U.N. SECRETARY-general Kofi Annan will decide whether to proceed with a new Cyprus initiative after he sees the report to be compiled by UN Undersecretary-general for Political Affairs Ibrahim Gambari.
Gambari is due on the island on July 6, three days after President Tassos Papadopoulos meets Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat in the context of the missing persons’ issue. It will be their first meeting in two years.
Speculation is also rife that there may be a second meeting between the two leaders during Gambari’s visit on or around July 8, but so far reports remain unconfirmed.
The Greek Cypriot side said the UN had not asked for such a meeting, but in a written statement yesterday, the Turkish Cypriots said that, despite Greek Cypriot comments, Talat had been asked quite clearly by the UN to take part in a joint meeting with Gambari on July 8. Talat had accepted the invitation, the statement said.
“The Greek Cypriot spokesmen are showing that they are indecisive and hesitant on the issue by making different statements till today,” it said.
“It is obvious that the words and deeds of the Greek Cypriot side are inconsistent. As many times expressed by UN Secretary-general Kofi Annan, in order to achieve a progress on the Cyprus problem, the Greek Cypriot side needs to ‘fill the this gap between their words and deeds’.”
UNFICYP yesterday declined to comment on whether the UN had asked both sides to a meeting. A spokesman said that Gambari’s schedule has not yet been determined.
An unfavourable report by Gambari would be likely to set the Cyprus process back another six months or more and lead to a definite crisis within the EU in October, when Turkey, which still has to fulfil its customs union obligations to Cyprus, comes up for review.
The international community is hoping that a move on the Cyprus issue might ease the pressure coming up to the review. In addition, the low-level technical committees agreed on in Paris last February as a step towards a resumption of negotiations, have not yet started. Annan himself will be retiring at the end of this year.
Speaking in Paris on Wednesday, Annan said the UN was working with the two sides with a view to preparing the ground for a new process.
“In order to achieve everlasting peace, the two communities must get involved, but the two leaders have not had the opportunity to meet for two years now,” Annan said. “We work with them, we encourage them to work together on a number of projects to prepare the ground so that maybe in the future we can resume a new peace process.”
He said he hoped that after his return from the region Gambari would “bring such information that will allow me to determine whether we will proceed or not”.
“But that will depend on his report,” Annan said.
Government Spokesman Christodoulos Pashardis said yesterday Gambari’s schedule had not yet been fixed. He said the visit was to examine to what extent a resumption of talks would be justified.
Foreign Minister George Lillikas said any meeting between the two leaders should be well prepared and should contribute substantially to a solution.
He was commenting on Talat’s statement that he was ready to meet Papadopoulos on July 8 during Gamabari’s visit, if such a meeting was arranged.
But Lillikas deflected the offer, saying what mattered was not Talat’s statements but his actions.
“President Papadopoulos never refused to have substantial meetings with Talat. But such meetings should be well prepared, be substantial and contribute to the efforts to solve the Cyprus problem. Talat holds a negative stance instead of showing good will regarding the function of the technical committees Talat’s actions are not compatible with his words”, Lillikas said.
He said that for Talat, the Cyprus problem was one of public relations and impressions and not a serious problem to be resolved by reunification.
Lillikas said the UN had not extended any invitation for a meeting between Papadopoulos and Talat during Gambari’s visit.
