By Jean Christou
THE UN is working towards holding a meeting with Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash in early to mid-November, possibly in New York, depending on his health.
In an interview with the Turkish Cypriot Kibris TV, UN special envoy for Cyprus Alvaro de Soto said it was hoped that Denktash would be in a position to participate in a direct meeting with the Secretary-general in the beginning or towards the middle of next month.
“We are in consultation with the two sides on this and obviously if there is to be a meeting, with Mr. Denktash present, we will have to hope that he’s recovered,” De Soto said.
Denktash underwent heart surgery in New York on October 7 and needed a second operation last Sunday when complications arose, setting his recovery back even further.
“I can’t predict obviously the rate of recovery of Mr. Denktash. I can only hope that it will be as quick as possible and the important thing is that he feels well. His absence is felt, in fact it’s felt very significantly, very heavily because leadership is necessary at this stage,” de Soto said.
He said that reports from New York were encouraging and that Denktash’s adviser Ergun Olgun was keeping him informed.
“I can’t deny that the absence of Mr. Denktash has of course prevented the direct meetings from going on. And therefore it has not been possible to carry out some of the necessary substantive work that would have been desirable, and to that extent it’s a setback but I hope the time can be made up,” De Soto said.
The UN envoy said he was optimistic that a solution could still be reached.
“My optimism is based on an educated assessment of the basic interests and concerns and fears of all sides. Not just the Greek Cypriots and the Turkish Cypriots, but also the region at large, Greece and Turkey. And I think that those goals would be well served and can best be served through a comprehensive settlement that is reached in the next couple of months,” he said.
“Secondly, I echo the Secretary-general’s assessment that even though gaps remain, and some of those gaps are deep, there are ways to bridge all of them. And finally I believe that what should help us is the fact that in the region there is a sense that you can almost touch and smell that there is an opportunity now, that we are at a, excuse me for the cliché, we are at a defining moment in history.”
Turkish Cypriot media reported yesterday that Denktash had begun to be briefed on the Cyprus issue and that his health was steadily improving. Olgun told reporters that he might even be discharged from hospital at the weekend or at the beginning of next week. He did insist, however, that the Cyprus talks could not resume for at least another eight weeks.
Britain’s special envoy for Cyprus, Lord David Hannay was on the island yesterday for meetings with President Glafcos Clerides and Foreign Minister Yiannakis Cassoulides. No statements were made after the meeting.
