UN considers options on Cyprus impasse

THE UN Secretary-general’s Special Representative in Cyprus Michael Moller is currently in New York for consultations in the wake of the deadlock on the July 8 process.

According to the Cyprus News Agency (CNA), Moller is expected to brief UN Undersecretary General for Political Affairs Lynn Pascoe on the results of his talks in Cyprus and to discuss ways of breaking the current impasse.

Since the UN-brokered agreement made in July last year with Pascoe’s predecessor Ibrahim Gambari, no progress has been made in setting up technical and working groups that were designed to lead to a full resumption of negotiations.

After the Turkish Cypriot side recently expressed its dissatisfaction with the process and even mentioned a return to the failed Annan plan, the Security Council has been scrambling to get the process back on track.
Last week, Pascoe met Rasit Pertev, the representative Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmt Ali Talat.

This week, Moller travelled to the US.

CNA said the stance of UN Secretary-general Ban Ki-moon on the issue was not yet clear.

It quoted “a well informed UN diplomatic source” as saying the dominant view at UN headquarters was that the two sides in Cyprus were “not showing flexibility, were rigid and were firing accusations at one another”.

The source said the UN did not see how there could be a breakthrough.
A Greek diplomatic source said that the UN was keeping an equal distance from both sides and that Ban was not yet up to speed on all international matters and had not formed a view.

His predecessor Kofi Annan made it clear several times that there would be no new negotiations until the two sides showed the political will to reach a comprehensive settlement.

Politis yesterday quoted sources saying that Ban was unwilling as things stood to invite the leaders to New York for a meeting.

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.