Two more weeks of shuttle diplomacy

Special Advisor of the UN Secretary-General, Alexander Downer, in a news conference at the Ledra Palace Hotel on Friday, said he had informed the two leaders of the UN’s decision to downgrade the peace talks, putting an end to “unproductive” leaders’ meetings, while calling on the leaders to figure out a way to convene a multilateral conference in the summer.  

Downer said he explained to both leaders that “there could be no more business as usual” and made it clear that the UN was no longer prepared to host high-level leaders’ meetings that “have honestly not been very productive, to say the least, over the last few months”.

Over the next couple of weeks the UN will engage in shuttle diplomacy between the two sides in an attempt to negotiate the way forward, as it has become clear that the negotiations on the Cyprus problem have come to a standstill.

He said following his meeting last week with the UN Secretary-General in New York to discuss this assessment of the state of the negotiations, the Secretary-General had called both leaders to say he was very disappointed that the sides had not progressed as he had hoped.

“It is clear that something has to change”, he said adding that the UN does not see any value in scheduling leaders’ meetings unless there is a clear indication from both sides that there is something substantial to be concluded.

Outlining the developments since Greentree, where he said the two sides had three main challenges to resolve - the election of the executive, property and citizenship – he said only limited progress was made. 


“The face-to-face meetings of the sides held since January have still not solved these problems. The ‘food for thought’ ideas that the UN has put forward have been welcomed by both sides. But the sides have yet to achieve the common understanding on property despite several months of work”. 


He said there have also been significant differences on the issue of the executive. The Greek Cypriot side has insisted that Mr. Christofias reached an agreement with Mr. Talat on cross-voting in 2010 whereas Mr. Eroglu says this agreement was not concluded and he has been opposed to cross-voting.

Recently, Mr. Eroglu wrote to the Secretary-General suggesting that he would accept cross-voting in the context of a multilateral conference and this has been acknowledged positively by the Secretary-General. 


“There is no doubt that there will only be a settlement if common ground is shared between the two sides. We all need to face the facts”, he stressed.

He said that given all this, he and the Secretary-General had discussed a series of options as far as the next steps in the talks are concerned. The S-G has concluded that there has not been sufficient progress on core issues at this stage to call a multilateral conference. Obviously the Secretary-General is not in favour of calling a conference that would be a failure. And what is more, while the Turkish Cypriots have been anxious to go to a multilateral conference as soon as possible, the Greek Cypriot side has said that all internal issues need to be resolved before a multilateral conference is held. 


“The Secretary-General appreciates that both Leaders have wanted to conclude an agreement at least on core issues by the time Cyprus takes over the presidency of the European Union. It certainly remains the Secretary-General’s ambition to call a multilateral conference in the summer in order to conclude the final phase of the negotiations. But for this to happen the two sides will need to agree on the way forward”, he said.

Downer said that the Secretary-General has told the sides that it is never too late for bold and decisive moves and new ideas or innovative proposals. But if none are taken, then obviously there will be no further convergence on core issues. 


Concluding, Downer again stressed that the process is Cypriot-led and Cypriot-owned. “The UN is only here to help. But in the end, the UN can never want this agreement more than the two sides”. 


The Cyprus government yesterday blamed the Turkish side for the UN’s announcement that it would be taking a back seat in the talks for the foreseeable future, while opposition parties turned on Special Adviser Alexander Downer.

Government Spokesman Stefanos Stefanou put the blame on the Turkish side. “The negotiations are facing a lot of difficulties and problems due to the negative and delaying stance of the Turkish side,” he told reporters.

He added that the problem did not lie with the procedure of the talks but with Turkey’s ‘obstructionist stance.’

Stefanou also said that Christofias had assured UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon of his willingness to continue with the negotiations when Cyprus takes over the EU presidency in July.

The Turkish side has repeatedly said it would not negotiate during the six-month period of the presidency. They want an international conference called but the Greek Cypriot side says there is no point to holding such a conference until internal issues have been resolved in the talks. 

Meanwhile right-wing EVROKO accused Downer of not being interested in finding a solution to the Cyprus problem but of simply serving Turkey’s interests “by bolstering the pseudostate through an international conference”. Centre-right DIKO described Downer as someone “aspiring to become an advocate of Turkey’s side and champion of [their] aspirations”.