THERE are increasing indications that the July 8 agreement is in serious trouble with a frantic effort apparently underway to save the process.
Senior advisers to the two leaders met on Thursday after an attempt by UN Chief of Mission Michael Moller to get the talks back on track, but the indications were that the meeting took place in a negative climate.
The meeting went on for three hours with no result and no firm commitment for a new rendez-vous.
The situation deteriorated when the Turkish Cypriot side decided to review the UN-brokered agreement. Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat then sent a letter to UN Secretary-general Ban Ki-moon outlining his views on the agreement.
Since then, the Turkish Cypriot side has been mumbling about the demise of the Annan plan and its replacement by the July 8 process, and is also starting to make noise about how there can be “no solution until the isolation [of the north] is lifted”. Talat is believed to have Ankara’s backing for the latest stance.
“The lifting of the isolation is the only way I see for the solution,” Talat said during a visit to Turkey on Thursday.
At the same time, Turkey is pushing the German EU presidency on the regulation for direct trade between the north and the bloc, while attempting to secure deals with Gulf and Middle Eastern states to open up trade with the Turkish Cypriots.
Talat’s senior aide Rasit Pertev, who has been meeting with Tasos Tzonis, issued a warning to the EU that it would lose the Turkish Cypriots entirely if the direct trade regulation was not accepted in the manner they wish by June this year.
With the situation at a new low, speculation was rife yesterday that the UN would have to step in to bring the July 8 process back on track.
The Cyprus-based ambassadors of the five permanent members of the Security Council have already intervened twice in the last week to try and urge things forward, but without success.
Reports yesterday suggested Moller was ready to take the matter further with the Security Council so that the process would not collapse entirely. One suggestion mentioned was that Tzonis and Pertev be invited to New York for a meeting that might “act as a catalyst” to bring them back to the table to bridge their differences.
Quoting sources yesterday Politis said the international community was extremely disappointed by the change in stance by the Turkish Cypriot side and felt that calling the two sides to New York might help.
The Cyprus government does not want to see a resurrection of the Annan plan, which was rejected by Greek Cypriots in a referendum three years ago this month.
The Greek Cypriot side says it is committed to the July 8 process as a means to kick starting full negotiations when the ground is adequately prepared. A National Council Meeting has been called for April 12.
