to disagreement over the form of the solution. He called on those who don’t want a solution should say so. This was also the headline in Politis newspaper.

Anastasiades said it was not his intention to argue with his detractors as he repeated his call for unity ahead of the reunification talks.

The president is lying, says Papadopoulos

DIKO leader Nicholas Papadopoulos yesterday accused President Anastasiades of lying during his press conference and misleading  the people as regards the contents of the joint statement, Politis reports.

Papadopoulos said that for the first time since 1960 there is an agreement whereby sovereignty, nationality and residual powers are given to the other side.

He said the joint communique was in fact a high level agreement between Anastasiades and Eroglu.

 Alithia reports that the Executive Council of DIKO will meet next week to discuss a specific proposal by Papadopoulos as to whether they should stay in government or go.

Turkish Cypriots want Ozdil Nami to attend the talks as well

Turkish Cypriot prime minister Ozkan Yorgancioglu officially announced that his government wants foreign minister Ozdil Nami to participate in the negotiations,
Turkish Cypriot daily Halkin Sesi reports. 

He said that Nami had not participated in the previous negotiation procedure, but that this time he must take part because the government must know what’s going on.

“The government must be in the kitchen as well,” he said.

Meanwhile Turkish Cypriot leader, Dervis Eroglu, has said that all states, which will be established in Cyprus will be sovereign and this could not be expressed as “one and undivided sovereignty”.

“What is important for us is to make an agreement, which will protect the interests of the Turkish Cypriot people,” he said.

Referring to the joint declaration, Eroglu pointed out that the text of the joint declaration could never include a hundred per cent the interest of one side and added that they have tried to find a “middle way” that would satisfy both sides. He reiterated the view that there had been no need for a joint declaration and that he was committed to continue the negotiations from the point they had been left.

Moreover, Turkish Cypriot negotiator Kudret Ozersay has said that they have started a good dialogue with Greek Cypriot negotiator, Andreas Mavroyiannis.

In an interview with Turkish Cypriot daily Kibris, Ozersay noted that he wants to have a dialogue with his Greek Cypriot interlocutor like the one they had in the buffer zone when the joint declaration was read out. “Instead of being face to face with my interlocutor, I prefer being side by side and looking towards a common future, looking forward,” he said.

He added, however, that only the negotiators being good would not be enough and added that the society should also expect a solution based on reconciliation.

Ozersay said that they have no objection to confidence building measures coming to the negotiating table after the negotiations start and added that they could not object to the Greek Cypriot side raising the issue of Varosha if it sees it as a confidence building measure.

“Due to the fact Varosha is a chapter of the negotiations, it would be better to discuss it within that balance, because if you hand it over from now, your position on the table will be influenced by that territorial adjustment,” he added.

Ozersay admitted that he had accepted the job of negotiator because he saw that the Turkish Cypriot side was no longer part of the process and added: “At the moment, we are in the process from every aspect. All international players are directly and often in contact with us. Just this is something which relaxes me.”

Ozersay expressed the view that the negotiating process this time is different than any other process and added that both the leaders and the negotiators will hold visits abroad. It seems that “third countries” will be more involved in the process, he said.

Moreover, Ozersay acknowledged the importance of taking steps towards establishing cooperation between the two sides before the solution with the aim of convincing the people of the benefits and the necessity of a solution.

Taking stock of chances for success

The question on everyone’s lips, says the Cyprus Mail today, is whether the promising start to the negotiations will end in tears yet again or whether this time there is a real chance of success.

Taking stock of the rapid developments after a painful five months of stalling on reaching a deal on the joint statement, political observers yesterday believed that several different circumstances currently in play offer some hope that a deal can be reached.

Unlike ten years ago, when Greek Cypriots rejected the Annan plan on the eve of EU accession, a decade later and 40 years since the Turkish invasion, things have changed dramatically on several levels.

On the domestic front, Cyprus is in the throes of an economic depression and oil and gas have been discovered but cannot yet be fully exploited to get the island out from under the troika’s yoke. Regionally, Turkey’s EU accession has stalled and its relationship with Israel has become intertwined in growing ties between Nicosia and Tel Aviv, and the US is showing a greater interest in the eastern Mediterranean and, by extension, the Cyprus issue.

This was borne out last week during a quick visit by US Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Victoria Nuland, who skipped in for a day and left with a sudden deal on the joint declaration that allowed talks to start on Tuesday.

Analyst Fiona Mullen of Sapienta Economics said this time around, as far as negotiations were concerned, US involvement seemed to be more intense, and it was being welcomed by the Greek Cypriot side.

“That’s new,” she said. “They were very involved in 2004 but were not welcome”.

Mullen believes there were a lot more ‘carrots’ than ‘sticks’ being thrown around this time. “Is it ‘Varosha for gas’ or a package deal including Turkey and the EU?” she said.

However, although the joint declaration was agreed quickly in the end, Mullen said it has taken a long time to get to that point, so she would be surprised if an actual solution was wrapped up in less than a year, she said.

AKEL MP Pambos Papageorgiou said the opposition party was on board with the negotiations and believes overall the atmosphere is more conducive to a solution this time around.

“First of all we have the experience of a failed plan. We are wiser now and we know people’s worries and concerns and what they think, and we know the drawbacks,” he said. “The financial crisis is affecting people and a solution would contribute to the economy, the government in Turkey is more stable and there is no more deep state, Cyprus’ position has been elevated in the region through its ties with Israel, and there is also the oil and gas,” he added.

Political observer Louis Igoumenides said AKEL’s support was a big help for President Nicos Anastasiades.

“Also Anastasiades’ own party (DISY) is under his control and [coalition partner] DIKO is not united. [DIKO leader Nicolas] Papadopoulos has majority support but it’s not easy to leave the government with a 60:40 split,” said Igoumenides of the growing possibility the party might withdraw.

He agrees there is a better chance of success this time, given the interest of the big powers in the new process.

“We also have internal changes due to the economic situation, and individuals who said ‘no’ in 2004 realise that no progress has been made since then and that any new solution would be slightly worse,” Igoumenides added.

“This time, if we succeed in achieving a good solution that is accepted by both sides, people will say yes.”

Security Council looks forward to substantive progress

The UN Security Council has said it hopes the two sides in Cyprus would take advantage of the new round of talks that has just begun to reach a settlement.

“The Security Council reiterates its full support for the process and underlines the benefits that reunification will bring to the island,” a statement said, adding that they looked forward to substantive progress in the negotiations as soon as possible.

The Security Council, in its statement, also expressed deep appreciation “at the perseverance and commitment” of outgoing Special Adviser Alexander Downer over the past five and a half years, and wished him well in his future endeavours. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced on Tuesday immediately after the talks that Downer would be stepping down as his special adviser for Cyprus.

Vasiliou welcomes start of talks and says we must support the effort underway

Former President George Vasiliou on a television talk show yesterday said he was very happy that the two leaders had finally agreed and that we can proceed to talks. “From there on, I know there will be strong opinions but we have to wait and see rather than start criticising,” he said.

He revealed, moreover, that before Cyprus joined the EU in August 2003 after Copenhagen, former president Tasos Papadopoulos had asked him to go to the European Union and persuade the Europeans to accept Cyprus as a member.

“I had replied, of course, for Cyprus I will do anything. But you know the first question they will ask me is, do you accept the Annan plan?” He went on to say that Papadopoulos jumped up angrily and said ‘of course we accept it’.

Vasiliou then asked him “do you authorise me to go and tell the Europeans that yes, we accept the Annan plan?” Papadopoulos replied, “Yes, I authorise you”. Whereupon Vasiliou said “if that’s the case, I can guarantee they will accept us into the EU.”

However, this made him angry because he remembered that when he was President, Papadopoulos had fought him tooth and nail over the Set of Ideas. “I asked Papadopoulos, is the Annan plan so much better than the Set of Ideas? Papadopoulos had replied, “are you joking? The Set of Ideas was the best we’ve ever had. And the Annan plan is better than anything we will have in the future if we don’t accept it.”

Mr Vasiliou went on to say that what’s more important is that the two leaders have now agreed on something and what we are all awaiting for, and what the international community is waiting for, is that we must do our best to support this effort.

“To fight this effort is harmful,” he said. 

In the same chat show, DISY MP Nicos Tornaritis, congratulated another chat show member, former Assistant Attorney General, who is a rejectionist, for coming straight out and admitting that he was against the statement because he was against bizonal bicommunal federation and wishes that others who are criticising the statement had the honesty to come out and say what they really mean.

Archbishop backs president

Archbishop Chrysostomos today publicly lent the president his backing on the issue of the joint declaration that paved the way for resumption of peace talks.

“The joint statement is neither the end-all and be-all, nor is it the end of the [Cyprus] problem,” he told reporters coming out of a one-hour meeting with President Anastasiades, the Cyprus Mail reports.

Rather the joint declaration is a general framework for the coming talks, said Chrysostomos, and at the end of the day what counts is the outcome of the actual negotiations.

Chrysostomos said that he, too, was initially troubled by certain references in the declaration, but added that his concerns have been allayed after consulting constitutional experts.

Ηε went a step further, urging the public – even dissenters – not to get caught up in arguing over the wording of a document. Torpedoing the negotiations before they began would be pointless, he said.

Instead, attention should be focused on the negotiations, so that “nothing negative slips” into the solution presented to the people in a referendum.

Chrysostomos called on people, whatever their objections may be, to get behind the president and his negotiating team.

During the meeting with the President, the Archbishop proposed launching a public awareness campaign to inform the public about what a federal solution will be.

“It will be a sort of partnership…and we shall no longer be on our own. We shall have to sacrifice something, and the Turks as well.”