By Jean Christou
U.S. OFFICIALS yesterday underlined Washington’s commitment to swift progress on a Cyprus solution ahead of a key meeting later in the day between President Bill Clinton and Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit.
US Assistant Secretary of State for European and Canadian Affairs Marc Grossman said: “The President of the US is going to say to Mr Ecevit exactly what he has said in public and to many people in this country, that Cyprus is a very important problem, that the conditions for it being worked on now and, we hope, solved, are as good as they have been for a very long time and that we ought to make progress quickly.”
The meeting between Clinton and Ecevit is expected to be instrumental in deciding whether UN Secretary-general Kofi Annan issues invitations for talks between the Greek and Turkish Cypriot sides.
Grossman repeated Washington’s support for the initiative of the G8 in June, calling for a return to talks without preconditions.
“This is the policy that we have been pursuing, that’s the policy we have pursued at the (UN) General Assembly, and I’m sure it will be our policy for some time to come,” he said.
The Turkish side has been refusing to return to talks unless the breakaway regime of Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash is accorded recognition as a state.
Commenting on the Turkish stance, Grossman said: “One of the things I think has been missing on the Turkish side is the recognition that the G8 talked about negotiations without preconditions. I think this is a very important thing.”
Grossman said all those who had worked on the G8 statement believed it to be “absolutely reasonable”.
“We would like the negotiations to begin as soon as possible,” Grossman said.
According to yesterday’s Turkish Cypriot press, Denktash said the aim of Ecevit’s visit to the US was not to reach a decision on the Cyprus problem.
“It is very detrimental and wrong to create such an atmosphere as if the Cyprus issue was a milestone in Turkish-American relations,” Denktash said. “Relations between the US and Turkey and the interests of the US are very different things.”
He said he expected Ecevit would explain to Clinton Turkey’s policy on the Cyprus issue.
Commenting on the talks, Denktash said the Turkish Cypriots wanted a positive, balanced and lasting outcome to emerge from negotiations.
“We are not saying we will not participate in the talks, we are merely outlining what is necessary in order to participate,” he said.
To attain the necessary outcome means ascertaining the conditions for sitting at the negotiating table, he said.
Meanwhile, Turkish Foreign Minister Ismail Cem, who took a negative stance last week in his contacts with US officials, told a Turkish TV station that there was a difference of views with the US on the Cyprus issue. “In other words, the United States and Turkey do not have the same views and are not looking for the same solution to the Cyprus issue,” he said. “It is completely meaningless to let the Cyprus issue adversely affect Turkish-US relations. Neither Turkey nor the US State Department will allow such a mistake to be committed. It is quite possible there will be some opposition, but this will not go far.”
