NEW CYPRUS talks edged closer yesterday after the two leaders pledged immediately to lay the technical groundwork for a resumption of talks in little over three months.
President Demetris Christofias and Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat also agreed on the symbolic opening of the Ledra Street crossing point within the fortnight.
True to their word, within hours of the meeting at the residence of the UN Secretary-general’s Special Representative in Cyprus Michael Moller, it was announced that aides to the two leaders would meet on Monday to start work.
Christofias and Talat met for over three hours at Moller’s residence inside the UN-controlled Nicosia Airport, during which they even had a 40-minute tête-à-tête, followed by a light lunch with the UN representative.
By all accounts, relations were warm. The two men greeted each other like old friends and both wore red ties, albeit for different reasons. Christofias even joked about them having not Greek or Turkish but “Cypriot coffee” together. “Metrio [medium sweet],” he quipped to dozens of journalists who had gathered from all over the world.
“The leaders met… in a very positive and cordial atmosphere and exchanged views on a number of issues, achieving a great degree of convergence,” Moller said after the meeting.
According to sources close to the meeting, the warmth between the two men involved no pretence and continued throughout the meeting, even though there had been a little “back and forth”, they said.
Moller said Christofias and Talat had decided to ask their respective advisers to meet in the coming week in order to set up a number of working groups and technical committees, establish their agendas, “and to do so in the most expeditious way possible”.
The leaders would also meet in three months to review the work of the working groups and technical committees, and, using their results, to start fully-fledged negotiations under the auspices of the UN, Moller said.
He added they had also agreed to meet as and when needed prior to the commencement of their formal negotiations.
Christofias said he looked forward to the working groups and technical committees starting work. The establishment of the groups is laid down under the July 8, 2006 agreement, although to the consternation of some Greek Cypriots, the UN-brokered deal, which stalled under the previous government, was not mentioned by name in the official statement.
“It is enough for someone to read and compare the July agreement with the outcome of today’s meeting,” Government Spokesman Stefanos Stefanou hit back later yesterday.
Christofias said results from the working committees over the next three months would help the resumption of fully-fledged UN-backed talks.
“We have to be optimistic anyway, and we agreed that we shall work together in good will, so let us see what is going to happen in this time, and I hope, really, that Mr Talat and Christofias, as old friends, will not become enemies,” the President said.
Talat said: “This is a new era we are starting for the solution of the Cyprus problem.”
“Our target is to find a comprehensive solution to the Cyprus problem as soon as possible,” he added.
Talat said that although a three-month limit had been set for a new meeting with Christofias, there was no question of avoiding a meeting before that time if it was considered necessary.
He said, when asked, that there had not been any discussion on the process that would be followed for new negotiations.
“We just discussed the procedure for the time being. We did not mention any basis, any parameters regarding the solution. We just discussed the process and we agreed on the process,” he said.
Christofias added: “We want to underline what we agree and not anything that we disagree on.”
“We shall examine any possible disagreements together, so the message we want to express is the message of what we agreed to do,” he said.
Talat was also asked whether he had backed away from earlier demands that a solution be found in 2008, saying: “The Turkish Cypriot side’s position is the end of 2008, but the situation now is as soon as possible.”
Christofias concurred, but cautioned that the Cyprus problem couldn’t be solved “yesterday” as some would like.
“We shall try our utmost in order to come to an agreed solution to the interests of the Cypriot people of both communities as soon as possible. This is our ambition,” he said.
The international community, including the EU, the US and Britain, which had been looking for signs of good will that would persuade the UN Secretary-General to jump back in on Cyprus, welcomed yesterday’s developments.
For them it was a first-time opportunity to have two pro-solution Cypriot leaders at the table. The outcome was “a clear sign that the two leaders have the political will to tackle the issues and work for a solution,” British High Commissioner Peter Millett said.
“This is an important first step towards negotiations, which we hope, will lead to the reunification of the island.”
