Cyprus wants new talks after irrespective of election results

CYPRUS will ask the United Nations to re-open talks on resolving the island’s fate after Turkish Cypriot elections next month, irrespective of the result, President Tassos Papadopoulos said in Athens yesterday.

Turkish Cypriot legislative elections on December 14 are widely seen as a referendum on veteran leader Rauf Denktash and his opposition to the Annan plan for a solution.

“Immediately after this vote, and irrespective of the result, I will again ask the UN Secretary-general to resume his initiative and start a new round of intra-community negotiations,” Papadopoulos told reporters in Athens.

The United States and the European Union are keen to break the deadlock before Cyprus joins the EU next May.

The EU had envisaged the whole island joining, but if no deal is found the current Republic of Cyprus will join, leaving its occupied territories in the north outside the union and posing a diplomatic conundrum.

Talks sponsored by UN Secretary-general Kofi Annan broke down in March with Denktash insisting on a two states in Cyprus.

Papadopoulos said a deal with Denktash would be impossible and with the Turkish Cypriot opposition uncertain.

“I am sure that it is impossible to have a solution with Mr Denktash, definitely not within the Annan plan framework,” he said. “It is not very clear what the opposition’s position will be. But they at least agree to talk.”

Papadopoulos said Greek Cypriots were willing to make concessions in order to see a solution to the Cyprus problem.

“We accept a settlement that might not fully conform to the law,” he said. “If the solution is not fair, it should at least be a functional one, so it can survive, because Cyprus, Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots cannot stand a new flaring up of passions.” (R)

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.