Christofias promises natural gas benefits to Turkish Cypriots

The Greek Cypriots are willing to share the benefits of any natural gas find with the Turkish Cypriots before a peace deal is reached, President Demetris Christofias said in his speech before the UN General Assembly on 22 September in New York.

“We believe that the possible discovery and extraction of hydrocarbons shall constitute yet another incentive for Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots to expedite a just, functional and viable solution to the Cyprus problem, so that both communities can enjoy the natural wealth of our country in conditions of peace, security and prosperity.
He said tensions between the two communities must be solved, but that gas revenues can still be mutually beneficial until then.

“I wish to reassure our Turkish Cypriot compatriots that regardless of the circumstances, they will benefit from the possible discovery and extraction of hydrocarbons”, he stressed.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaking before the UN General Assembly, called on the UN member states to exert active efforts to stop the activities of the Greek Cypriots which, he alleged, might cause tension not only on the island but in the entire region.

“Otherwise we will do whatever is necessary”, he threatened. Turkish Cypriot daily Kibris reports that Erdogan further said that a just, comprehensive and lasting solution should at last be reached to the problem which has been continuing for 50 years now. “The target is for the negotiations to reach a result by the end of this year and after the approval of the solution plan in a referendum in the beginning of next year, the new Cyprus to take its place in the European Union”, he said.

“We as Turkey will continue to provide any kind of support for reaching a solution the soonest within the framework of the above-mentioned timetable. However, in case the intransigent stance of the Greek Cypriot side does not allow this, I want to stress also that as guarantor country we will not allow for the future of the Turkish Cypriot people to be uncertain forever”.

He went on to say that Turkey cannot allow the Greek Cypriot side to act as if it is the only administration of the island or as if it has the authority to decide in the name of the Turkish Cypriots. “The attempt of the Greek Cypriot side to determine alone the areas of jurisdiction in the sea and explore for oil and natural gas in these areas, is an extremely irresponsible attitude from the point of view of its timing and possible consequences”, he said. Moreover, Ankara Anatolia news agency reports that Erdogan told UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon that "if the Greek Cypriots were to end their efforts for exploration of oil and natural gas, the Turkish side would take a step back".Erdogan asked Mr Ban Ki-moon to encourage the Greek Cypriots to end their efforts to explore for oil and natural gas in the Eastern Mediterranean and briefed him on the continental shelf delimitation agreement signed between Turkey and the TRNC on Wednesday.

Erdogan stressed that although Turkey supported a comprehensive solution in Cyprus, if the Greek Cypriots insisted on exploring for oil and natural gas, this would hurt the negotiations process.

Makarios Droushiotis writing in Politis today says that Christofias has a lousy sense of judgement, has no timing and is constantly running after events. Three examples –
- He is the only President of Cyprus who benefitted from the best coincidence of events in the history of the Cyprus problem for solving it in the first two years of his presidency. He had an interlocutor from the Left. He had the support of the opposition Democratic Rally. Turkey wanted a solution. About 70% of Greek Cypriots wanted a solution. He didn’t take advantage of any of these factors and now they have all disappeared.
- He refused to allow what he had agreed with Talat to be documented and announced and led Ban Ki-moon’s visit fail. Now he wishes he had them.
- The government thought Turkey would want a solution after the Turkish elections in June 2011 and rejected all openings. In the end the opposite was true. Turkey was ready for a solution before the elections and changed tack afterwards.

Makarios goes on to say that in his speech in New York, President Christofias admitted that when Talat was his interlocutor there were important convergences in crucial aspects of the Cyprus problem, such as government, economy, EU matters and other issues”. One of the members of the negotiating team, Toumazos Tsielepis was even clearer when he said in an interview that at the time half the chapters were ready for a final round of negotiations. “Frankly, now I really don’t know where we are”, he admitted.

So what we are hearing now from the horse’s mouth is that at the end of Talat’s term of office, in April 2010, the Cyprus problem was to a large extent solved. Then why didn’t the final round of negotiations take place before the end of Talat’s term, the writer wonders.

He goes on to speculate that had a solution been reached, the financial benefits from the natural gas finds would have been enormous. With political stability and good relations with Turkey, Cyprus would be on the energy map of Europe, being able to supply the continent with gas via Turkey. This would also be the best guarantee for our security and prosperity. So why have things gone so badly off track so that instead of stability we are now practically on the verge of war with Turkey?

It was no surprise that Talat was going to lose the elections when he did. In view of this opposition leader Nicos Anastasiades was calling for the time left to be made full use off. But Christofias refused even to consider this possibility and said he would continue the talks with whoever won the elections.

In view of the forthcoming elections the Turkish side on 4 January 2010 submitted a package of proposals accepting Christofias’ proposals for president, vice president, weighted vote. They accepted clearly that the state would be federal, would have a singe nondivisible sovereignty and would have a single national airspace, territorial waters as well as Exclusive Economic Zone. These were the most progressive positions the Turkish side had submitted in writing to date. The UN believed that this would be a breakthrough but Christofias reacted negatively. He put it to the party leaders and in the negative climate that the media had created, it was decided that this was a communications ploy on the part of Turkey. The government spokesman issued a statement saying the proposals were ‘unacceptable’ and were miles from what had been agreed as regards a bicommunal bizonal federation so could not be discussed.

Of course things were not really like that. An open discussion was held on the basis of this ‘unacceptable’ document at the intensive talks in January 2010 ending with an agreement on power sharing which this paper has long said existed but which the government is only now admitting.

With this agreement in mind, the UN S-G decided to visit Cyprus towards the end of January hoping to bind them to what had been agreed and push them to a final round on the property issue and a conference before April. The government and Akel then got going. They asked why is the S-G coming, what sort of a game is Downer playing, we’re not going to play this game, the President won’t agree to pretend progress just to create impressions, etc.

The ‘pretend progress’ was the considerable convergences on important aspects. Ban’s visit, under protest from the government, failed. Then in February, came Erdogan’s interviews to Greek Cypriot journalists in a clear effort to send a positive message so that the talks can finish before the elections. The Turkish side clearly warned that this was a window of opportunity which would not stay open for ever. The government thought these were more communication tricks. In April 2010 a final effort was made through Spain for holding a conference with EU participation. The government called this information the imaginary scribblings of journalists.

In the end what everyone was afraid of happened. Despite the impression that the Greek Cypriots have that Turkish Cypriot leaders are simply pawns for Turkey’s policies, the person sitting on the other side of the negotiating table is very important. As Tsielepis revealed in his interview, Talat would go to Turkey and persuade the Turkish government to make overtures. In contrast, Eroglu follows his own policy.

In view of the fact that Turkey’s EU entry is blocked and Turkey’s belief that Cyprus is being used to prevent them from joining, Erdogan has now changed his policy on Cyprus. According to Turkish political analysts, Erdogan is now preparing Turkish public opinion for the breakdown of the talks. From being a catalyst for a solution, Turkish policy on Cyprus is now becoming a catalyst for partition.