Oil and gas issue must not derail the talks, says Downer

UN Special Adviser Alexander Downer said that a new phase in the Cyprus talks will begin next week, as all the chapters will have been discussed by tomorrow when the two leaders meet again.

“I will be talking with the leaders tomorrow about how we’re going to handle this new phase”, he said, adding that they had obviously given that some thought.

He said this will be a phase leading up to the meeting with the Secretary-General. Although no date has been confirmed on that yet, it is likely to be towards thee end of October, he said.

“How that meeting will go will depend very much on what’s been achieved by then”, he added. The last meeting between the two leaders is scheduled for 21 October.

Mr Downer was speaking after Tuesday’s meeting between the two leaders during which they discussed European Union matters, one of the less contentious chapters in the negotiations.

He said the meeting would be followed by meetings of experts as happened in the discussion on the economy chapter, which, he said “was pretty successful and they certainly have moved forward”.

Asked how concerned he was that the controversy over the hydrocarbons could derail the peace talks, Mr. Downer replied: “Well, it hasn’t so far, it has to be said. And, indeed, during today’s meeting, there was no discussion about the controversy over hydrocarbons. The process is continuing in exactly the same vein as it had been before this controversy erupted”.

He recalled that the two men had met with the UN Secretary-General in New York and that he had made it very clear that it’s important that restraint is exercised, and that everything must be done to ensure the talks are successful”.

“We don’t want to see anything happen that would derail the talks. So far that hasn’t happened and we hope that that remains the case”, Downer said. “If these talks are successful then the new united federal Cypriot government will have responsibility for resources issues, that is, natural resources and water is the exact language used in a document”.

He added that that is something that has already been agreed and there is already a convergence between the two sides that in the event of an agreement, a solution to the Cyprus problem, once revenues start flowing, it will flow to the federal government.

“Both sides have a real incentive to make sure that they can…lots of incentives; this is not the only one, there are lots of incentives, including this, to make sure they can reach agreement on the Cyprus question, and I think it underlines a simple point, that the stability of the region will be very much enhanced by an agreement here in these negotiations”.
Replying to a question, Mr Downer said that Mr Christofias is aware of certain proposals Mr Eroglu made to the Secretary-General last week about the hydrocarbons and that the UN had received a paper from the Turkish Cypriot side on the issue.

“How the Greek Cypriots respond to this is a matter that I’ll leave to them”, he added. “If we were asked by the two sides to play a role, we’d refer that to the Secretary-General and the Secretary-General would make a decision about that. But that hasn’t happened yet”.


The Cyprus Mail reports that local politicians rounded up on UN and EU officials over comments reportedly questioning Cyprus’ sovereign right to explore and exploit its natural resources.

Drawing most of the fire was UN Special Adviser Alexander Downer for comments made on regarding a possible mediation role for the UN over the oil and gas dispute should both sides request it.

Also under the spotlight was EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fule who said on Tuesday: “All problems need to be solved through peaceful means, if needed through arbitration from the International Court of Justice and threats of use of force need to be rejected”.

His statement was not well received by a number of media organisations and public figures.
House President Yiannakis Omirou said yesterday: “Downer’s statement on mediation exceeded the terms of his mandate, which relate solely to the direct negotiations. Not to issues of sovereignty of the Republic of Cyprus.”

Opposition DISY leader Nicos Anastassiades said Downer’s statements were “unacceptable”. He advised the UN Special Adviser to “focus on the work within his mandate” and not try to raise doubts over UN resolutions which make absolutely clear that no one can dispute the sovereignty of a full member state of the UN, like Cyprus.

Asked to comment, government spokesman Stefanos Stefanou said Cyprus’ sovereign right to explore for natural gas was not the subject of negotiation. “It’s clear. It’s a sovereign right.”
He highlighted that Downer’s role as that of a facilitator, not mediator, calling on everyone to stick to their roles.

Speaking after a meeting with President Demetris Christofias yesterday at the presidential palace, Downer tried to set the record straight: “I have looked at what has been said by people in the media. I would say that doesn’t reflect what I said but I spoke in English so I am being generous in saying, if people wish to reinterpret what I say, perhaps it’s a linguistic breakdown and we are happy to get a translation done.”

The Australian diplomat also announced tentative dates for the tripartite meeting in New York next month as being October 30 and 31.

“Just to avoid any further speculations about this, one possibility is we might devote a couple of days to the talks,” he added.

Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu has presented new proposals to the UN as a way of solving the problem regarding Cyprus’ oil and gas explorations in the Mediterranean, Ankara Anatolia news agency reported.

Following a meeting with the United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in New York last Saturday, Eroglu told reporters the proposals contained four topics as follows:

“1. suspend the oil and natural gas exploration simultaneously until a comprehensive solution is found to the Cyprus problem.2. If not, then set up an ad-hoc committee made up of representatives of both sides with authority to discuss issues such as explorations, agreements and licences depending on the written approval of both sides, and negotiate the ratio of sharing the richness which will be found.
3. use the income to finance the comprehensive talks.
4. Adoption of the plan shall not harm the positions of both sides.”
When asked whether the “TRNC could give authorization to explore oil and natural gas only for the north of the island after signing the agreement on the delineation of continental shelf with Turkey”, Eroglu said that the “Turkish Cypriots had rights on all underwater wealth around Cyprus island and so the TRNC had the right to give authorization both north and the south of the island”.When asked how this process would affect the Cyprus talks, Eroglu said that “the TRNC wants to pursue talks”. Eroglu then had a meeting with Turkish Foreign Minister, Ahmet Davutoglu.