The Sunday papers praise Christofias

Jean Christou writing in the Sunday Mail says it's been a hell of a week in Cyprus politics. After three years of nothing except moaning and griping across the buffer zone, two major stumbling blocks to progress have vanished almost overnight - the decision to get talks started and the opening of Ledra Street. The developments have exposed the previous government of Tassos Papadopoulos as the intransigent party. So when UN Under-Secretary-General Lynn Pascoe arrives on the island today with his team to evaluate whether there is enough good will for the Secretary-General to launch negotiations, he may find himself drowning in it. She quotes a source close to the process as saying "This is the political will the UN has been calling for for so long and now they have it.” She also quotes former Cyprus envoy Alvaro de Soto,who wrote in the International Herald Tribune on Friday: “The history of attempts to overcome the division of Cyprus can be measured out in false dawns.” But this time he said the international community should be excited because no one had to force Christofias to the meeting last Friday and hopes that perhaps Talat and Christofias can persuade their people to think of themselves as Cypriots as opposed to merely Greek or Turkish Cypriots.

Coffeeshop bids farewell to Michael Moller, the ice-cool Dane, who was called back to the UN after a two-year stint in Cyprus. He says rumours suggest that the Turks wanted Moller out because they considered him pro-Greek, and that the new UN Secretary-General had given assurance to Ankara that he would be recalled. Another explanation for his recall, just when the peace process started moving, was that he had proved an ineffectual special representative. He had failed to get the July 8 agreement moving. After 50-plus meetings over a 15-month period, he failed to get the two sides to agree on anything, which was not a great advertisement for his mediation capabilities. The writer suspects that what clinched the UN's decision was the public praise he had received from the Ethnarch. Bearing in mind that the Ethnarch had a bad word to say about all UN special representatives who served in Cyprus over the years, his praise of Moller must have been seen as proof of the Dane’s ineffectiveness, a kiss of death. Coffeeshop also refers to Simerini's columnist Savvas Iacovides who in an article last week claimed that when Ledra Street opens it will be much easier for the Turkish secret service MIT to supply drugs to young people in the free areas so that it would destroy their morale and shatter their resistance, something the paper has been for years warning about.

Former Foreign Minister, Nicos Rolandis in an article talks of a rainbow after the rain. He says five sterile and counterproductive years have elapsed, rife with paranoid objectives. We were isolated and we distanced ourselves from the possibility of a solution to our problem. We abandoned the occupied north, which is now flooded with buildings on Greek properties. The Turkish settlers have reached the figure of 200,000-250,000 and there is no practical way for the majority of them to go. But most importantly we have alienated the average Turkish Cypriot, who was ready to live with us in a united country back in 2004. It appears that since then this wish has evaporated. Even so, the meeting of Christofias and Talat has brought about many smiles. It appears that God and Allah, in a joint gesture, have sent the rainbow of hope to all of us, one that will not be shining for very long. By their handshake, Christofias and Talat have sent the message that they intend to work for a solution of our problem; that for them the glass is half-full, not half-empty.

Loucas Charalambous writing in the both the Mail and Politis sings Chrisofias' praises for opening a new chapter in the political history of this country , a rare occasion when a leader of the Greek Cypriot side dared to go against the current of populism and demagoguery that have blighted the handling of the national problem . What actually happened on March 21 was that our president accepted the proposal made by Talat to Tassos Papadopoulos last September; nothing more and nothing less. At the time, Talat had proposed the establishment of five committees to discuss the basic aspects of the Cyprus problem for two to three months, after which the two leaders would have engaged in an intensive bout of negotiations with the aim of reaching an overall settlement by the end of 2008. Nothing has changed. The only difference is the president. Last September, we had a president who did not want a settlement because he did not want to surrender his power, whereas now we have a president who, at least gives the impression that he wants a settlement. But the most significant contribution made by the new president was his public statement about the culpability of the Greek Cypriot side in relation to the collapse of the Cyprus Republic in 1963. It was the first time that a Cyprus President made such a bold, public admission, at long last dispelling the official myth about the “Turkish mutiny” with which two generations of Greek Cypriots had been brought up. Turkish Cypriots should appreciate this. This column has for 20 years stressed the need of this admission being made by our side – the admission of our responsibility (Makarios’ to be more specific) for the bloody clashes of 1963, and all the ills that followed as a result of our foolish behaviour. This is why I feel obliged to congratulate Christofias for his political boldness.I am certain that if he displays the same boldness when the time comes for the tough decisions for a settlement all his political sins will be forgiven and he will earn an honourable place in history. What else could he want? Politis leads with an interview with former President Glavcos Clerides its headline saying "This may be the last chance". Clerides says that over the years the UN has offered its good services in the effort to find a solution to the Cyprus problem. One after another the proposals were rejected by one side or the other. The question arises does the political will exist for a solution? What we haven't quite realised is that when the UN talks of a solution it means an agreed solution. None of the UN resolutions wants to impose a solution. But they gave us what we wanted - one state, one sovereignty, one nationality, whereas the Turks wanted two states. But they also gave the Turks what they wanted - political equality. We must understand the solution we will find will be a compromise. Asked what he thought Christofias' position was, he said he believes he must realise this is the last chance for a solution to the Cyprus problem.

Makarios Droushiotis reviews Christofias first month in power under the headline "Fresh air in the Cyprus problem". He says internationally Cyprus has emerged from its isolation, foreign officials have started to visit Cyprus, relations with Sweden have been restored and Athens has breathed a sigh of relief at having got out of the deadlocks that the former President had put it in. More importantly at home the T/C side has changed its attitude towards us, suspicion as to our motives has gone and a climate of reconciliation has been created. The meeting between Christofias and Talat has been the most radical of all time because both leaders committed themselves from now to direct talks before the summer. This is what the joint communique says and this is what will happen. The committees will succeed because the political will exists on both sides. Both sides know that this will be their last chance and if they fail partition will set in for good, which they both recognise will be a disaster for Cyprus and they don't want to put their name to it. The did not get stuck on insistence on the Annan plan on the one side or on the 8 July agreement on the other. They just convinced each other they each want a solution and that was the main thing. After that the rest was easy. The committees will prepare the material for the direct talks in 3 months time. What more can they do than resort to the work that the UN did over 35 years of negotiations, pinpoint the areas where they agree and bridge the gaps where their differences are small and negotiate the rest? In short they're going to break up the Annan plan and present it as a common position of all the Cypriots and not a plan from abroad. The meeting also destroyed the myth that Talat can't take decisions without Ankara. Talat took very important decisions without first getting approval from Turkey. Of course Turkey's shadow is evident, both the economic dependence of the north as well as the influence of the military. But under the present Turkish government the climate is completely different from that during the Denktash-Ecevit period. Nevertheless there's fresh air blowing in Cyprus despite the media's continued insistence, out of habit, at finger-pointing and focusing on disagreements. The climate on the level of leaders has never been better. The results speak for themselves.

Pavlos Pavlou refers to the relief evident in Cypriot society at the change of climate, like when a road digger is working outside your house for hours and suddenly stops. Without Tassos' dark mantle we are experiencing a kind of spring both in the workplace, in social gettogethers, in the media. We may be surprised at how quickly the monsters of the last five years have been cast aside, but we must not let ourselves be tricked by this climate because rest assured difficult days lie ahead and the moment a new plan comes before us these people will come out of the woodwork and start brandishing their political swords. This time we must be there first and steadfast and not let them make any headway.

Yiangos Mikellides is also impressed with Christofias. He says he is the first Cypriot politician who tells the people before each meeting exactly what he will do and afterwards what he did. And this is the first time that the Cypriots are actually participating in this effort. His predecessors negotiated the Annan plan behind closed doors without the people being aware of it, and as a result it fell like a lightning bolt in their midst.