Parties agree to say ‘no’ to Turkish Cypriot road map

The President’s briefing of party leaders on the Cyprus problem on Friday brought a rare moment of consensus on two points: a rejection of the Turkish Cypriot road map for the peace talks, and refusal to enter into a give-and-take process at present, the Cyprus Mail reports.

Government spokesman Nicos Christodoulides said the party leaders agreed with the president to hold a three-day meeting of the National Council before Anastasiades leaves for New York to participate in the UN General Assembly.

The lengthy meeting is expected to result in agreement on how the Greek Cypriot side should proceed in the peace process. The president also agreed to brief parliament on the developments in the Cyprus problem behind closed doors.

Based on party leaders’ statements after the briefing, it soon transpired that the only agreement on substance between the political parties and government was on the president’s rejection of Eroglu’s road map for a settlement, and his view that the peace process was not ripe to move to a third phase of give-and-take, the paper says.

AKEL leader Andros Kyprianou said it was important to send a strong message to the Turkish side that the parties unanimously agree “we cannot go to the next phase of give-and-take”. Kyprianou called for domestic unity to confront “Turkish intransigence which is evidently growing, and responsible for the impasse” in the peace talks. He once again called on the president to adopt past convergences agreed between Demetris Christofias and Mehmet Ali Talat, while maintaining the right to negotiate further those chapters which he has strong views on. Only this way will Eroglu be forced to take a real stand on past convergences, he said, as he is insisting on past convergences without clarifying which convergences he’s talking about.

DIKO leader Nicolas Papadopoulos said the briefing confirmed the “sad and unpleasant” fact that the process is at risk of deadlock, both in terms of procedure and substance. “Unfortunately, our side’s tactic and strategy has failed,” he said. “The Turkish side remains with its intransigent positions, while we are left with our concessions and the generous offers we made in the joint declaration.” He added that, what’s worse, was that there is no plan B, only puzzlement and confusion on how to proceed.

EDEK’s Yiannakis Omirou said it was obvious the Turkish side was preparing for a “blame game” in the event of a deadlock. Greens deputy Giorgos Perdikis said the president rightly rejected Eroglu’s road map. “We also support him on the position that past convergences should not be used, many of which constitute very painful concessions for the Greek Cypriots,” he said.

EVROKO leader Demetris Syllouris welcomed Nicosia and Athens’ intention to secure greater EU involvement in the talks so as to base a solution on EU values and principles.

Citizens’ Alliance leader Giorgos Lillikas said he was “satisfied” with the two counts of unanimity in the party leaders’ council on the road map and inadequate groundwork to justify a give-and-take process.

Beyond that, he said he was very concerned that Eroglu’s positions do not just differ on procedure, but on substance.

The Greek Cypriots must prepare a strategy to deal with a possible impasse, but also decide whether it serves their interests to keep the talks on life support, he said.