By Jean Christou
THE NOOSE appeared to be tightening around Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash yesterday as he accused UN envoy Alvaro de Soto of plotting against him and tension rose between him and Ankara.
As a flurry of diplomatic activity began in earnest ahead of UN Secretary-general Kofi Annan’s visit next week, speculation also intensified as to a likely third version of the UN plan.
Turkish Cypriot press yesterday quoted Denktash as saying De Soto was hiding things from him but he stopped short of accusing Ankara, opposition newspaper Afrika said. He wondered why, after six hours of contacts with Turkish officials, De Soto did not bother to brief him on the content of the meetings.
He said De Soto was plotting against him and that he has become suspicious about not being informed on the content of the meetings in Ankara. “De Soto has been trying to prepare something in Turkey and to present it to us later,” he said. “De Soto refrained from giving detailed information about the meeting, saying that he did not want to act as a messenger between the sides. He should inform us on issues, which he discussed in Turkey. He cannot bargain with Turkey by ignoring the Turkish Cypriots. We cannot accept it,” he added.
At home, Denktash came under fire from former Communal Party leader Mustafa Akinci and from Republican Turkish Party leader Mehmet Ali Talat.
Akinci said that Denktash, by asking too much, had destroyed the chance for a settlement. “By demanding the impossible, he managed to avoid even what was feasible,” he said.
Talat said the Turkish Cypriot leader never wanted a solution. ‘He says that he will not sign the UN plan. He does not want Kofi Annan to visit the island,” Talat said. However, he does not even know what the plan contains. This means that he does not reject particular points of the plan but the whole of it. This means that he never wanted a solution.”
The papers quoted a source close to Denktash as saying it was improbable that Annan, who will first visit Athens and Ankara, would be able to secure a deal during his visit. “Nobody here expects anything to happen by February 28,” the source added.
Backing up the Secretary-general on his visit will be US State Department Co-ordinator Thomas Weston, who arrived yesterday, and Britain’s special envoy Lord David Hannay is due on the island today. Weston said that the decisions to be taken in the coming days would determine the future of the island and should not be underestimated. He said this was going to be his most important trip to Cyprus. “This is obviously a crucial time ahead,” Weston said.
The British High commission said Hannay was coming with an open return ticket. Both diplomats are scheduled to meet president elect Tassos Papadopoulos and outgoing president Glafcos Clerides as well as Denktash and other officials
Although a third plan has not been officially announced, its existence is by now an open secret. The Greek Cypriot side is worried that it might prove less favourable than the second version, while Denktash is adopting a “wait and see attitude”.
“I think we remain modestly optimistic that there can be a deal next week,” a source close to the talks told Reuters yesterday.
Papadopoulos held an early-morning three-hour meeting with De Soto after which he said the UN envoy told him there would be a third plan “if and when the Secretary-General decides”.
His statement was echoed by Clerides, who said he did not know whether the UN Secretary-General would submit a revised plan.
De Soto flew to Ankara shortly after yesterday’s meeting for further contacts with the Turkish government. There, he met Deputy Undersecretary Baki Ilkin, who briefed him on the results of the first meeting between Greece and Turkey on the issue of security and guarantees in Cyprus. Speaking on arrival in Ankara, De Soto said that a solution to the Cyprus problem could still be found by February 28.
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.
