Christofias at UN General Assembly

President Demetris Christofias yesterday told the UN General Assembly in New York that despite Cyprus’ support for Turkey’s EU accession bid Ankara was not reciprocating.

“This support is not unconditional,” Christofias warned. “Turkey should fulfil its obligations towards the Republic of Cyprus as well as towards the European Union.”

He said Turkey was a “key player” in efforts toward a settlement and expressed his “readiness” to initiate direct dialogue with the Turkish leadership, parallel to negotiations with the Turkish Cypriot leader. He said he was willing to “share ideas about the future, which would greatly enhance the chances of a positive outcome to the negotiations.”

However, he also accused Turkey of seeking a confederal solution on Cyprus, in breach of relevant UN Security Resolutions instead of contributing in a practical way to a solution.

“The success of our efforts for a solution of the problem depends on Turkey’s political will and the policies it implements. It is not enough for the Turkish leadership to publicly state that it supports the negotiating process,” he noted.

Referring to the ongoing talks with the Turkish Cypriots, Christofias said “some progress has been achieved in the negotiations. But not such as to make us confident that we are close to a final solution to the Cyprus problem". He added, however, that he trusted the “sincerity of Mr. Talat’s intentions" but blamed the lack of progress on the Turkish side and its intransigence on a range of issues—the presence of Turkish troops on the island, the illegal possession of properties and the presence of settlers.

“We sincerely hope that during the second round of negotiations, which has just started, there will be a reconsideration of Turkish positions, so that we can, as soon as possible, reach an agreed solution which we can then present to the people in separate simultaneous referenda,” he said.

He said a reunified Cyprus would safeguard the rights of all Cypriots, Greek and Turkish but added that “nevertheless, the rights of our Turkish Cypriot compatriots cannot be implemented at the expense of the rights of the bigger community, which is the Greek-Cypriot community. There must be mutual respect".

“Real political leaders are not the ones who think of the next election but of the next generation. We have the responsibility to work together to achieve a lasting peace in our region,” he concluded.

Earlier, Christofias had held a half-hour meeting with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. Moreover, during a lunch hosted by the UN chief, he had the opportunity to have a “good” discussion with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayip Erdogan, to whom he underlined that Turkey is the key to a solution to the Cyprus issue.

“I told the UN, just as I told Mr. Erdogan, that Turkey is the key to a solution to the Cyprus issue. And that Talat must be helped by Turkey to change his stance. I analysed our positions on the property issue, where there is a difference of views, the positions on the settlers issue, security and governance. And I clearly stated that I have made offers to the Turkish Cypriot community and I am waiting for their response”, he said.

On Tuesday, on the sidelines of the UN High-level Event on Climate-Change, Christofias had inter alia meetings with the President of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

Christofias’ next stop is Cuba for talks with the political leadership there. He returns to Cyprus next Wednesday.


Meanwhile in Cyprus, Presidential Commissioner Georgios Iacovou and aide to Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat, Ozdil Nami, met yesterday for 90 minutes to try and iron out differences remaining between the two sides on work on the ‘governance’ chapter . The two discussed the ‘executive’ and how citizens of a united Republic of Cyprus would elect the proposed President and Vice-President. The Greek Cypriot side proposes that the rotating presidency should be voted by direct suffrage while the Turkish Cypriot side prefers the indirect method of voting through the senate. Mr Nami told the Cyprus Mail: “It seems there is potential for convergence. The two sides are not worlds apart on this".


Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis and PASOK leader George Papandreou his main rival in the October 4th elections in Greece, crossed swords in the first live televised debate Monday (September 21st) in which they also criticised each other’s handling of the Cyprus problem.

Mr Papandreou accused the Prime Minister of having missed historic opportunities to solve age-old problems that have plagued the country, to which Mr Karamanlis reacted saying on the contrary he had often shown that he is able to take difficult decisions that upset others. He cited Cyprus as an example saying that his government had allowed the Cypriots to vote as they pleased in the referendum of 2004 against a plan that did not suit them.

“This was in contrast to your stand whereby you insisted on pressurising the Cypriots to vote in favour”, he added.

Mr Papandrou responded by accusing Mr Karamanlis of having been in favour in the Council meeting of the Cypriots voting yes in the referendum but afterwards having stood on the fence. “I was willing to pay the political price, I took a stand”, he said and added that he would fight together with the Cypriot leadership to find a more just solution.