By a Staff Reporter
THE GOVERNMENT sees no grounds for optimism in the Cyprus problem and is unhappy with the possible postponement of US Presidential Emissary Alfred Moses’s visit to the region.
Unlike Washington, Nicosia does not consider that anything positive came out of last week’s meeting between US President Bill Clinton and Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit in New York.
The US said concrete progress had been made by the two leaders, even though Ecevit came away from the meeting still insisting on recognition for the break-away ‘TRNC’ as a pre-condition for the resumption of Cyprus settlement talks.
Government Spokesman Michalis Papapetrou said yesterday the government disagreed with the US appraisal of the situation, adding that only the issuing of talks invitations by UN Secretary-general Kofi Annan would constitute progress.
“We see nothing to make us optimistic that this will happen,” Papapetrou told his daily press briefing.
Annan is widely expected to invite President Clerides and Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash to face-to-face talks sometime this month. But, following Ecevit’s New York visit, a UN spokesman admitted Annan was undecided about whether to try to convene talks or not.
Papapetrou also said the government had information that Moses’s tour of Athens, Ankara and Nicosia would be postponed because of Ecevit’s upcoming visit to Moscow.
He said the government was “unhappy” about this development.
The Moses trip was originally announced for sometime this week, but is not now expected until next week — if it goes ahead at all.
Papapetrou reiterated that Clerides was willing to attend unconditional talks aimed at establishing a bi-zonal, bi-communal federation in Cyprus. He also re- stated that there was no chance of Clerides ever accepting Denktash’s demands for recognition of the ‘TRNC’.
Clerides yesterday briefed party leaders on his recent contacts in New York and developments in the wake of the Clinton-Ecevit meeting.
Party leaders drew their own, varied, conclusions from what he told them.
Diko leader and House President Spyros Kyprianou said there was no reason for optimism and that Clinton and Ecevit had not even given top priority to the Cyprus issue during their discussions.
“There has been no pressure put on Turkey by the US or anyone else. I infer this from information of my own — not the President’s — that the Cyprus problem concerned the Clinton-Ecevit meeting but briefly, and was not the first issue on their agenda,” Kyprianou said.
Disy leader Nicos Anastassiades said the aim of Moses’s visit to Cyprus would be primarily to talk to Denktash, not Clerides. He said Disy was satisfied with the way Clerides was handling developments. Anastassiades disagreed with Kyprianou that there was no grounds for optimism, saying it was too early to draw such conclusions.
The leaders of opposition parties Akel and Edek, Demetris Christofias and Vassos Lyssarides, both expressed fears that the Turkish side might agree to talks solely in order to improve Turkey’s chances of being considered for EU accession.
