Why is Downer’s warning being ignored?

The municipal elections last week, says an editorial in the Cyprus Mail, ensured that next to no media attention was given to the interview of the UN Secretary-General’s special representative, Alexander Downer that was published in Kathimerini last Sunday.

Had it been a slow news day, his views would have sparked dozens of newspaper articles, party announcements and angry statements by politicians. Downer has been the target of concerted attacks for saying much less in the past, which is why the absence of a reaction, this time, came as a surprise.

Perhaps the media took note of the Australian’s complaints about the hostility the UN had always faced from the Greek Cypriot side and decided to show restraint. Downer said: “As I said, we have always been attacked here; not by the Turkish Cypriot side but by the Greek Cypriot. The UN since 1963 has been systematically attacked from certain elements in the Greek Cypriot community and some of the political parties. They continuously attack us. But if we left, if we said we are fed up of your attacks and we are leaving, what would they say?”

His frustration is understandable, given the way he has been treated by the Greek Cypriot politicians and media, which invariably describe his public comments as “provocative and unacceptable”. It was therefore difficult to understand why there had been no reaction to Sunday’s interview, in which he castigated the Greek Cypriot hostility towards the UN, blamed the lack of progress on both sides – not on Turkish intransigence as is the official line – and repeatedly stated that the Greentree meeting in January could be the end of the procedure.

“The Secretary-General sent the message that the window of opportunity for a settlement was closing,” he said adding that if by the time the leaders met Ban Ki-moon in Greentree, “we have not reached the desired result, it could mean the end of the procedure.”

Nobody seems to take his warnings that if the leaders failed to overcome their differences over the next few weeks, the peace process would collapse.

Ban spoke about the end-game, when he last met the two leaders in October, but nobody on the Greek Cypriot side seemed particularly concerned; the government was in denial, going as far as to say that no time-frames had been set.

Is it that nobody believes the UN would ever give up on the Cyprus talks, the paper wonders, or would we be relieved if it packed up and left?

Logically, given the hostility we have towards the UN’s envoys, we should be celebrating if the talks collapsed and Downer packed his bags and returned to Australia. Although we have been ignoring Downer’s warnings, this time, we could get what we wished for.

The recent census carried out in the north is causing a bit of a headache for the Kioneli ‘mayor’ after recording 7,000 fewer residents than in the local authority has registered in its books.

According to Turkish Cypriot daily Kibris, which ran the story, Kioneli community leader Ahmet Benli claims there are 23,000 people registered in his municipality.

The recent census carried out on December 3 on the orders of Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu recorded a population of 16,000 for the Nicosia suburb, leaving Benli scratching his head as to where the 7,000 ‘surplus’ residents went.