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.