Holbrooke pessimistic on proximity talks

THE U.S. ENVOY to the United Nations cast doubt yesterday on whether the new round of UN-sponsored talks on Cyprus in Geneva next week would bring the two sides much closer.

“I certainly hope there is progress but I am not very optimistic,” Richard Holbrooke said at a breakfast with business executives at the annual Crans-Montana forum in Switzerland.

He said the position of Turkish Cypriots on sovereignty had “stopped the process cold”, Reuters news agency reported.

The talks, starting on Saturday, aim to reunite the island on the basis of UN resolutions calling for a bizonal, bi-communal federation — a formula opposed by the Turkish Cypriots.

President Glafcos Clerides and Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash have already held two rounds of proximity talks in New York and Geneva, but these have yielded few tangible results.

Holbrooke, a former US special envoy for Cyprus, said he was still following the issue closely.

“If talks move to the next level I will re-engage myself” in the peace process, he said, but added that the top priority was for the rivals to implement practical steps to reduce tensions.

Successful peace talks would pave the way for Cyprus to join the European Union, Holbrooke noted, adding: “It would be a tragedy if this opportunity were missed.”

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.