Eide: no prospects for resumption of talks

The UN Secretary General’s Special Adviser Espen Barth Eide has conceded that, despite his efforts, chances are slim for the resumption of direct Cyprus peace talks in the near future, the Cyprus Mail reports.

“We are not giving up…but right now there are no prospects for an immediate meeting [of the two leaders] and I think that will be true for quite awhile,” the UN official said on Wednesday.

He was speaking to reporters coming out of a meeting with President Nicos Anastasiades. He said he was here to listen to the two leaders.

Although both leaders were in favour of resuming talks, it had not been possible to resolve complications, he said. “I’m concerned, I’m increasingly concerned that things are not moving and I’m afraid that as they are not moving they are de facto moving in the wrong direction,” the special adviser added. “If you remember in October I said that if this hydrocarbon crisis will last for a few weeks or even a few months, it would not threaten the process itself. Now it’s lingering on, we are way into the next year and I think is really important that everybody now tries to do what they can to get over this.”

Eide spoke of a paradox, in that there is greater agreement on the future than on the present. Whereas the sides agree that hydrocarbons should be the competency of the central government in a reunified state, they cannot agree on how to unlock the current stalemate.

The UN official said that during a lull in natural gas drilling by the Greek Cypriots, and a simultaneous halt in seismic surveys by Turkey in Cyprus’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ), the UN had tried to work out a formula to bring the two leaders back to the table.

But the efforts failed due to a number of factors, he said, without elaborating.
This was unfortunate, Eide said, because whatever disagreements existed on the issue of hydrocarbons were less severe than divergences on such thorny subjects as property and territory.
Eide welcomed Anastasiades’ positive contribution, which however did not succeed in ending the standoff.

“The difference on the issue is so deep that it prevents any direct talks about anything, which I think is highly unfortunate because we should now be at the table so that this issues can actually be discussed,” said Eide. “And I reiterate that there is a positive step from Mr Anastasiades and this step should be followed with some kind of response from the other side.”

He was referring to last week’s overture by Anastasiades to the Turkish Cypriots, saying that the island’s hydrocarbons resources could be discussed at the tail end of the talks process.
Previously Nicosia had ruled out discussing hydrocarbons prior to a comprehensive settlement.

Anastasiades said after the meeting with Eide the issue was not whether hydrocarbons were on the table or not. “It has already been agreed that the management of the natural resources comes under the competencies of the central government,” Anastasiades said. “It has been discussed and it has been agreed. Also agreed has been the issue of the allocation of the total resources of the federal state among which are also the natural resources. That is why the Turkish Cypriots never raised an issue during the joint communique or during the exchange of the proposals. Consequently, it is not the first time that it is being raised. But there is also no way that the issue will be discussed before the completion of the total agreement, and always with implementation of whatever will be agreed after the solution.”

On Tuesday, Eide had met separately with Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu. After that meeting, the UN official warned that the deadlock has started damaging the peace process.


Eide said he would return to the island before January 26, when he was due to brief the UN Security Council on Cyprus, in view of the renewal of the UNFICYP mandate.

On his next visit here, he said, the aim will be to clinch an agreement between the leaders on a schedule of meetings and a timeline. Achieving that goal would allow him to report back to the Security Council that prospects for a solution still existed, Eide said.

Government unhappy with UNSG report           

The government on Thursday expressed “strong displeasure” over the UN Secretary General’s report on the international organisation’s operation in Cyprus, for failing to cite Turkey’s economic zone violations and for speaking of Turkish Cypriot isolation, the Cyprus Mail reports.

Ban Ki-moon’s report covering UN activities in Cyprus between June 21 and December 15, 2014 was given to UN Security Council members ahead of a discussion on UNFICYP’s mandate.

Government spokesman, Christodoulides said the report made no clear reference to the continuing violations of Cyprus’ sovereign rights and there wasn’t any reference to Turkey’s “illegal seismic surveys” inside the island’s exclusive economic zone by a research vessel, Barbaros,  accompanied by warships.

“The report outlines the events in a manner that does not reflect reality,” Christodoulides said. “The equal distance approach under the pretext of impartiality emboldens Turkey and further complicates the current situation.”

The UNSG only gave a brief outline of the events that led to the interruption of the talks and stressed the need for a prompt resumption of negotiations, appealing to the two sides to find a way to accomplish this without delay.

“I have noted that both communities can ill afford to perpetuate the status quo, in particular in the light of the wider regional context,” Ban said. “I reiterate my call to both sides to refrain from the “blame game” and from negative rhetoric about each other.”

The report also includes “exceptionally unfortunate claims” regarding supposed obstacles and restrictions that hinder the economic development of the Turkish Cypriot community, the spokesman said.

“Any economic inequality between the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities is the direct result of the continuing illegal occupation of part of the territory of the Republic of Cyprus by Turkish troops,” Christodoulides said.

He added that the government planned to protest at the highest level.

In his 11-page report, Ban said an active civil society and the continued development of economic, social, cultural, sporting or similar ties and contacts between the two communities could provide critical support to political leaders and help them make the necessary compromises at the negotiating table.

“Similarly, the removal of restrictions and barriers that impede the economic development of the Turkish Cypriot community will promote trust. Such a development will help to address the isolation concerns of the Turkish Cypriots, as well as their inability to participate meaningfully in an interconnected world, thereby preparing Cyprus for a comprehensive settlement.

Ban urged the leaders of the two communities to exert efforts to create a climate conducive to achieving greater economic and social parity between the two sides, including through joint projects and increased trade, which will make an eventual reunification easier and more likely.

The UNSG’s report is used to inform members of the Security Council ahead of a vote for the renewal of UNFICYP’s mandate, scheduled for January 28.

UN special representative Lisa Buttenheim will brief the UNSC on January 26, the Cyprus Mail concludes.

Anastasiades angry over UNSG report                 

President Nicos Anastasiades has said he would not be blackmailed into returning to the negotiating table and warned that he should not be taken for granted just because he supported a reunification blueprint in 2004.

“I will not bow, under any circumstances, and be dragged into talks under threat or blackmail,” Anastasiades said in an interview with private Mega television on Thursday evening.

It followed the publication of the United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’s report on UNFICYP, which the government slammed as one-sided and failing to reflect reality.

A displeased Anastasiades said the report was an indirect way of forcing a change in policy – i.e. to return to the negotiating table irrespective of the violations of Cyprus’ sovereign rights by Turkey, and discuss joint exploitation and joint decision-making of the island’s natural resources.

“So that Turkish Cypriots become partners in the Republic’s natural wealth and also have the right to choose plan B (partition),” the president said.

Anastasiades suggested that his refusal to take part in such a dialogue led, under pressure from certain powers, to the creation of a negative climate reflected in UNSG’s report – “an unacceptable text” that was reminiscent of 2004.

“Some people have taken for granted that just because I supported the Annan plan, I would accept any solution,” he said.

He added that he had received promises from UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon, US Secretary of State John Kerry, and US Vice President Joe Biden, the Russian foreign minister and even Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, that Turkey was ready to go ahead with talks at the start of October as agreed.

What’s more, he added, the ambassador of a big power, he did not name which, had told him that before the start of the talks, Turkey would lift the embargo on Cyprus-flagged vessels.

“Instead, five days later a Navtex was issued (announcement of seismic surveys inside Cyprus’ exclusive economic zone or EEZ),” he said. “It is the first time I say it, but patience has its limits.”

Turkey proposes escrow account for Turkish Cypriots

Turkey’s foreign minister Melvut Cavusoglu on Wednesday accused Nicosia of deliberately excluding Turkish Cypriots from sharing in the island’s wealth.
In comments to Turkey’s Anatolia news agency, Cavusoglu proposed setting up an escrow account with the share of natural gas revenues allotted to the Turkish Cypriots, the Cyprus Mail writes.

The account could be held in trust by either the UN or the World Bank, he said.
Once this was done, he added, negotiations in Cyprus could resume.
Greek Cypriots have “failed the sincerity test,” Cavusoglu noted, claiming that Nicosia is coming up with all sorts of excuses to avoid sharing the island’s natural resources.

“We proposed establishing a [joint hydrocarbons] commission, they [Greek Cypriots] said no, because that would amount to recognition [of the breakaway regime]. Then we proposed setting up a private company, again they rejected this. Then what else can be done?”
Turkey is not opposed to hydrocarbons prospecting in the eastern Mediterranean, provided that this was not unilateral, Cavusoglu added.

Cavusoglu was due in the north for talks with the Turkish Cypriot leadership later on Wednesday.


Tusk and Davutoğlu agree on need for Cyprus solution

The President of the European Council Donald Tusk and Turkey’s Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu have agreed on the need for a comprehensive settlement to the Cyprus problem, the Cyprus Mail reports.

“The status quo has endured for too long. It is very important to ensure a positive climate so that the negotiations can resume”, said President Tusk in a press statement issued on Thursday following his meeting with Davutoğlu in Brussels.

He also noted that he had reaffirmed the importance the European Union attaches to its relations with Turkey. “Turkey is a key partner for us. Turkey`s accession process remains the main framework of our relations. On our side, we will continue to support opening new chapters when the conditions are met,” he said.

Erdogan torpedoed the talks

A front page article in Politis newspaper yesterday quotes government circles as saying that the government had assurances from US, UN and Turkish Cypriot circles that Turkey was not going to renew the NAVTEX and send out the Barbarosa again but wanted to give the process a chance to work. The paper says the decision came from Erdogan’s office rather than that of Davutoglu, who the US and the international community find more amenable. It seems, the paper says, that once again Erdogan has caught out the international community as happened with Biden’s visit and the effort to open Varosha. The paper says this is because of forthcoming parliamentary elections in Turkey and because the next few months before the Turkish Cypriot elections are a dead period. It concludes by saying that any developments will most likely happen after the summer.

Turkish Cypriot elections

An opinion poll has shown that Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu has a clear lead in the runup to the elections in the north in April, according to Politis.

The polls give Eroglu 31%, CTP candidate Sibel Siber 20%, independent candidate Mustafa Akinci 11%, and former negotiator Kudret Ozersai 5%.

Eide returns next week

The Special Adviser of the UN Secretary-General on Cyprus Espen Barth Eide will return briefly to the next week, in order 
to ascertain directly from the leaders their views on the current impasse in the talks and prospects for its resolution, 
the UN office in Nicosia has said.

The Special Adviser also plans to use the trip to prepare his briefing to the Security Council, scheduled on 26 January.
 “In the meantime Eide continues to be in contact with all relevant actors, and in the lead-up to his visit he urges the leaders to remain focused on resuming the talks”, a UN press release says.


Akel and the government really on the same page

As AKEL’s leader Andros Kyprianou struggleds to differentiate his party’s position from President Nicos Anastasiades’ decision to agree to incorporate the hydrocarbons issue in the talks on the Cyprus problem, Foreign Minister Ioannis Kasoulides has asserted that the government’s position was essentially aligned with that of the communist party, the Cyprus Mail reports.

Following a party leaders’ meeting on Monday, Anastasiades had issued a statement insisting he would not be returning to the peace talks, but for the first time conceded that hydrocarbons could be discussed as part of the final phase of negotiations, and only after territorial adjustments have been discussed.

The move was considered a major concession by opposition parties who criticised him vehemently, with the notable exception of AKEL, which refrained from offering a public position.

Media reports meanwhile suggested that AKEL had agreed with the government’s strategy during the party leaders’ meeting, but Kyprianou promptly denied this during the night-time news programmes, claiming that the government was just trying to show it had broader support than it actually had.

But while every other party criticised the government for making a “dangerous concession” with nothing to show in return, Kyprianou’s charge was precisely the opposite - that Anastasiades hadn’t been clear and bold enough, the paper says.

“We suggested that the President make explicit proposals,” Kyprianou told state radio yesterday. “Turkish Cypriots have rights, solution or no solution. There should have been a clear reference that revenues belonging to the Turkish Cypriot community will be deposited to a special fund that will become available when the Cyprus problem is solved.”

“The issue of hydrocarbons has been resolved, but the President’s statement did not say that,” Kyprianou added. “The only thing left to agree on is the communities’ share of the revenue.”

Kasoulides claimed that AKEL’s leader was just trying to find ways to look as if it was different.  Anastasiades’ statement, he said, was meant to offer the UN special envoy, Espen Barth Eide, a way out of the deadlock.

“President Anastasiades’ statement was not only aimed at domestic audiences – it was also intended for international stakeholders and the United Nations,” Kasoulides said.

He agreed with Kyprianou that the hydrocarbons issue has largely been resolved and that the only issue left to agree was each community’s share of the proceeds. He said this was also contained in the Memorandum of Understanding, adding that the Finance ministry was preparing a bill that will not only designate the percentage of revenues that will be deposited in a fund for future generations, as per the Norwegian model, but will also designate the share allocated to each community.

Face-saving formula needed for talks to resume

                       

An editorial in the Cyprus Mail says that Anastasiades concession that the sharing of the hydrocarbons between the two communities could be discussed at the final stages of the settlement talks, when the territorial adjustments were being negotiated, was obviously not good enough for Turkey. One of Turkey’s demands had been satisfied – to discuss the sharing of the hydrocarbons at the peace talks – but the second, the suspension of drilling by the Cyprus Republic, was not.

This may have been the reason Ankara issued another NAVTEX 24 hours after Anastasiades’ proposal was made public. We assume Turkey, which always makes a point of underlining its position of strength, was not prepared to make any concession before all its demands were satisfied. There is a tiny probability that, despite the issuing of the NAVTEX, the Barbaros would not sail into the Cyprus EEZ, but Turkey has not accustomed us to idle threats, let alone acts of goodwill for the sake of the peace talks.

Poor old Anastasiades has come under attack from all the political parties for his proposal – the hardliners have lambasted him for agreeing to the inclusion of hydrocarbons in the peace talks, while AKEL has accused him of not making a concrete proposal for the sharing of the natural gas. The attacks would have been an irrelevance if his concession led to a resumption of the talks, but the Turks have refused to budge putting him in a very awkward position, the paper says.

The deadlock is threatening to become permanent. The only person who might be able to break it is the UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy to Cyprus Espen Barth Eide who is reportedly in contact with both sides. It is a thankless task as both sides are entrenched in their positions, but everything now depends on the Norwegian diplomat finding a face-saving formula that would allow the resumption of talks.

However, with the Turks insisting on their demand for the suspension of the drilling and Anastasiades not willing to suffer the humiliation of giving in to it, the prospects of success of Eide’s salvage operation seem rather dim, the paper concludes.

Now what?

Politis columnist Giorgos Kaskanis says all well and good, we’ve broken off the talks, made all demarches to the EU, got a mention and a resolution, but what do we do now?

All that Anastasiades’ handlings in the end have achieved is to displease everyone, both in Cyprus and abroad, without gaining anything of substance.

But the buck stops with Anastasiades himself, the writer says.  He is the one who must decide whether to continue a policy of trying to please the rejectionists who, in any case cannot ever be pleased, or whether to take the bull by the horns and create new conditions that will lead out of the current impasse. This can only happen if he undertakes substantial and decisive initiatives towards solving the Cyprus problem rather than to pursue the pointless effort of trying to get recognition for the rights of the Cyprus republic.

It is high time, the writer says, that we all recognise that the outcome of what’s happening today is either a permanent solution or permanent partition, with the exploitation of the natural gas being doubtful.

Talk to the people not the parties

In an open letter to President Anastasiades, blogger Constantinos Odysseos says it is doubtful how he will achieve his aim of a bizonal bicommunal federation by trying to please those who don’t want such a solution, but who prefer some other, as yet unspecified (because this brief 40 year time span hasn’t been enough time for them to find exactly what they want), as well as those who want a two-state solution, ie partition (which people are talking openly about now in articles in the press and on the internet).

The writer suspects, however, that we will end up with partition and will be pulling our hair out, as we have done many a time in the past, as a result of our permanent state of confusion that characterises our positions.

There can never be “unity” in the handling of the Cyprus problem, he tells the president. So forget about it! We don’t all want the same thing. Change the way you are thinking and stop believing that the parties represent the people. The vast majority of the people, no longer trust the parties, and if they vote for them it’s only because they have no choice. So talk to the people, he says, address the citizens themselves. They are the ones who will end up having to pay the price if things go wrong in the Cyprus problem again.

Tell us, he goes on, what the facts are. Explain what bizonal federation means, its advantages and disadvantages. Challenge those who are advocating a new strategy, a new basis, new nonsense, to explain exactly what they mean. And finally, explain to the people what partition really means, so that the ordinary citizen stops flirting with this devilish idea that will turn the Greeks of Cyprus into a minority if it ever becomes official.

Standoff continues

A meeting held yesterday between President Nicos Anastasiades and political party leaders seemed to affirm the continuing standoff with Turkey in the hydrocarbons issue, even though Turkey’s NAVTEX advisory expired on December 30 and was not extended.  The Turkish research vessel Barbaros has been anchored off the occupied port of Famagusta ever since, apparently awaiting instructions, according to the Cyprus Mail.

In a written statement issued after the meeting, Anastasiades said that, “As long as Turkey is in violation of the Republic’s sovereignty, it is impossible for me to participate in the designated dialogue on solving the Cyprus problem,” Anastasiades said in a written statement.

He reiterated that the management of the country’s natural resources rests with the internationally recognised government in Cyprus. “Consequently, actions that question the sovereign rights of the Republic of Cyprus, on the pretext of protecting the rights of the Turkish Cypriots, are not only incommensurate with international law, but are also groundless.”

In order for Turkish Cypriots to be involved in the management and exploitation of the island’s natural resources, added Anastasiades, the Cyprus problem needed to be solved first.

Anastasiades said natural gas should be the “strongest incentive” for substantive reunification talks. The Greek Cypriot side would not resume talks under threats or blackmail, he said.

Anastasiades has said he would not engage in talks with Turkish Cypriots as long as the Barbaros roamed in Cypriot waters. However, although the Barbaros is currently idle, Turkey could presumably issue a new one at any time.

Barbaros still waiting

The Cyprus News Agency reported on Saturday that the Barbaros will remain anchored in Famagusta awaiting instructions on whether to resume exploration in Cyprus’ Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) or return to Turkey, depending on the UN special envoy’s Espen Barth Eide’s efforts to bring the Greek Cypriot side back to the negotiating table.


Citing sources in Turkey, the CNA refuted reports in the Turkish Cypriot press that the Barbaros would be dispatched for further research in the Cypriot EEZ on January 5, saying no decision has been made yet on any future activity by the Barbaros, as the Turkish government has allowed Eide some time at his request to undertake efforts to resolve the crisis.


The same sources, according to the CNA, said that the marching orders to be issued to the Barbaros would depend on the Greek Cypriot side’s actions – meaning whether it would start new drilling – and noted that if Eide’s efforts bore fruit the vessel would return to Turkey, otherwise a new NavTex (navigational telex) for exploration in Cyprus’ EEZ would be issued by Ankara.

However, official sources told the Sunday Mail that it was the Cyprus government that was awaiting developments early in the week before making its next move. On the strength of information that Turkey plans to engage the Barbaros – on a pre-planned submarine drill – in a different area near the Greek island Kastelorizo off Turkey’s south-western shores from January 12, the Cyprus government is poised to announce its readiness to return to the table as soon as the tip is corroborated.

Eide meanwhile caused a stir on Friday when he was quoted as saying that “the hydrocarbons issue has been linked to the Cyprus problem […] and cannot be unlinked.”

The people are solving the Cyprob themselves             

An article by Loucas Charalambous in the Cyprus Mail says that while our politicians continued to engage in familiar demagoguery, Greek Cypriots with properties in the north seem to have decided to solve the Cyprus problem on their own, by selling their properties to Turkey.

Phileleftheros reported on Tuesday that so far a total of €240 million has been paid out in compensation to Greek Cypriots for properties in the occupied area, related to 619 applications for compensation that had been examined and approved so far and representing 12 million square metres of land. The total number of applications submitted was 6,076. In short, 10 per cent of applications submitted have been settled. Moreover, 80 per cent of applications were submitted in the last two years of the Christofias administration and the first years of president Anastasiades’ term in office.

The writer goes on to say that he doesn’t think these numbers say anything to our illustrious political wizards, or that they are particularly worried about them, as the only thing they are really interested in is their political careers, which for 40 years now have been built on the exploitation of the Cyprus problem. If one day the problem ceases to exist they would have nothing to focus their demagoguery on, deceiving the victims of the Turkish invasion that they were working night and day to restore their rights. Things are that simple, he says.

The huge number of citizens applying to the commission means that they have realised that what they are hearing from our political demagogues about liberation, return of the refugees, etc are nothing more than obscene lies, cheap slogans and cynical populism. Nobody believes them any longer as recent polls seem to indicate – 80 per cent of people consider them corrupt crooks.

Charalambous says the fact that the big wave of applications began in 2011 is especially interesting as up until 2010 many had believed Christofias’ false promise that he would be the president to bring about a settlement. But this myth was exposed when he torpedoed the negotiations for the sake of preserving his alliance with DIKO, paving the way for Mehmet Ali Talat’s defeat to Dervis Eroglu in the elections in the north.

Even the most gullible fool realised that Christofias was no different to his predecessor, Tassos Papadopoulos, and that there was no possibility of a settlement. More or less the same applies to Anastasiades who has greatly disappointed all those who had naively hoped that he would pursue a settlement. He is no different to Christofias, who was no different to Papadopoulos, who was no different to Spyros Kyprianou. They all showed that from the moment they sat in the presidential chair their only concern was to stay in it. A settlement would mean the loss of that chair and none of them was ready for such a big sacrifice.

People have, at long last, realised that partition does not bother our political demagogues who are not prepared to risk their careers to stop it happening.

He concludes by marvelling that the politicians still have the gall to attack those who apply to the Commission, accusing them of committing treason by selling their properties, while ignoring the fact that they have committed the biggest treason of all, that of making partition permanent.

Coffeeshop

Four months was all it took for our politicians to start baying for the blood of the Secretary-General’s special advisor Espen Barth Eide, says the Sunday Mail’s satirical column, Coffeeshop. He was appointed at the start of September and by the start of January all the politicians turned on him.

We showed commendable restraint and avoided making a fuss after he went to the EU and tried to interfere in our efforts to register halloumi as a protected designation of origin. But there was no way our political parties would ignore his devious attempt to put hydrocarbons on the peace talks agenda in order to get the dialogue going again.

Responding to Eide’s provocative and unacceptable statement, Junior said that as long as Turkey did not respect the sovereign rights of the Cyprus Republic, “additional measures must be taken.” These “measures could cause a political cost to Turkey,” he said without specifying them. This was not all he had in mind.

“In addition, it is an imperative to carve a new collective and comprehensive strategy in the Cyprus problem, which would disengage us from the impasse we entered via the Anastasiades-Eroglu agreement and which would utilise the three advantages of the Cyprus Republic that are: a) that fact that we are the only recognised state on the island; b) the fact that we are a member of the EU and the euro-zone; c) the fact that there are hydrocarbons in the Cypriot EEZ.”

He forgot to mention the fourth and most important advantage we have – the biggest concentration of ultra-smart politicians, in absolute numbers, in the world.