Outgoing High Commissioner laments ailing relations between north and south
THE DETERIORATION of relations between the two sides over the past year is endangering the way forward on Cyprus, British High Commissioner Lyn Parker said last night.
Parker who is leaving Cyprus shortly after four years on the job was addressing the Rotarians at the Nicosia Hilton.
“To any outsider it is striking how bitter and adversarial the political debate between the two sides has become over the last year, at least as reflected in the media,” said Parker.
He said this was not contributing to a greater climate of confidence between the two sides and stressed that it was very important for both sides to look actively for ways to treat the other less as adversaries and more as potential future partners.
“Without this, any negotiating process will be made far more difficult,” he said. “Behind the sharp political climate, I find that people on both sides are inclined to make snap judgements as to the motivations of the other side, without trying hard enough to understand what really makes them tick. Here again, dialogue is the only answer.”
Parker said he was very struck by the extent to which the political and public debate on both sides still concentrated largely on problems, and who might be to blame for them, rather than on possible solutions.
“The temptation to engage in the blame game is a very human one. It may make people feel better, but it does not really help in addressing the underlying problems. A stronger focus on debating possible solutions would be potentially much more constructive,” he said.
Referring to the opening of the crossing points in April 2003, Parker said the development had been valuable in demolishing some of the popular misconceptions which each side developed about the other during the decades when crossing the line was virtually impossible for ordinary Cypriots.
However he said it was still not a substitute for a comprehensive settlement. Neither was there any other solution to the thorny property issue he said.
Commenting on the political turnaround that brought home a Turkish Cypriot ‘yes’ to the Annan plan, Parker said the spirit that drove them to political change still existed but he warned that it was being undermined by events over the past year.
“It is under growing pressure because of the apparent lack of progress towards a settlement,” he said. “On the island itself, I do not think I am the only foreign observer to be rather concerned about what feels to me like a sharp deterioration in the psychological climate on both sides over the last few months. Preserving that willingness to compromise should be a fundamental objective of the leaderships on both sides of the island.”
Parker said his conclusions as he leaves Cyprus were neither optimistic nor pessimistic. “When people argue about how far there is still to go, it is important to remember how far we have already come,” he said adding that he believed a settlement was still achievable if both sides show a clear sense of commitment, purpose and urgency.
“The same goes for Turkey,” he said. “Right now there are too many mixed signals, both on the island and across the water. Sadly the fact is that right now I am hearing quite a lot of pessimism, on both sides of the line.”
Parker said if the test of British support for a settlement was whether it agrees 100 per cent with one side or the other, “we will always fail it”.
“We have to strike balances, sometimes difficult ones. But I can assure you that we reflect very carefully before we do this, and that our basic criterion is always what is most likely to advance the prospects for a durable settlement,” he said.
“Speaking personally, I have always tried here in Cyprus to focus on the half full glass, not the half empty one, and to try to get others to see it too. Behind this lies my conviction, which has been strengthened by my experiences here, that a durable Cyprus solution is entirely achievable if the two communities really want it, see it and work hard to get it. I don’t think that is optimistic. I think it is realistic.”
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