THE ULTIMATE collapse of the direct talks was the prediction prevalent among many Greek Cypriot politicians yesterday, who viewed the statements made by Turkish leader Mehmet Ali Talat over the past few days with great pessimism.
Following the start of the talks between the two sides on Wednesday, the two largest parties, DISY and AKEL, supported that the Greek Cypriot community should not be quick to declare the failure of the direct talks.
The other parties were much less hopeful.
Before anything substantial had even been discussed, DIKO, EDEK and the Greens claimed that Talat’s statements foretold the demise of the talks. Evroko criticised the President, claiming he had embarked on direct discussions without there being a common basis between the two sides.
In response to President Demetris Christofias, who had stressed on Wednesday that a solution having as basis “a bizonal bicommunal federation was a great concession on behalf of President Makarios in 1977 and must be recognised as such”, emphasising that the Greek Cypriot side would not accept anything less, Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat openly questioned on Thursday, this ‘red line’ the President had set. He described it as “unfortunate” and wondered why the President had gone back 31 years when, since then, according to Talat, there have been several other agreements as well as a large body of work done by the UN. Talat claimed that this position showed no concession on the part of the Greek Cypriots.
Talat’s comments led Government Spokesman, Stephanos Stephanou, to proclaim that “it is the Greek Cypriot side that should be displeased with Talat’s statements during and after the September 3 meeting and not Talat with President Christofias’ comments”. Speaking to CyBC radio yesterday, Stephanou explained that Talat spoke about certain issues that had never been agreed between the leaders of the two communities, issues that neither formed part of the UN resolutions nor conform to standards of international justice.
Stephanou added the government realised there would be problems in the whole process, but emphasised that the Greek Cypriot side was still focused on its aim to reunite the island and, through the talks, aims to reach certain agreements. He said it was important at this stage for the Greek Cypriots to impose self-restraint and to avoid comments that could jeopardise the procedure.
But the President of DIKO requested from UN special envoy Alexander Downer, that the UN intervenes, maintaining that Talat’s statements were “extremely far from the UN resolutions, international justice and the EU acquis communautaire”.
DIKO had stated that they wouldn’t bet on the success of the direct talks, with spokesman Fotis Fotiou accusing the Turkish Cypriot leader for blatantly attempting to undermine and falsify the basis of the negotiations, proclaiming that Talat’s statements “do not allow for any optimism”.
EDEK and the Greens, who, like DIKO, supported President Christofias’ candidacy in the second round of elections, shared a similar view.
EDEK President Yiannakis Omirou said the talks had not begun with the best of omens, and supported that the international community should intervene in Ankara.
The Green Party asked for an immediate National Council meeting to determine, all together, the priorities of the Greek Cypriot side.
The two large parties, AKEL and DISY, on the other hand, reacted to Talat’s statements with more restraint.
AKEL deputy Nikos Katsourides avoided interpreting the purpose of Talat’s comments, but stated that it was impossible to foresee the end of the road from only the first meeting. He said AKEL was aware of the difficulties but nonetheless had faith in the efforts. Katsourides didn’t hesitate to criticise the Turkish Cypriot leader for his statements but cautioned that the Greek Cypriot side should avoid negotiating among themselves as this would lead to commotion that would further complicate the Greek Cypriots’ position.
That there would have to be compromises on behalf of the Turkish and Turkish Cypriot sides if they truly desired a solution, was the view of DISY leader Nicos Anastassiades, who considered Talat’s Thursday comments a part of his negotiation tactics.
Despite some of the gloom in Cyprus, the UN Security Council yesterday warmly welcomed the start of the direct talks and commended the progress the two leaders have achieved since their first meeting on March 21. The council requested that the two sides continue to work together in a positive and constructive way in order to achieve the objective of a permanent solution to the Cyprus problem.
